Day 22

I woke up early this morning and decided to hike the Elk Prairie trail before the kids woke up. The sun was up but not many other people in the campground were. The woods were so quiet that my footsteps echoed and made me sound like a giant walking on the trail!







As I exited the woods and entered the prairie I looked around for our bachelor three that were usually in the meadow by our campground. About every 100 feet I rose higher and looked across for antlers but didn't see any. Just as I was about to approach the road I noticed not three but eight elk right in the middle of my trail. I kept moving forward until I was about 100 yards away and noticed a small deer just off my trail too. She stared at me, otherwise motionless, as I walked past.

One of the elk stepped up onto the road so I took a picture then backed up to watch them and the deer for awhile. My trail went right next to them up into the woods so I was pretty much out of luck. One by one they started to walk down the road. Well, all except for our bachelor three so I gave up. I just turned around and went back to our site. By now it was almost 7a.m. so I decided to wake the kids up with hot chocolate and bagel egg sandwiches.

They weren't thrilled at first but finally dragged themselves out of their tents to join me. Our plan today was to drive north to Grammie's campground to pick her up and explore that end of the park.
We were ready to go early so we decided to do one of the scenic drives along the coast. Unfortunately the fog was heavy this morning so there was only one viewpoint where we could even see the water.

When we left I reminded Brayden about the WWII radar spot on our drive but it was camoflauged so well as a small barn that I forgot to even look for it. I remember passing it now though thinking how remote to live out there!

Our next stop was a place Grammie told the kids about with a giant Paul Bunyan and Babe. There was a guy hidden away that would talk to people as they walked up. He told the kids to sit on his boot and made fun of them while I took a picture.








Once we had Gramme with us we first stopped at the Houchi Visitors Center to check out the movie, displays, and programs. It was the same movie we'd see a few days before so while Grammie watched we created Redwood haikus on the wall.

Grammie wanted to do one of the recommended scenic drives which just happened to have a recommended hike I wanted to do so we drove to Stout Grove next. This scenic drive prohibited RVs and trailers and we could see why within just a mile or so. The road was unpaved, washed out, and very narrow. 

There were loads of people on the trail and we could see why! This grove of redwood trees was spring fed which inhibited the growth of much of the understory. It was amazing to see the trees standing alone and experience their full height! See Grammie and my little people down there?!

The kids played on all the downed trees while we walked the trail. My climbers can make their own playground anywhere!

This tree must be one of the biggest in the grove with the special deck around it so we made sure to take a picture here too.  I know these trees aren't the biggest we'll see but they are just massive!

We made it back in mostly one piece to Crescent City to mail postcards and resupply. If the Walmart my GPS found didn't have a produce section again at least we could find a grocery store! Ryan volunteered to mail all the postcards for us. She caught the giggles as she mailed the huge stack one by one. 

We dropped Grammie back off with Lola and decided next to drive through one of the trees. I wasn't sure we'd be able to with our cargo top deal but we had plenty of room to spare.  Laney volunteered to take this photo op!

I left the kids in the meadow so I could make dinner in peace. Laney was our photographer again for this too! Brayden lost our last frisbee so he bought this one to replace it. I'd say it's a hit!

Since there wasn't a program this night I told the kids we would be hiking the Elk Prairie trail I'd tried to hike in the morning. We enjoyed the creek, the prairie and the woods the whole time talking about our next few days and trying not to wish them away talking about our house when we get back home.

We made a fire when we got back and the kids talked and talked like they'd been separated for a few days or something. It's lovely to sit back and listen to them because after awhile they forget I'm there and I get a glimpse into who they are without me around. We ended the night excitedly talking about packing up in the morning and making it to Oregon!

Day 11

Everyone was still snoozing when I woke up so I snuck out of the tent to write. My laptop battery died pretty quickly so I was forced to sit in the car to charge and write. Today we would be leaving Paso Picacho after becoming so comfortable here. Once the Ryan and Brayden woke up they helped pack up and Brayden was cooking breakfast in no time.

We enjoyed the morning having a chilly breakfast together before we helped Grammie finish readying her RV to leave. We would be spending a few days at different spots because she wasn't interested in being close to L.A. as she'd just been there with Riley, another grandkid. We would meet back up once my brother Chris and his kids arrived in a couple days.

We hugged and promised to be safe as we parted ways and got on the road. The majority of our journey today was backroads so I was looking forward to the small towns and the views. As we passed through Julian the kids couldn't resist stopping for a "world famous" pie! All our mouths started watering as we got out of the car as you could smell the cinnamon and apples in the parking lot!

Once we all decided on a pie we dropped off post cards at the post office and aimed the car north. Laney made sure to text Grammie picture evidence of our latest stop. I'm not sure she'll be welcome back into the RV when we meet up! The drive was winding and beautiful just like I'd expected.

