Day 31

It rained most of the night but the kids were having a sleepover with Evey so they were fine.  Usually it takes Dave a day or two to adjust to sleeping in the tent but since he'd gotten up so early he was out all night. It's going to take me some time to get used to his snoring!

On the agenda for today was the hike to Crabtree Falls. A trail extension was right across from our campsite so once we were fed, dressed and backpacks were full we headed that way. Today was Ryan's camera day so I grabbed the monopod for a little waterfall photography fun while we were down there.

The hike was beautiful the entire way down with lots of ups and downs. Dave found this giant mushroom that had a ray of sun directly on it with lots of water from the showers the night before. The picture Ryan took turned out pretty cool!

At the bottom I took Ryan aside and showed her how to use the monopod to shoot the waterfall. She's still trying to understand the setup but her pictures turned out nice!

The kids all joined Dave down by the base of the waterfall next to climb around and see how close they could get. There was a nice spray of water coming off the waterfall keeping all of us cool.

As she climbed the rocks out Ryan noticed a pile of rocks which is basically an invitation for her to try to get to the same spot and add a rock or start a new pile. She figured it out and did both!

We chose the longer trail back to the campsite since it wasn't as sharp of an ascent. This part of the trail went through a few meadows of beautiful wildflowers. It still surprises me to see flowers in bloom in late June. They're usually pretty burnt up by then in Florida! Dave and Ryan went back down the beginning of the trail once we got back to capture the mushroom again. It's huge!

After lunch we decided to try another hike down the parkway a few miles. We'd heard from several people not to miss Craggy Gardens simply because of the plant life there. Apparently a glacier from Canada dropped off a unique set of fragile plants on this one spot that have survived ever since.

Unfortunately for us a foggy rainstorm began about 30 seconds before we parked. We ducked into the visitors center for a few minutes to see if it would pass. The girls even grabbed their junior ranger books for review since they hadn't seen a ranger in a few weeks. She was excited seeing all their work and was guessing they were probably the first kids this year to be so close to finishing.

After waiting about 30 minutes we decided to put on our ponchos and try the hike anyway. It wasn't raining anymore but it definitely was foggy! This hike was absolutely the most unique plant life we've seen. If only we'd arrived an hour earlier to see the view at the top when all was clear! I made a mental note to stop back by the next day if the weather was any better.

Fortunately back at our campground the weather was clear and we were able to cook dinner and fit in some activity. First up was a homerun derby which ended up being a nice tryout session for campball teams. Dave and I ended up taking on all four kids this time around.

We added a home run wall as the sidewalk for this match up which allowed for Dave and I to jump ahead right away 4-1. The kids came back quickly and we fought for the lead for the rest of the game. I may have intentionally struck out once or twice to keep the game exciting. A certain child gets grumpy when they get too far behind. The game ended kids 14, parents 12. They celebrated like it was the World Series.

We still had some daylight so the kids decided it was time to teach Dave how to play Emily's Golf game. He surprisingly didn't already know it so we destroyed him but the kids had a good time making fun of him. I think it will definitely make it in our regular card game rotation for sure.

Emily took a few minutes to braid each of the girls' hair. Laney opted for the faux-hawk braid and Ryan the triple doozy braid. I was only hoping it stayed in their hair for the next day to keep the crazy hair at bay!  They didn't scream at her like they do when I try to braid their hair - what gives?!














We took our traditional last night campground walk around our tiny campground. We were all extremely happy to be leaving this campground. We'd had an awful time with gnats every second of the day we were outside, the bathrooms weren't cleaned any of the four days we were there, and even though it wasn't the campground's fault it will be forever tainted by the yelling at 2:30am guy.  We still enjoyed our walk and were hopeful our last spot would be exponentially better.

Day 12

We woke up this morning ready to pack up and move on to our next spot. Ryan had a dollar burning a hole in her pocket that she'd found the night before so she wanted to hit the camp store. I didn't want to burst her bubble that she would find anything less than a dollar! We walked to 2 different stores and she really wanted to buy the Pop Tarts that were the only thing less than a dollar but I talked her out of it. She claims she doesn't like having money in her pocket so she needs to spend it. Yeah, I have that problem too.

The visitor's center wasn't quite open yet so I took the kids for the short Elk Run hike before they openend. Not a bad selfie on the trail!

We all took turns reading the interpretive signs along the way. The kids and I had learned over all the trips about all the different invasive species affecting the national park's trees. This is the first park we'd learned that a tree had been completely wiped out - the chestnut tree. Saplings still appear from the roots underground but they are taken by blight.

The kids also have been working on their junior ranger sheets so they wanted to stop back by the visitor's center. The BRP junior ranger program is a little different than all the other parks we've been to. At each center kids can pick up one sheet for their folder. Once they complete a certain number of sheets they get a plastic badge, then a certificate, then a cloth badge, then a pin. Laney's sights are on the pin but that would mean completing all 10. She's on her way!

