Wednesday, April 14, 2010

The W’s Come to TN!

In March, the W’s came to TN to see their son in Nashville, and then they came and stayed with us for a few days! Glenna and I had so much fun together! They arrived Wednesday afternoon, and we went to youth group. Thursday morning, we went up in the forest to explore, but were attacked by the neighbor dogs. That was no fun! There wasn’t any serious harm done, but Glenna got quite a few bites on her legs and arms. I only got one little scratch on my elbow.

Later that day, we went to see the (other) W’s, who were staying at their property for spring break.

025 026 Bekah is a great navigator.

027 She liked this hole.

028 We all followed in her navigating ways.

029 I look like I’m dancing. ;)

030 Bekah chose this cave for us to stay in for the night.

031 034 Don’t do it Bekah! We love you!

038 Look! It’s Bentley! Bentley is Bekah dog. :)

039 043 It took us a lot of tries to get this picture right. :)

047 049 When walked all the way up to their cabin, which was next to a clearing. Behind the cabin was the outdoor bathroom.

050 I really have no idea why this was out there! It was a bit strange!

051 Bekah decided to open the toilet. Yeah, that’s a good idea.

052 053 054 It really didn’t stink, but this was just in case. :D

055 The sink.

056 This was the cabin. We thought that our dads, who were already at the cabin, had the key, but they didn’t. We were so close to getting in. the door could even partly open, but it had a lock on it.

057 There was an outhouse next to the cabin. It was the real bathroom. :D

058 You had to walk up stone steps to get to it.

059 Bekah had to go in that to, of course.

060 061 062 064 When we came out of the bathroom, Glenna told us about this ancient Indian relic she found.

065 Bekah asked me to take a picture of her under this tree. She really shouldn’t have.

068

See her wet clothes? I shook the tree.

072There were a lot of interesting things in the leaves.

067 069 I have absolutely no idea what this is. I think Glenna decided it was a stove the cowboys used.

070 071 On the other side of the clearing were more interesting things. 074 075 Bekah and I went a little ways down the path on this side of the clearing, and when we came back we found Glenna standing like this.

076 “This is an ancient tree from the time of the Cavemen.”

Thankfully, Tim and Mr. W had driven up while we were there, so we didn’t have to walk all the way down! "(It really is a long hike!)

077 Oh yeah. I’ve always wanted to ride in the back of a pickup.

078 There were chainsaws back there too. Bekah almost lost a leg. (Is it just me, or does she look EXACTLY like Shannon in this picture??)

079

081 084 We had to keep ducking because the tree branches were attacking us.

085 087 They went gangsta.

091 I’ll post about the other part of the W’s stay soon.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Margarette Falls

A couple Saturdays ago, it was a beautiful day, so we went on our first exploration of the year: Margarette Falls! It’s so great that these kinds of things are so close to us now. :)

(sorry there are so many photos!)

001 002

Twas a gorgeous day!

004 Rhododendrons! Beautiful in June!

005 The trail was easy at the beginning.007 008 The Boys started picking up cool rocks they found.

009 Soon we could see water!

010 013 I have no idea.

014 015 016 017
019
021 022 024 025 Josh loves doing this kind of thing.

026

028
030 032 This picture was an accident, but it looks like my dad is standing on a gigantic tree! :D

033 Halfway there: the trail started getting harder.

034 035 037 038
040(2) 041 042

043 044 045
048 We had to walk over many rock bridges like this on the trail.

049 050 051 These rocks were HUGE!

052 053 054
057

Another “bridge” we had to walk over. 058 059 We even had to walk over logs! It was quite the hike.

060

062 064 065 066
068 069 072 073 We walked next to this gigantic cliff- it went straight up!

074(2) Finally we arrived at the falls!

074 Unedited :)

075 076 077(2) 077 Picnic!

079 080 081 Soon Josh was down here skipping and throwing rocks, like he loves to do!

083
086 087 089 They’re such crazies :)

093 094 He hit the top. He’s got quite the arm. :)

095 096 It was also cold from the spray of the falls!

097 098 099

103 Dad then proceeded to freak us all out. Thing is, he used to do stuff like this all the time when he was growing up as an MK.

105 106 107 108 That gives you some perspective for the size of the falls.


110 111 112 113 Then Josh went up there, and Mom really started to get worried. :)

114(2) 114 Don’t worry, they made it back. :)

115(2)
115 116 118 119 Eventually we had to leave the falls. They really were gorgeous!


121 122123 124 I really like this picture, for some reason.

126 127
129 131 132 133 134 148

It’s so fun to go to places like this, especially since they’re only a short drive away! :)