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Roughing it but not really






Chris found a fun coupon for a rafting company called "Rafting with My Kids" and we decided to build a camping trip around the rafting expedition. We invited our friends, the Mehalics, to join us and we had a great time together. We met them last Friday night at the Timberlake Campground near Whittier, NC and we couldn't have picked a better weekend to go. The weather was perfect for camping, not too hot and cool enough in the evening to enjoy a camp fire and a warm blanket in a tent. TC was a great campground and we had a good spot next to a running creek that I enjoyed listening to as I tried to sleep (my sleeping in a tent skills are a little rusty apparently). 


Lauten enjoying a s'more. We are claiming him as a cousin with his cute red hair! 


We started the evening mooching a few hamburgers off of our friends and enjoying playing games and cooking massive marshmallows on an expertly crafted fire. Chris Mehalic shared an excellent tip for s'more construction: marshmallows squish much better when placed vertically on the graham rather than horizontally, which came in handy due to the massiveness of the marshmallows he brought (they were at least twice as big as the ones we normally cook, so fun!). The kids had fun playing with glow sticks, which completed the evening in their kid brains.




The grown-ups enjoyed chatting by the fire after the kids went to bed, sipping gourmet root beers supplied by the Mehalics, and then we all headed to bed properly sugared. The boys did a great job sleeping in the tent and woke up after a good nights sleep!







Camping breakfast is sacred and must be properly approached, and I did my best with buttermilk pancakes (from scratch, no mixes! yuck!!!), eggs, bacon and sausage (cooked over the fire in my favorite cast iron skillet), berries, and an impressive selection of pancake toppings. It was worth waking up to (and something I don't mind repeating if you want to invite us on your next camping trip). After breakfast we parted ways with the Mehalics to go on our rafting trip while they went fishing and explored some local towns.





"Rafting with My Kids" was accurately named and executed. I was really happy with the way that they accommodated our boys. They were even familiar with cochlear implants, which was nice! We went on the trip with about 5-6 other groups and several guides, and it was fun to have the other kids along as well. They supplied the kids with water guns so that we could "attack" the other boats as we floated down the cool river in our inflated raft. We did encounter some "white water," class one and two rapids which were perfect for us newbies. The guides helped us to navigate the white water and helped us to find a couple of "beaches" on the river bank to take breaks. The "beaches" were sandy and sparkly from a high concentration of mica, and Rowan had a great time playing in the sand (and insisted on bringing a cup full home with us). We had a great time! We even had a little brush with Hollywood magic. The river was used for a scene from the film "The Fugitive." Remember the impressive bus/train crash? It didn't take place in Illinois but in NC. The film crew left behind the wreckage as a tourist attraction for the locals.




Comments

Amy said…
So fun! You guys sure know how to live. ;)
June 20, 2013 at 1:45 PM
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