We had our longest drive of the parkway ahead of us - a whole 2 hours! This was the part I'd been really enjoying about the trip - less driving and more camping. I'm not sure the kids are sold yet as they have been working through some boredom in the woods, but I strongly believe it's good for them. And as a bonus, I've had more volunteers help cooking than I've ever had!

While the kids were playing their DS's I was listening to NPR and heard the news about Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain. I don't like coming out of the woods, but definitely not to news like that. In an effort to save batteries I've been turning off computers and phones so this year we have been seriously disconnected.

We made it to our next site a little later than expected because of some construction. The Clarkes were pretty hangry by the time we got there so while they set up the tent I made a snack lunch. The girls and I walked the garbage up to the entrance, grabbed maps, and checked out the events in the nearby town. We were expecting rain so it would be nice to be busy in town instead of getting wet!

All the kids decided to read and play while I puttered around we finished setting up our sites. Laney found a great reading tree and the other three read for awhile then decided to play with Brayden's Legos.

Evey was super interested in sleeping in our tent with the kids so I set up my hammock with the tarp and moved in. I finished my book and could have definitely taken a nap, but I decided it would be good for me to be sleepy instead of restless in the hammock for the night.

All the kids enjoyed reading in their own private area this afternoon!

After a few games of backgammon we made some soup and salad for dinner then the kids brought out our glow stick swords we'd grabbed the day before. It was time to duel for the rest of the night!

I felt like I was back at home listening to sleepover giggles and chatter as I snuggled into my hammock for the night. This was just another great thing about having friends camping along with us this trip!

Day 5

As with the last few forecasts the rain didn't last quite as long as predicted. By the time I woke up at 5:30 it was gone so after enjoying the quiet for a few minutes I got up and started packing and preparing for the drive.

Once the kids woke up everything went much quicker and we made it to the showers before 7. The tent was pretty muddy and this was our last chance for real showers for awhile so we took the chance to get squeaky clean.

The kids were excited for this day as we would finally be meeting up with Emily & Otis. After about 2 hours we stopped for gas, snacks and the kids started part 1 of The Lord of the Rings movie.

 We made it to Waynesboro around 11:30 and made our first laundry stop. This was day 1 for our friends so we wanted to be in sync with them for laundry too. While our clothes were spinning I walked down to Little Caesar's and ordered a pizza for us for lunch to save a little time. We were still a little early so we made a quick resupply stop before hopping on to the Blue Ridge Parkway at mile 0.

We stopped at the first overlook with a great view for a quick picture and ended up staying for a few minutes to help take pictures of other people. We were surrounded by motorcycles - a sure sign of an awesome drive the kids remembered from all our trips.

We wanted to stop at every overlook but decided just to slow down and peek at the view. We would never make it to our rendezvous point if we kept stopping! We ended up at the Humpback Rocks Visitors Center about 15 minutes early so we went in and learned a little about the Appalachian culture, shopped, and grabbed a bunch of maps, schedules and of course junior ranger materials!

It was beautiful outside so while I looked at all the maps and schedules, the kids started their junior ranger activities. There are 10-12 sheets they will be able to grab along our journey down the parkway to complete. The lady mentioned the lack of rangers on staff for completing the books and swearing the kids in, but I'm hoping she was just talking about her visitor's center only.

Otis, Emily, and Evey pulled in just as I'd finished reading about our first stop. The kids tried hard to match memories with faces as we chatted then decided to head on to our campground. It was another 55 miles down the parkway and we wanted ample daylight to get settled.

For our stay together we had sites situated right next door at each campground. It would be so nice for the kids to be able to have Evey along with them for the month!

Within minutes of us both setting up the thunder and rain started so we hung out under the trees and the back of my car catching up while the kids played. Laney and I had grabbed a big pack of water guns at our last resupply so the kids were soaking each other! We also picked up a giant frisbee orange slice that was a big hit, especially for frisbee-challenged Laney.

We were all exhausted and the Clarke kids were getting grumpy so after a quick dinner of pesto pasta and Georgia peaches we all got ready for bed and tucked into our sleeping bags. The gentle rain started within a few minutes and became our lullaby for sleep. 

Day 44

We forget once we're in the south that putting four bodies in one tent might be a little warm. Gone are the extra blankets. Gone are the sleep pants and sleeping bags. We were definitely back in the heat and humidity even at night.

I got up before the sun this morning to edit pictures and write as I knew once we got home I would have zero time for such things (I was right!!). We had no big museums left and no awesome attractions to hurry to get on the road to see. We had one of those rare days where we could be spontaneous and do whatever the kids wanted. Of course after breakfast the kids wanted to play campball. This was quite possibly our last game so we wanted it to be a good one. While we were waiting on Grammie, Dave and Ryan decided to have a campball duel. It didn't end well for either of them!

We picked teams - Brayden, Laney, and me against Dave, Grammie and Ryan. We'd had trouble the entire trip trying to make the teams somewhat even. The adults sometimes ran a little extra slow to help with that, but these darn kids are so competitive sometimes it didn't matter what we did (or didn't!)!

