Day 4

*** We are without power and cell coverage for the better part of the month so updates might be infrequent but I'll still be writing if I can!!***

The only plans I had for this day were to hike the trails at some point. So often our days are over planned with programs and activities that it is very nice for the kids to experience boredom to see what they come up with. This morning they opted for logic puzzles and story telling while I cooked some cheese grits.

Our night was quiet except for what sounded like a fight between a racoon and a couple of ducks in the middle of the night. It didn't last long enough to annoy and keep us up though.

After a few rounds of story telling I set up my backpacking hammock for a spot for the kids to be away from each other or for me to write. This morning Ryan and I got in to edit pictures of the past two days. I would love for the weather to be dry enough to sleep in it again! Brayden and Laney meanwhile had an epic chess match.

Once we filled up our backpacks with water we hit the trails. The campground trails basically looped all around the peninsulas of the park and to the entrance. it was obvious it had been awhile for the kids as they wanted quite a few breaks. Or maybe they were just excited about new snacks!

Once we got to the entrance we noticed another trail up the mountain so we decided to walk that loop as well. This was a much tougher climb with little information plaques along the way to teach us about all the trees in the area. We played "Contact" along the way to keep spirits up as the temperature was rising about as fast as we were! We all noticed quite a bit of evidence of bears so it was also a good distraction along with causing quite a bit of noise.

After hiking around the last peninsula we made it to the picture spot close to our site. We made it back to our site for a quick lunch and settled in for a bunch of games. I was mentally getting everything organized for the next day so we could leave early as we would be meeting Otis and Emily around lunchtime after our 4 hour drive.

Brayden and Ryan opted to paint for awhile while Laney hid in my hammock to read so I updated the blog for a little while. After a chess match with Brayden I pulled out the making for dinner. About halfway through preparations our next door neighbor warned us about a storm approaching so I put all the sides back into the car. The temperature kept dropping and dropping and the wind kept picking up but optimistic Jen was still hoping it would blow around us.

As I would get each thing put away into the car I would risk trying to break down something else or finish some other task before the rain. Once everything was back in the car the kids grabbed their bowls and ducked into the tent. Right before I got in the campground host drove by reminding everyone they could use the teeny tiny bathrooms as a shelter which freaked the kids out a little bit. Within 15 seconds of me getting in the tent and zipping it up the downpour started. Then came the lightning and thunder.

One good thing about this site was the cell coverage. I could at least see what we were in for. The storm that was happening looked to be the worst. There was a forecast for severe storms overnight but I didn't see much on the radar. Once there was a break we ran to the bathrooms then grabbed my laptop to watch a movie and a raincoat in case I needed it to pack up in the morning.

The movie took everyone's mind off the incessant rain for a little while at least. Once my laptop died we decided to get some sleep while the rain was gentle. The prediction was for rain until early morning then a break right about the time we wanted to pack up. We were all just hoping for no lightning and thunder.