We set out for a Thanksgiving weekend adventure with Alan, Renee, Catherine, and Harrison Hughes on Black Friday! Much better than going through all of the crazy shopping!! We met the Hughes at the Sonaraville Recreation Center on Friday at 10 am. We had to take 3 cars because of all the supplies and the pop up that I was pulling with the truck! I had told Renee that we were going to a fairly remote area in the Cohutta Wilderness, but I’m not sure describing it is ever enough! As we left the pavement and headed on to Forestry Service Roads, I would imagine the Hughes thought we were all going to die! What made it even better was that almost exactly where the pavement ended we came across a horse drawn wagon heading the other way! It really felt like we were leaving the present and headed into the past! That was even cool to me and there is no way we could have planned it better! So, on we went into the wilderness!
We arrived at Cottonwood Patch Campground around Noon and found all but 2 campsites open. We picked a good campsite near the Vault toilet because as I would learn later, Renee goes to the restroom almost as often as I do! Having taught with her for many years, I never noticed that because we were almost always on opposite ends of the building! I pulled the pop up camper into the site and unhooked the truck. I had to pull through a muddy area which is used for horses (Did I mention Cottonwood is designed especially for horses even though everyone is welcome?) I slid a little in the mud, but moved on through. I should have known this was a foreshadowing of things to come, but I missed the sign!
We set up the camper first which we used for all the kids since it would be warmer, then set up the 2 tents including a new one I had never set up. All in all, it went very smooth! Of course, it might have helped that we sent all the kids and Beast to play on the trail down to the Conasauga River while we set up! Some things the kids are very helpful with, but setting up camp is not one of them!
With camp set up and the cars empty, we loaded the kids in the back of the truck (Yes, I know that isn’t supposed to be done today, but I loved it and survived as a kid and on these dirt roads I was sure they would have a blast and it would be safe!) We wanted to show the Hughes more of the wilderness so we crossed into Tennessee and the Cherokee Wilderness and did some exploring and sightseeing. We actually found a waterfall alongside the road that we had never seen before. Either it had been missing water o the trees had blocked it, but this time of year it was amazing! We were planning on stopping by it on the way back to camp, but we ended up having other issues!
After a nice drive, I noticed my tire pressure drop in the front driver’s tire. I have had this experience in the Cohutta before so I kept watching. As it dropped, I headed straight back to camp. We made it without the pressure going too low, but I really did not want to change another tire. Instead, I used a kit we bought that was supposed to repair the tire. It did not work as easy as it said, but after 3 tries the pressure held. It held for the rest of the weekend including a 40-mile drive to Lake Conasauga and back! I was impressed. Still have to get it permanently plugged, but at least now I know this stuff works!
After some time around the fire and some smores for dessert, we headed to bed for what was a very cold night! The kids were warm in the camper and we had tons of blankets, so for the most part it wasn’t too cold! I’m not sure Alan agreed as he woke up the next morning saying he could not feel his toes. I got a good fire going to try to help the morning chill! No frost so it probably didn’t go below freezing, but it was a cold 35 degrees. No wind or rain at least.
After a good hot breakfast, we loaded up again with a repaired tire and headed back to the falls we had seen the day before. They were really pretty even though not huge. Beast, of course, hit the water regardless of how cold it was and then went to the top of the falls with all of us. It was a great little climb and we got some great pictures. Beast was really fired up and Harrison loves sticks. Not a good combination as Beast jumped for the stick Harrison was waving and bowled him over with a scratch on the face. It blended with the scratches from Victoria, his 3-year-old sister, but it made him a little more cautious with Beast! Beast is still a baby at heart, but in size he does not know his strength or the fact that 54 pounds can knock someone over. We wrapped up our time at the falls and headed back to Cottonwood.
We decided to pack a picnic lunch and head on up to Lake Conasauga so we would have more time! It is a long, but beautiful drive up the mountain, with a few photo ops on the way up! Once we got to the Lake, we had lunch and then hiked around the lake. Beast and the kids had a blast playing and of course he had to hit the water. It was a little too cold for the kids, including Seth, who will usually swim almost any time. After the hike, we had a nice drive down the mountain.
After resting for a little while, Phyllis cooked an amazing dinner of BBQ Pork Chops and chicken, baked beans, potatoes, and corn. It was a great meal even though it was cooked and eaten in the dark. The only issue I had was keeping my diet coke. Elisha let Beast go on his leash and my diet coke went flying. Harrison and the kids were playing a game and my second diet coke went flying. I took out the third one myself as I went to sit it on a log and missed. May be a sign I’m drinking too much diet coke!
At first, the night seemed warmer because the day had been beautiful, but the temp dropped fast. It ended up going down to 26 degrees and frost was everywhere the next morning. I don’t think Alan understood my ice-cold diet coke as I was cooking breakfast. He had been up before me and did an amazing job getting the fire going with some wet wood. It was nice to have the fire when I got up. Of course, the funniest part of the story happened before I made it out of bed.
Read on at your own risk! I was sleeping so well, buried down under the blankets. That’s when Beast started to whine. He does great sleeping all night is his crate, but when he has to go, he has to go. So, I rolled off the air mattress and started to stand up. As I did, I got a massive cramp in my leg and fell backwards. When I get these kind of cramps, I don’t realize it, but I tend to yell a lot in pain. I couldn’t reach it to massage it, so I started yelling for Phyllis to help. Apparently, I yelled “Oh GOD! Oh GOD, Phyllis!!! Oh, GOD!” Now, you can imagine how someone else hearing that might interpret it, but it got worse. As Phyllis came flying up out from under the covers from a dead sleep, she grabbed my calf and started to massage. Of course, I was still yelling and twisting trying to get the cramp to stop. Now, apparently in my pain and suffering, I released some stress, as Phyllis calls it. I did not hear it myself, but I seem to have let out a massive FART! I had no idea, but finally the cramp let up and I stopped yelling. As I lay there trying to recover and Phyllis looked at me like she wanted to beat me, I heard Abby in the camper right beside our tent. She started yelling, “OH, GOD, OH God… and then WHOOOOOOSH!” Making a loud fart sound. I then heard all five kids burst into massive laughter! From Renee’s tent, I heard her call out, “I heard that too!!!” Then more laughter. Abby must have done her lines at least 10 times and each time the kids rolled in laughter again! I was very glad I could be so entertaining in my pain and in releasing my stress! I’m pretty sure that story will be repeated by the kids for a LONG time!
After breakfast, we broke camp and hooked up the camper. We had one more challenge! As I tried to pull the camper out, the truck got stuck! That mud came back to get me! It took us all, but we managed to get it moving and hook the camper up! We loaded everything else up and were ready to head out! We could tell Alan was anxious to get back to Victoria, who didn’t make this trip! We took Catherine and Harrison with us for our “coming out of the woods lunch” in Chatsworth! We usually do Pizza Hut, but we opted for Mexican instead! After dropping the kids off we headed home, unpacked and crashed! It was a great weekend and the Hughes were real troopers, especially considering it was their first camping trip. Looking forward to some future adventures!
