We left the house Wednesday morning with the van packed pretty full, the bikes on the hitch and Arrow on the floor in front of the girls seats. We found a random truck stop with a mini dog park and took a little break there then stopped in Herman for lunch. Of course we found a brewery to eat at.
Actually we went into the wrong place first around the corner.
We even got Arrow all setup.
The beers and the lunch was awesome. We ended up getting a 12 pack to go and an extra pizza to eat for dinner. The rest of the drive was pretty slow and winding. On the way in we stopped at Elephant Rocks to stretch our legs and right away made our way up the granite.
The place is a lot of fun and a lot like a natural playground. You can climb over
under
through
the boulders and there is lots of cool stuff to see.
Once we saw enough we headed another 20 min on to the net state park and the home of our cabin.
It was way bigger and nicer then we were planning and we moved right in.
There were 2 large rooms and that big deck. Wednesday evening we just got settled in and unpacked and ate pizza. Then we went for a little hike in the dark around the campground. There were several campers in cabins but the large tent area was nearly empty. We slept good and Arrow did great in our room with us.
In the morning we slept in late and then got cooking breakfast. I made eggs, sausage and pancakes while the girls got ready and gathered some wood.
We took our time and once breakfast was done and we were all cleaned up we bundled up warm and headed over to the shut-ins.
Arrow had to hang out in the car and we hiked a bit along a boardwalk until we got to the actual shut-ins.
Then we headed down into the rock and explored.
The elephant rocks were real rough and course and the rocks at the shut-ins were mostly nice and smooth from the water.
Somehow we managed to stay dry the whole time. It eventually warmed up and the sun came out.
It got really pretty out.
We climbed up an appetite and headed down to get Arrow and find a pick-nick spot.
We found a nice little shelter near a playground and started building BLT sandwiches.
We ate lunch, played with Arrow and gathered a bunch of firewood from fallen trees while the girls played at the playground.
The park was pretty empty so we did some testing, ridding our bikes and holding Arrow’s leash while she ran.
She did a great job and it worked really well so we decided to leave the van and bike the 2 miles back to the cabin.
It was a nice ride.
Once back at the cabin I jogged back to the van and brought it to the cabin. Then we rested in the hammock.
We hung around camp a bit then went for a little hike around the campground.
We stopped by the amphitheater for a little show.
and played at another playground.
Once back at camp we started a fire and got dinner going.
While we were cooking dinner, the girls made appetizers by sticking cocktail wieners on sticks over the fire.
They were tasted really good and the girls loved cooking them so I plan to do this again.
Dinner was really good and dessert was not half bad.
The next morning we slept in late. It was pretty cold out so we took our time getting going and with breakfast.
Then we headed out to hike the Scour Trail.
It started as a normal wooded hike but it went down to the creek and followed the creek bed.
We were never sure if we were really on the trail but we found the end and realized we really were on the trail. Then we hiked a bit more at the Shut Ins but stayed on the boardwalk up above the rocks.
The weather was not bad in the morning but it was supposed to rain in the afternoon. We went back to the cabin and I got a tarp setup to cook under and got lunch cooking. We also got out the board-games.
It lightly rained all afternoon but we had a great time playing LIFE and being goofy.
The rain let up after the game and we headed back to Elephant Rocks.
We did some more exploring
and climbing around
It did rain a bit but really light and brief
Luckily we had left the wood on the covered deck and after we headed back to the campsite we cooked dinner and then a nice dutch oven full of brownies.
We reorganized the cabin and all moved into the back bedroom so the main room could be cleared and headed to bed a bit late. Even later the Sanders family showed up. They setup in the main room and went to sleep.
Each morning we pretty much all got up once Arrow got too restless and winy to go back to sleep. I would try to sneak her out but it was a bit loud to pull off.
It was another chilly morning but not raining like we feared and after breakfast we got busy showing the Sanders around.
The moms did some jogging and exploring on trail,
while Jon and I followed the kids.
It was really fun and everyone did great until we decided to cross the creek.
As you would expect the kids all got really wet. We dried out a bit on the shore then got back into the rocks with the moms and I got the camera out.
For some reason that was about the end of me taking pictures. We had another big pick-nick lunch that was really good at the same playground. Then we went to Elepheant rocks and climbed all over them most of the afternoon.
We went back to camp and and got a big fire going and had fun making dinner and smores.
Sunday morning we ate up leftovers and made some oatmeal and then got busy packing, cleaning up camp and loading the van. The Sanders were just starting their spring break and went off other ways and we headed home. We let the girls watch movies and Heather tried to rest but the windy roads were bothering her. We ended up getting lunch at a little diner and some ice cream too.
We were beat when we got home but went ahead and got most of our stuff put away and cleaned up. Then we watched movies and relaxed on the couch till bedtime.