When thinking of family vacations for the summer, we remembered the physical and actual cost of our summer beach trips. It costs a lot, we're so exhausted, and the kids announced last year that they prefer camping. This summer we traded the beach for a few camping trips to new spots. The kids asked that it be just our family, and it's what we needed.
We went to Indian Boundary, a spot on a lake on top of mountains eleven miles from beautiful Tellico.
It was perfect for our crowd. Our friends have been relentlessly recommending it to us for years, and we get it now and pass on the recommendation. Surrounding the lake is a level 3.1 mile trail with little beach spots. Luckily for us, our campsite was across from one of these spots where we spent most of our time. Seriously, we spent 70% of our waking hours here.
It was close enough to trees to offer shade most of the day, which we loved for our fair skin babies. We took our camp chairs down there and hung out for hours. Lark was satisfied to poke in the mud. Burl, Fern, and Ridge were lost in imagination world always doing and playing something. Camping magic, once again!
There's a sweet camp store there ran by a couple that lives on a goat farm nearby in the off season. They stay on the campground during the peak season. One of the things they offered were rentals, and we chose the paddle board.
I tend to take these things to the next level, it's a family trait. With Burl, I had him doing tricks off the board, which sent me laughing into the water. Splash. Laugh. Love.
We had a surprise visit from John's parents. Twenty to thirty years ago, they were Indian Boundary regulars. They told us about the changes and the things that were still the same. Mostly, they brought fried chicken for lunch, which was an improvement from our PB&Js.
Each night a storm rolled through during dinner. We don't have much experience with camping in the rain, so the novelty of being confined to the tent with dinner was (mostly) a thrill to us. As soon as it lifted though, we were back out, poking the fire and sitting around the campsite.
I know I'm a broken record, but this season of meeting so many baby needs can become stressful. It's truly my dream come true and I love this stage so much. Even dreams have costs, and those costs can become burdensome at times. This trip, while beautiful and fun became tiresome. John and I were both feeling it, then we got a huge compliment that helped the stress of the demands melt away.
On the last day, we asked a woman from a neighboring campsite if she knew what time the check out was. We got to chatting, then she launched into the sweetest speech about our family. She said, "We've loved watching you and your family this weekend. It's been a long time since we've heard those sweet baby noises, and it's nice to hear them again. My husband and I love how relaxed you are with your children. You're so calm and laid back and don't get worked up if one of your kids cries. We think yall must be a lot younger than us. And your husband is so patient too. He doesn't get flustered over anything." I laughed and told her thank you, and as I walked away, I realized that those words felt much better than I expected. I told them to John, and he had the same reaction. We were instantly smiling more and having an easier time. It felt good to be told that we were relaxed when we were starting to feel weighed down from meeting demands. I never went back and told her how thankful I was for her words. They meant more than I realized at the time.
After we packed up, we grabbed lunch at the walk-up burger joint on the Tellico river. It was beautiful spot where Burl got pretty good at skipping rocks-he could out-skip me!
We all agreed that it was so wonderful being just our little family. We've got another trip scheduled soon and Daniel is going to meet us for a day. We are all excited!
No comments:
Post a Comment