Today was one of the days the kids dread as it was time for car maintenance. We've already been 3,000 miles! We killed two birds with one stone by choosing to stop at Walmart a little ways past our campground to resupply, get the tires rotated, and get an oil change. They dread the car part because of the waiting and I dread the resupply part because I'm not a mom that remotely enjoys grocery shopping much less with kids in tow! They were pretty helpful though - especially with adding not-on-my-list things to the cart - and by the time we were finished my car was too!

We were back into hot summer weather so our next spot I'd planned at a lake for us to get some relief and swim. We had a picnic lunch in the shade of our one tree and set up tents so we could get to the important business of swimming. The lake was just a short drive from our campsite and the water felt divine! The view was lovely too. Their heads are in there somewhere!

The water was pretty chilly when we made it deep enough to stand up so I of course got cold quick. The kids played some weird sand game while I watched from the warmth of the beach. I love how quickly you dry in the southwestern heat! I tried to get back in after awhile but decided instead to find some shade. Laney came along with me as she wasn't enjoying the game all that much anyway. She tried to beat me at rummy but to no avail. She's only been seriously playing for one day so I'm sure she'll slaughter me by the end of the trip!

When the other two joined us they called Dave to fill him in on the adventures of the last few days. I love to listen to see what parts they loved or thought were funny. I'm sure it's difficult for him sometimes to hear all the fun we're having. Or all the time.

The sun was getting low in the sky so we zipped back to our campsite to cook dinner. Grammie had given me the shrimp creole leftovers so I was excited have an easy dinner and to eat a yummy dinner! I had to put away the french bread at some point so the kids would have room for the pie they forgot about. And speaking of the world-famous pie - it was absolutely delicious! Brayden finished his before I even sat down and the girls both gave it two thumbs up.

After the kids had finished all the dishes we walked the half of pie that was left to our neighbors to see if they wanted to finish it. Their eyes lit up when we said it was from Julian because they already knew what it was famous for.

With very full bellies we played some games as I got things packed up a little and ready for the next day. Skip Bo score so far this trip - Jen (2), Brayden (1), Laney (0), Ryan (0). Ryan is usually our ace at this game - she was not happy!

Day 4

I was happy to wake up to a tent still standing after a sleep-filled night step out into a cool morning. I'd fallen asleep pretty fast but my camping momma bear instincts woke me up when I felt a real breeze and saw a flicker of light flash. I listened for thunder but only heard what sounded like planes far away on both sides of us. I was just about it dismiss it as something else when the tent walls popped in and out from the wind and I saw another flash. This was definitely a storm on the way!

I leapt out of the tent to grab the rain fly and heard Laney right behind me ready to help. I was looking around prioritizing the things that needed put away before the rain came while we were hooking the rain fly onto the tent. The wind was picking up quick so I decided first to secure the rain fly with stakes and check all the stakes already around the tent. Storms always seem worse inside a tent but this wind was going to be a real pain!

Next I rolled up and secured the bags on our cargo tray then packed up the camping chairs. Laney grabbed our swimming clothes off the clothesline and we tossed everything in the car. Lucky for us it hadn't started raining so I even had time to grab the kids' books and duck back into the tent. I pulled up the weather on my phone and saw were were minutes from the beginning of a monster thunderstorm. There wouldn't be much sleeping for awhile. My weather app said rain only until 1am so I was hopeful for it to be a quickly moving or quickly changing storm.

While the kids read I kept checking the weather and making sure the tent was ok. With each gust of wind the poles would try to flex in which would bring the walls in on Laney. I expected the thunder to jolt us but it seemed to move more around us and within a few minutes I was hearing it on the other side of us. I kept doing the Poltergeist counting to make sure the strong part of the storm was moving away from us and before long we were only left with rain. By 11:30 we were all back fast asleep to the rain on our tent and covered with sleeping bags because it was 75 degrees - yipee!!  And I don't thing I moved until I woke up at 6am.

Our tent looked great so after a trip to the bathroom and spooking about 23 deer, I took some time to write. Deer were eating breakfast and birds were flittering all around me the whole time. I was still hoping to see that little fox again. Grammie stopped by on her walk to tell me she'd seen a pig too!

Once my kids were finally awake we walked to the RV for some fresh biscuits. Camping with Grammie is like staying a resort! With full bellies we packed up our campsite and got on the road for a long drive across more of Texas. There wasn't much to do on this drive so we marked a Walmart stop to pick up a few things and to stretch our legs.
We were barely away from our campsite when the wineries started popping up. I'd noticed about 10 when I started counting them. I had no idea Texas had wine country! By the time we made it to Fredricksburg I'd counted 52 wineries in the span of about 20 miles. Time to plan an adult road trip I suppose!

