For our inaugural family camping trip we kept it simple. One night in a riverside campground with restroom facilities, nearby nature hikes, hot dogs for dinner, smores for dessert, and all the fun one little boy can have with sticks and rocks and bugs and creeks. You get the idea. We left our home around 11:00AM on Saturday, after Gavin's morning nap, and arrived exactly one hour later for our 12:00PM check-in.
We chose Elkmont, a popular family campground known for it's unique history, spring time synchronous firefly show, and occasional bear encounters. There were lots of other families and retired cross-country RVers around. Good wholesome fun. Our friends with small children recommended the campground as a great place to break in our future treker. There was some construction near the trailhead, but Gavin liked seeing the tractors, so it all worked out.
We expected Gavin to fall asleep in the truck on our way out there, but he mostly enjoyed staring out the windows as we twisted and turned our way into the mountains. When we finally arrived at our destination he was excited about checking out his new surroundings.
He started showing signs of being ready for his afternoon nap so Casey took him inside the tent to see if we could get him to go down. He really enjoyed being inside the fort, er I mean tent. The excitement made it hard for him to settle down for a nap, so Casey eventually gave up and we prepared for our hike on the Little River trail.
While in the baby backback, Gavin began getting really cranky. He was sooo tired. I had to leave Gavin and Casey and return to the campsite to get Gavin's "night-night" blanket. I am not looking forward to breaking the "night-night" blanket habit when the time comes. Lord help us all. Anyhow, when I returned from operation blanket retrieval this was the scene I stumbled upon. How perfect is this? I sure know how to pick 'em.
With blanket and "tomato ball" in hand, we were finally on our way to the Little River trailhead, which tells the story of old Elkmont, an old turn-of-the-century mountain town, built by affluent Knoxvillians who wanted a summer retreat from the city. The campground was the center of town and the trails are actually old gravel roads, dotted with long-forgotten summer homes, the residential area. the national park service began buying up the property back in the 1930's, buying the last one in the mid 1990s. Slowly the old structures are being torn down and the forest is returning to its natural state. Being the sucker I am for good stories and historical places, I enjoyed being able to explore one of the last remaining homes; though technically I don't think I was allowed to be on the premise. We didn't see the "No public allowed sign" until on our way back. Oops.
To think this four bedroom, two bath summer get-a-way used to be someone's grand vacation home. I love the high ceilings and sky-light windows. Not to mention the sassy red doors and how the dining room opened up onto a covered back porch that looked over the Little River. I would love to be able to reclaim some of the wood beams for the future construction of my dream sustainable home!
We left the house and began our journey down the gravel road. I especially loved the delicate spider webs. I wouldn't have even noticed them if I hadn't stooped down to get a closer look at a wildflower. When I looked up, I saw these tiny architectural wonders shimmering in the sun. They couldn't have been more than 2-3 inches in diameter. Tiny wonders indeed!
Gavin finally decided to take his nap while we were on our little nature walk. Figures. He did look awfully cute though,of course I'm a bit bias. One older lady said, "what a way to begin life - in nature, well-rested." An older gentleman looked at our young family, sleeping toddler on daddy's back, and said "you'll remember this day forever." I think he was right. The weather was perfect, just warm enough, sunny and crisp. Casey and I were tickled and from time-to-time even found ourselves holding hands, commenting on how much we love our little family and how nice it was to be out in our element with just each other and our son. So sweet.
Like clockwork, Gavin woke up just as we were walking out of the woods back into the campgrounds. He was ready to play! We ate snacks - fresh fruit and veggies, yummy dip, dried figs, and cheese-and-crackers. Gavin prefered to have his snacks on the table, as opposed to at the table. He especially enjoyed practicing his dipping skills, and we allowed it until he dipped his entire hand in the jar.
After snacks it was time to build the fire. "Hot?" Gavin would ask. "Yes, fire is very hot. Don't touch," We would tell him. He stayed a safe distance from the flames, but never one to be left out of the action, he still managed to get a few logs on the fire.
We spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening playing ball in a nearby meadow, playing with sticks near our campsite, climbing and running, checking out the creeks, and eating hot dogs and smores. Being so close to bedtime we opted for a chocolate-less smore. I know, for shame! There will be plenty of time for choclate smores down the road.
Finally it was dark and time to start the process of getting Gavin to bed inside the tent.
I laid down with him until he fell asleep and then Casey and I enjoyed a couple hours to ourselves around the campfire. Then we snuggled up on either side of Gavin and went to sleep ourselves. Gavin did wake up once and it took about an hour to get cranky Gavin back to sleep. Morning came, we made coffee on our stove, fed our toddler son a marshmellow and honey bun for breakfast. Yes, we'll be taking the parents-of-the-year award. We don't typically feed our son high fructose corn syrup and lard for breakfast, but we figured what the heck, it's his first camping trip. A little more junk food, before we get back to our regular eating habits, won't hurt. We packed up our gear and were on the road back to civilization by 9:00AM.
The weather coming home was overcast, wet and chilly - a perfect ending to a perfect camping trip and great way to usher in the fall. Now if only those stubborn leaves would change, that's when the real fun begins.
