Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Camping at Turkey Run

Last weekend, we took the kids down to Turkey Run for a weekend of camping.  Honestly, though I’d never been to Turkey Run before, I wasn’t really looking forward to the trip.  Life has been crazy and busy, and both Keith and I would have been glad to stay home for an ordinary weekend. 

Since we’d planned the trip months ago, and since we knew the kids were really wanting to go camping again, we got ready & headed out on our trip.

The camper had some electrical issues, and most of the 2+ hour drive was made without turn signals or brake lights.  We made a few stops at auto parts stores and a Ford dealership for fuses and lightbulbs, which turned our 2+ hour drive into a 3+ hour drive.  I don’t think we’ll forget that drive any time soon!

Thankfully, the CAMPING part of the trip was very worthwhile!  The weather was BEAUTIFUL, and we had a great time!

early morning snuggle with Daddy…

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random campsite photos…

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Jensyn’s point of view (yes, she took over the camera for a while…)

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more random campsite photos…

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Alex made a new friend…ironically his name was Alex…and our boys and the other Alex spent a LOT of time riding their bikes around the road that looped near our site.

Jensyn couldn’t keep up, so Mommy walked around very slowly with her Smile

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at the nature center…

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Our first time hiking with the kids…we were prepared for crying and complaining, but they LOVED it and would have gladly continued!

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This little girl was AMAZING!
Though we did carry her through some slippery places and a few big climbs, she did a LOT of hiking on her own!  We were so impressed with her!

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This little guy knows NO FEAR.  At one point, he was CLIMBING OVER the railing at a scenic overlook that has a HUGE drop-off.  We had to keep him really close to a grown-up at all times!

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And, finally, THIS little guy was adventurous, wet, and muddy by the time we finished!
Alex wore his crocs (instead of tennis shoes like the rest of us), so he stomped through every bit of water he could find and waded in the streams.  His pants were SOAKED!

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We hiked all of trails 1, 6, and 7.  Since the suspension bridge is still closed, we would have needed to load 3 car seats into a shuttle bus (car seats are required) in order to get to the other side of Sugar Creek.  When we were ready to return, we’d have to wait for the correct shuttle bus (the one with our car seats in the back…) in order to go back to the nature center.  So we opted to stay on our side of the creek just for convenience!

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Max didn’t want any more picture, so I just got these two cuties…

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It is SO BEAUTIFUL …

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There’s nothing like hiking way down and then looking UP to realize
what an amazing world God has created!

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We also spent an afternoon in the (CHILLY!) pool water…
Alex took pictures of us:

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…and of himself, as he does all the time lately…

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…and then he asked me to take one of him by the pool…

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At the end of a beautiful weekend, we packed up the camper and made the (turn signal-less and brake light-less) trip back home, and (thank you Lord) we arrived home safely!  Our camper is now at Campland, awaiting repairs. 

We’ve got one more camping trip planned for this year, as long as our camper is repaired & ready to go!  I’m pretty confident, though, that Turkey Run is going to be my favorite trip of the year.  It’s definitely on my “must do” list of campgrounds for next year!

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