On to the Good Stuff - Memorial Day, Day 2

So, after writing about how I was so shortsighted to be worried about the rest of the weekend, I finally get to tell you why the rest of the weekend was so fabulous. Don't worry that I'll clutter the story with pictures, since I forgot my camera every single time we got out of the car.

The second day dawned and I had new resolve. We were going to have a good time, dammit! If it killed us! We wanted to check out the arts festival happening in town over the weekend, but we also wanted to hike. We planned the festival first, just to give it a look, and discovered that there was a playground smack in the middle of it. Of course we got out and let Caetlin play for awhile. We looked at the art, which trended toward the mountainy folk-art kind of stuff (plus some guy playing "classics" like, "Tears in Heaven" and "Unchained Melody" on the Native American pan flute. I put "classics" in quotes like that because- come on, people! A Native American pan flute? Doesn't that sound wrong to you? Yet it doesn't convey how truly wrong it actually was). We bought some stuff, mostly because I can't help myself whenever I see an artisanal soap maker. We debated driving out to the hike we wanted to take, versus taking Caetlin home and to nap. She had been playing hard and walking a lot; again we thought we had worn her out. We bought some fair food (my diet steered me away from the funnel cake and toward the roasted ear of corn. With no butter. Italics cannot sufficiently establish the horror inherent in that choice. The corn was lovely, but- funnel cake!) and a roasted sweet potato for Caetlin, who ate it for the next two days.

We took her home, fed her lunch and put her down. Again. And again she defied all reason and logic and the needs of her body and stayed awake. Only for about 2 hours this time, and when she went down, she went down hard- for over 2 hours. It was getting later in the afternoon when she woke up, and we had to decide whether we wanted to chance trying the hike that we wanted.

Unfortunately for us, the "family friendly" hikes that we scouted in the vicinity were generally about an hour's drive away. I don't mind that; the drives are pretty and Caetlin is generally very good in the car. But it does make for tricky planning when you have to add at least two hours' travel time just to do a 1.2 mile hike.

She got up at about 5:30, and we decided to go for it, throwing everything into the car and driving on out. Am I glad we did. The trail was gorgeous: well-maintained, easy, through lovely forest, starting down near Cooper's Creek, which is a stereotypical mountain spring (think soap commercial) and climbing through several different phases of woodlands. We put Caetlin on my back, and though she really wanted to walk, we distracted her with songs and counting (it's a favorite of hers to count with us or to hear us count to her) and asking her what different animals say. It was a truly nice hike, despite that we turned the wrong way down a T-intersection of the trail, and didn't actually complete the specific trail we were on.

I want to pause for a minute to say a little about Cooper's Creek. We drove what felt like forever, mostly on National Forest Service roads that are only numbered; it seriously felt like we were in the middle of freakin' nowhere. Like people might emerge from behind the trees if we stopped and confirm all our worst stereotypes about mountain folk. If there were any people, that is; we literally felt like we were a thousand miles from civilization. But there is a campground near Cooper's Creek Recreation Area, and I have to say, that place was hopping! Every campsite taken. Who knew? There were probably 20 or 30 campsites back there, every one with several people hanging around. Kids playing in the stream, tons of people fishing, dogs lounging around- it was such a surprise after 30 minutes of the least-populated nothing you've ever seen.

Anyway, we made it home okay, having to turn and head back after maybe a mile, just because we were losing daylight and wanted to get Caetlin home and down for bed at a reasonable hour. But it was thoroughly enjoyable, a great end to a really nice day.

To be continued.