Weekend Getaway

This weekend was hubby's long weekend off from work - he had off Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We decided to take advantage of the time and get away!

I spent all day Thursday packing clothes and loading the van up with pillows, covers, enough food and drinks for 3 days and plenty of movies, coloring books and crayons.

When hubby got home from work, we strapped in the kids and hit the road!

We drove for about 9 hours and made our first stop in Columbia, SC. We got a hotel room for the night to recharge. In the morning we got back into the van and drove around Columbia for a little bit. Pretty cool looking city, lots of large buildings with interesting architecture. After a quick drive around downtown we drove about another hour to Fort Mill, SC. We spent the afternoon here, driving around and stopping for lunch at a Chik-fil-A. We wanted to check out this area because it is one of the areas we are considering moving to in the future. It was a very cute city. There were some really beautiful homes there as well as some open land. There were a few shopping areas. It is not an overly developed city...yet. It seems like it used to be a very small town, all residential, and slowly businesses and home developers have been making their way over.

We want to be in Charlotte, NC but Fort Mill, SC is right on the border and we have been told the taxes are less in South Carolina and the school system is better. Plus, it is only a ten minute drive into Charlotte. So, this is a location we are really considering now.

Our main goal for the weekend was to do some camping. So after driving around for a bit we got back on the interstate and headed to Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

We drove onto the mountain and pitched our tent just before the sun began to set. Since this is not peak season, we were able to get a great site, alone and right in front of a creek. It was beautiful!

The kids entertained themselves by digging around for worms and other bugs. There were plenty of beautiful butterflies for them to chase too.

We cooked hot dogs over the fire for dinner.

Then for dessert we roasted marshmallows.

We were all really tired from all the driving around so we actually went to bed shortly after eating our marshmallows.

Saturday morning, hubby made breakfast over the campfire; eggs, bacon, toast, grapes and juice.

After we ate, we cleaned up and took a few more pictures.

Then we went for a short hike up the mountain and had the opportunity to see a beautiful waterfall.

After we came down from the mountain we hopped back into the van. We drove just a couple miles in hopes of visiting a museum of preserved log cabins and the like, but a bad storm was rolling in. We went into the visitor center in hopes of finding something to keep us busy until the rain stopped. As it turned out, it was Junior Park Ranger day. All kids from age 5-12 could participate in free activities, then take an oath to preserve and protect the forest and then they receive a certificate and badge that says they are a Junior Park Ranger. Even though Gigi is not quite 5 yet, they still let her participate.

She made a beeswax candle in the shape of a flower, a corn shuck doll, a buzz toy and a piece of pottery.

By the time she was done and had her certificate and badge in hand, the rain was coming down even harder. So, at that point we decided it was probably best to just head home.

We got back at about 2 in the morning.

I wish we could have stayed longer. I definitely want to go back again and for at least 3 days at the campsite.

It was tons of fun!!