Day 8

Well we have continued our streak of rain every day with rain most of the night. At least it was a lullaby for the kids while I worried about things that were open or left out. We hadn't expected rain tonight so I went through all the things out at the campsite in my head to make sure I knew where they were. I jolted up as I realized I hadn't checked the big clothing bag on the cargo tray which the kids had opened to put their laundry in before bed. If they had left it open (which was a strong possibility!) the rain would be currently pouring into my clothes bag.

I poked my head out of the tent and shined my flashlight on the bag. It shined back at me so I assumed it was the ziploc bags reflecting the light back to me. After a few choice words I climbed out of the tent and ran over to the back of the car. It was closed and I realized the reflection I saw was just the puddle of water and I was soaked. I ran back over and jumped inside the tent sulking at my damp state with a few more choice words.

It took awhile to go back to sleep after that but it turned out I was able to cover my head and sleep in. The kids still weren't up when I got up so after getting changed I took a little while to write until they woke up.

The Dunlaps were getting their breakfast ready and some of their campsite things packed away. We had some hearty oatmeal and were packed up shortly thereafter. Emily is getting used to packing and unpacking their very cool setup so we headed to the creek for the girls to plant some painted rocks. The flowers were still there so we talked about how hard it must be for the guy to travel by himself.

Before long we were saying goodbye to Otis and back on the road headed about 30 miles south to our next spot. We went up and over a mountain and enjoyed some beautiful views along the way.

We reached Peaks of Otter campground before noon and were set up shortly thereafter. I noticed at the comfort station that the restored farm I wanted to visit was only open today or the day before we leave so we opted to pile in the car and find the trail to the home.

The hike was about a mile up a small mountain past the ruins of an old hotel which was now a beautiful meadow. We entered the woods for the final climb up to the farm.

The farm itself had been occupied by three generations of the Johnson family raising upwards of 35 kids there. They had many of the aspects of the Appalachian farms we had visited before - the Spring House, the Apple House, gardens and orchards. There were photo albums we flipped through that were fascinating to see. There were two park service volunteers who shared many of the stories they knew about the family, the community, and the timeframe.

The kids really enjoyed all the games that were set out as examples of what I child might receive for Christmas or make themselves. There quite a few The Clarke children hadn't seen before! My favorite was the 1850 version of lawn darts!

After learning a bunch we headed back down the mountain to return to the campsite and finish setting up. I grabbed some fire wood from the country store as the temperature at this spot was SO nice! I would imagine we are quite a bit higher in elevation.





We played all kinds of games before and after our delicious dinner then made a warm fire. When Evey and I took a trip down to the dumpster she found a helpless little butterfly so she adopted it for a little while with Laney and they tried to keep it safe.

The kids really roasted marshmallows with this fire and we all talked about how nice it was going to be to be snug inside our sleeping bags this night!