It was another few hours before we showed up to Davis Mountain State Park. I had originally tried to stay at another park nearby with a natural spring but as we drove by I was very happy we hadn't. The place was packed! I guess that happens when it is over 100 degrees outside.

This place was nestled into the mountains and seemed full of life. There were storms all around us so we helped Grammie get set up first then once the big one seemed to go around us Brayden and I set up the tent. Dinner was already ready for us to dig in by the time we got back! We have been eating like royalty the last week for sure! Tonight was alfredo spinach mushroom ravioli casserole with salad - delicious!

We were all stuffed as we piled into the car to experience the scenic drive. I would have hiked it and had Grammie pick me up I just really wasn't sure what was happening with the weather. There were dark clouds in just about every direction with lightning - definitely not ideal hiking weather on a bare mountain!

The Interpretive Center seemed open so we peeked in to find we had just missed a program about the area's wildlife - bummer. We did stay for awhile checking out the local birds all around the viewing area they had set up. There were all kinds that I don't even know but I did spot a finch, a bunch of hummingbirds and a few pigeons.

Once we got to the top of the mountain we saw the magnitude of the storms. I'd left my camera and phone at the campsite so Laney let me use her phone.  I was a little nervous with all the lightning, but it was far enough away that we took a few minutes to watch the clouds roll around. The temperature had dropped around 20 degrees and the view was spectacular. We visited the summit as well as the CCC trail to two other lookout points. I could imagine on a clear day the sunrise or sunset would be absolutely beautiful.











I had Grammie check the weather on our way down to make sure we would be alright in the tent for the night. Amazingly, the storm was to go completely around us and the overnight temperature was to be 67 degrees. I couldn't believe it. I was so excited about actually getting IN my sleeping bag!

Once we got back it was bedtime so I took Laney and Brayden with me. We read for about 10 minutes until I had read the same sentence about 27 times and still didn't know what it said.  After lights out the three of us laid there relishing the cool breeze.

Day 24

I was up for the before the sunrise this morning so I had plenty of time to get to my rock to watch. All the birds and woodpeckers were waking up making so much noise it sounded like a symphony warming up!

Emily and Evey had packed up the bottom section of their tent and the screen tent the day before since it was dry so they were ready to go before we were this morning! We got on the road early to be able to set up  and come back to ride horses. We made it to Linville Falls by 10:30 to set up and discovered we were again in full sun.

I spotted a site on the river across the meadow so we moved there before the kids had too much set up. My favorite spots are on the water and it was tucked up under some trees so at least we would be able to have shade most of the day for all of us. Emily and Evey don't have much of a choice when they set up as their tent is attached to her car. It is a very cool setup but it definitely had some disadvantages too.

After a quick lunch we got on the road to meet our horses. The kids were beyond excited. I followed my crazy GPS again so it was a good thing we'd left a little early. Ever since the kids changed the voice to the Garmin guy it wasn't to route me off the parkway to go places. He does have a few funny things to say along the way and often tells me how amazing I am so I left him guiding us. Once I spend a day somewhere I'm usually pretty good with getting us around.

After a quick stop at the post office we made it to our spot to meet the guide. We should have known something was up when I'd noticed the parking area on the way in didn't have his red truck and trailer parked there. I had a few voice mails so I called him to check to see if we were maybe in the wrong area. When he answered he apologized and said one of his horses had kicked the trailer door that morning and he'd been at the vet's office the whole day. Needless to say our ride was canceled. We were all very disappointed.

The kids were even more disappointed when I announced this would be the perfect opportunity to do our laundry! Emily found us a spot a few miles away and I promised everyone we would try to find another guide while we were there. This laundry place was probably the least maintained place I'd ever been in and did not seem to have any kind of ventilation at all. We were sweating just walking in the door. The next place was about 10 miles away so we got to work trying to spend the least amount of time there.

I found another place we could go horseback riding near our next campground so we booked it for the day before Dave arrived. It was too far away for the kids to get excited yet but at least my kids had a bunch to look forward to in the next week!

My kids were the most helpful with laundry than ever since they knew the quick it was finished the quicker we could leave. I have to admit it is pretty nice to get through 4 loads of laundry in an hour.

We walked out all red-faced from the temperature inside and decided the last thing we wanted to do was to cook so we headed to a local grill - the Come Back Shack. It is a burger joint but they also had tuna steaks and veggie burgers so we thought it would be perfect. The kids enjoyed filling out an order form to have their burgers exactly the way they wanted. And they were delicious with fresh hand-cut fries too!