All the players were finally connecting with the ball and the game was heated. Team Grammie was beating us pretty bad so I was trying to relax the rules a little bit for Laney but Ryan called me on it. We had to forge ahead and attempt to win fair and square.

Team Grammie ended up winning in a big way so we practiced being good sports and shook hands when we all really just wanted to go throw them in the lake.  These pictures crack me up today as both of these boys are no longer furry!

On our way out of the park, we stopped by the visitor's center because I'd noticed a discovery center next door. The kids were excited to explore and they ended up learning quite a bit about the Trail of Tears. We also learned about many of the plants and animals native to the area as well as the geology from the past million years or so.










Once the kids got their buttons for finishing their ranger books we got on the road for our last long drive. Our drive was about 6 hours and we only stopped for gas. It wasn't as bad of a drive as Oklahoma or northern Montana, but I was more than thrilled it was the last one of the trip. We arrived at our next spot at dusk to set up one more time and have dinner. We were situated on a lake once more with a nice view of jumping fish!

I spent some time reorganizing a few things in the car we had haphazardly stuffed in unstrategic places. We settled down in our tents with countdowns from the kids. They were down to how many hours it would be until we got home.

Day 42

**Clearly we are back home by now as I have NO time to write! There are only a few days left that I hope to get to finishing today.***





We knew we wanted to get back downtown pretty early so Grammie had waffles all ready for us before she left to walk Lola and shower. The kids were up pretty early and easy to motivate to get ready because they knew the plan for the day was to visit one of their all-time favorite museums and the Arch.

It was Sunday morning so there wasn't an issue parking downtown and we were at the Arch within a few minute walk. It is currently under construction so pictures were challenging but I did make sure to try to get the same picture as I'd gotten 5 years earlier on our very first trip!

That year we hadn't had time to go up in the arch so we made sure we made time this year. Our first stop of course was grabbing junior ranger books. This would be our last national park for this trip. And our second stop was the movie about the creation of the arch. We were all once again blown away by the ingenuity, creativity, and sheer bravery in the creation of this marvel, especially more than 50 years ago!

After the movie the kids had a little time to work on their books then we headed to the elevator to head 600-ft up to the top. We were all a little curious as to how the ride up would be. Grammie and I were teasing the kids that by the top of the arch we would be laying down and have to roll out! It was actually much easier being lifted in our own little private car that adjusted beautifully to the angle as we climbed.

Just as expected the view at the top was wonderful! The kids spent time spotting different landmarks and watching the cars and boats go by. There are about 10 different windows so we all popped back and forth checking out the different views.

We made our way back down to chat with the park ranger and were on our way. There was a museum that was currently under construction that looks like it's going to be pretty awesome once it's finished next year so we'll have to return to St Louis again real soon.

Dave had another stop for us on the list today - Ted Drewes. We arrived there around 11:30 and smiled as there was quite a line for their famous custard.  This store had been open since the 1930s and was a popular stop along the historic Route 66. We'd all never had custard before and were very pleased with our decision to stop here!



Once we were all satisfied with a little sugar we headed to the place the kids had been waiting for - Magic House. We'd been 5 years earlier and spent so much time there but only experienced about 75% of the museum in 4 hours! I knew this time the kids would be too old for some of the exhibits so we would be able to see the whole museum. There also wasn't a traveling exhibit right now which was where we'd spent our first 2 hours then playing in the Magic Treehouse books.

It was fun to see the looks on their faces when they saw very familiar exhibits. It was also interesting to see the same exhibits updated with technology in the last 5 years. Those of you that know how my children love the grocery stories with working registers also know the top museum on their list in that category had actual register tape. Well, this one went even further knocking that one into second place with touch-screen registers and credit card machines!

 The kids ran around this area of the museum remembering all the places they'd spend so much time the last time. They played a little bit in each place but moved on quickly to keep exploring.

 We did spend quite awhile in the art area of the museum which I'm pretty sure we didn't even get to during our last visit.  My favorite was the interactive exhibit where the kids could draw a vehicle or building, scan it in, the instantly see it driving or built in the town on the giant screens in the room. It was such a cool and creative idea!






















We spent a little bit longer in another art area but I could tell Ryan was fading and needed real food soon.  She wanted to keep going but tempers were flaring so we kept kids separated and went downstairs to the America exhibit. The kids sat in the oval office, made a speech in front of congress and decided a case in court before it was very obvious we needed to head back.

Ryan had been asking for quesadillas for days so I made them as quickly as possible and they were devoured practically before I sat down! I made 3 more for the hungry monsters and we enjoyed talking about our very full day. While I wrote for a little while Dave made a fire and we roasted some cinnamon rolls for dessert - gooey and delicious!

I popped our last load of laundry on the road to keep us clothed on the way home and we enjoyed the quiet of the campground. There were only a few campers left since it was a school night! I stayed up tending to the laundry and writing as I'd be driving the last few days while Dave worked. We were leaving the next day for a couple of quick overnight stops then we'd be home.