The kids all sat together and enjoyed their food while Emily and I googled all the questions they'd had since we'd had service. They were most intrigued by the pictures of the blue ghost fireflies. We grabbed everyone milkshakes and headed to the grocery store for a quick stock up for bread, fruits & veggies. The water at our campground was tinted a little yellow so we each also bought several 3 gallon jugs of water. It all barely fit in my car with all of us!

Once we unloaded Emily's stuff and reorganized ours, Brayden and I made an extra trip for ice. The girls played in the river making a pool for clams and other tiny fish they caught. Ryan spotted a newt too - a first for all of us!














We were looking forward to sleeping in our tent tonight as the rushing water next door was a lovely constant white noise. We read a few chapters of our latest book - Schooled - and were all out within seconds.

Day 3

I woke up last night around 4:30am to the sounds of animals. Our neighbors that had so hastily left the in the rain had left their tent and supplies at their site. There was a bag on their picnic table that now I assumed contained food as something was digging through it and taking parts into the woods.

I knew we were safe as we hadn't cooked since the first night and our site was totally clean so once it became quiet again I was able to fall back asleep. To dream of bears.

Once I woke and saw it was a little lighter I got up to write and let the kids sleep. I forgot my jacket in the tent so I retired to the car to keep warm and dry. The campground was quiet except for the birds who kept trying to tell everyone it was morning even though it was so foggy and gray.

Once I finished, I started packing up as much as I could without completely pulling the kids out of their sleeping bags. We only had a four hour drive today so I was looking forward to a fun, easy day.

When the kids woke up we talked for a little while then decided to pack up the tent. After everything was rolled up and packed into the car we all got to work on taking down the tent. Within seconds from us lowering the tent to the ground the downpour started. We were scrambling to get the tent rolled up and stuffed into the bag without getting completely drenched. It seemed the faster we worked the more soaked we got!

By the time I got into the car my clothes were dripping so we headed to the showers to deal with all the mess and warm up. We all showered and laid out our towels and sweatshirts throughout the car to see if they would dry and got on the road.

Today we had a 4 hour drive with two quick resupply stops. We all had a piece of fruit when we left so by the first rest stop we were all starving. The rain had mostly stopped so we decided to have a breakfast picnic while I updated the first 2 days of the blog.

Traveling with these three for more than an hour means lots of DS games and races. During this part of the trip the girls were talking in baby voices for about an hour. At one point Brayden looked over at me and said, "Don't those voices the girls are using annoy you after a little bit?" and I replied, "SO much of what you guys do can be annoying if I choose it to be." I think he wasn't sure if he should be offended that he could be so annoying or actually realized that he could choose his reactions to things.

After about an hour we stopped in Knoxville at our favorite spot for groceries - Trader Joe's. The kids were excited to stock up on all their favorite things they only get a few times a year. Dave isn't so excited to see the debit card transations during our trips though!  We made a beeline to the yogurt first for their all-time favorite item - Vanana yogurt. They all stared at me with angry faces because there wasn't any. There wasn't even an empty spot and they were out of stock. It was as if they had stopped carrying the flavor. Oh, the devastation.

We continued around the store grabbing all the favorite snacks and easy dinner ingredients. Then we hit Walmart for batteries and quarters and got back on the road to our next spot. We knew we were close to Bristol once we started seeing signs for the Bristol Speedway.

Ryan was excited to see the speedway except she was thinking it was a fun museum with slides and things to climb like her favorite in St Louis. Instead we drove past and turned onto our route with all kinds of trucker switchback warning signs. Sounds like a fun drive to me! Considering we only had about 15 miles left and it was going to take us 30 minutes we knew we were in for a treat!

After tons of braking and turning we reached our next park - Little Oak Mountain in the Cherokee National Forest. In years past we have hit so many of the popular national parks that it is sometimes difficult to find a place we haven't seen. This little campground is tucked up on a lake created by a dam managed by the Tennessee Valley Authority with quiet, secluded little spots. The kids have pretty much outgrown the playgrounds they used to rate so we now opt for more quiet and outdoor options.

Our spot was situated on a little peninsula with a nice view of the lake and easy access to the trails. We met our neighbors and were set up in no time. We had one of the kids' favorite Trader Joe's meals for dinner - veggie burgers on pretzel buns.

And this is what happens when the kids play with the camera while I cook!

Once the sunset glow started we took a walk around our little peninsula for a look at the water. The ducks were telling us goodnight as we watched the sun duck behind the mountains.

After all was cleaned up we slipped into our pajamas and read a chapter from our new book - The Middle Moffat. The kids were giggling through the whole first chapter so I'm thinking we might have another great summer trip book! We were very thankful to go to sleep to gentle wind instead of rain this night.