A Family Affair

Day 3 started at the Noccalula Campsite right outside Noccalula falls.  You're probably wondering, WHAT exactly, Noccalula ANYTHING is.  To be completely honest, I couldn't even spell Noccalula before today, and to continue being completely honest, I had to check google before posting this.  

The legend of Cherokee Indian Princess Noccalula dates from antiquity in the regions of northeast Alabama, U.S., where the Cherokee nation once thrived. According to legend, Princess Noccalula was the beautiful daughter of a powerful Cherokee chief and was deeply in love with a brave from her own tribe. Despite her wishes to marry this young warrior, she was promised by her father to a Creek Indian chief who had more bounty to offer for her hand. Her lover was banished from the tribe, and Noccalula was forced to ready herself for the arranged marriage. On the day of the wedding she allowed herself to be arrayed in ceremonial attire and obediently but reluctantly attended the marriage feast. In the midst of the merrymaking, Noccalula quietly slipped away and wandered through the forests of her childhood, coming eventually to the beautiful waterfall near her tribal home. Rather than subject herself to a loveless marriage, she jumped from the precipice near the falls and ended her life on the rocks below.

So I took my kids to the Indian Princess Suicide site.  I blame Tammi Murphy for this.  She told me if we got close, we should visit, that it's one of the most beautiful places she's ever been.  We hiked to behind the falls.  I'll let you judge:

First view of the falls from the trail

Right behind the falls in the cliff cave

From the side

A mile hike in.  I am so proud of those kids of mine!

From the beach below the falls.

Not too shabby, right?  THANK YOU, TAMMI!!!!!!  Kayleigh enjoyed hiking for her first time, even though we were hot and sweaty by the time we were done.

We ate a picnic lunch, fed some animals...

and headed two and a half hours east to an Atlanta suburb to see some of the most outstanding people you will ever meet.  They happen to be my cousins.  I am in no way biased.

Lenny, Sue, Ginny, Caylee, and Brandon were impeccable hosts.  Hamburgers for dinner, then swim lessons, real beds, TV, and showers with water pressure.  I really can't say enough about the hospitality of this wonderful family.  We are so blessed!

Off to bed I go!  Tomorrow is a new day :)

Some Beach, Somewhere...but specifically Pensacola, FL

Leaving Baton Rough.  456 miles down, ??? to go!

We continued our adventure to the east with a stop in Pensacola, FL.

Back in the day, I was stationed at NATTC Pensacola for AT-O A-school.  It was a weird time in my life, but with fun in the sun, beach volleyball, and sand, sand, and more sand!

We pulled through P'cola, through Gulf Breeze, and over the bridge to Santa Rosa Island.  We walked the boardwalk, ate a yummy dinner with the salt breeze cooling us.  We put our toes in the sand and looked forward to tomorrow.

  We found our camp site at Ft. Pickens National Park, right on Santa Rosa Island.  After we set up the tent, we went to watch the sunset over one of the cannon stations, but missed the event.

Tomorrow is another day.

We got up early.  Like, stupid early.  5:30.  I checked my phone and found that sunrise over Ft. Pickens was at 5:50.  Kayleigh and I put three sleepy headed, pajama clad kiddos in the car and drove a quarter of a mile to another cannon bastile.  We were just in time.

Since we were up, and swimsuits were in the car, we opted to take the beach while it was cool and we had the place to ourselves.

The kids, of course, were excited!

I left my camera in my purse (sandy, wet cameras tend to not work as well), so you'll just have to take my word that we had a BLAST!  First, we chased ghost crabs across the beach into the surf.  Then, we covered Gannon in sand and gave him a mermaid tail.  Then, we watched dolphins (YES, HOLY GEEZ, WE SAW DOLPHINS) swim 100 yards behind us.  

By 0800, we were all swam out, and ventured to Ft. Pickens.

Ft. Pickens was both a Revolutionary and Civil War Fort, used to protect the Bay of Pensacola.  It was one of 4 forts in the bay, and a beautiful historic site.

The kids (and I) were amazed that the cannon holder is made of OAK.  Wood.  Crazy. 

This room was filled with gun powder!

Looking out on a series of tunnels that were used to run supply loads.

Prison.  They're lucky I let them out... ;-)

We had a fantastic time, the kids earned their Jr. Ranger badges.  It was hot, we'd started early, so we loaded the car, and Annika was asleep before we'd left the island.  

 We headed North to.........

NorCal and Oregon - Over Half Way Done!

August was upon us.  We left Utah and began our trek across the most boring state in the Union, Nevada.  Seriously.  The kids watched hours of movies in between 2 gas stops.  The only neat part was the very Western section which includes the Great Salt Flats.  Salt for miles.  We were able to stop the van, pull to the side, hop out and grab hands full of salt!  We walked around for half an hour, got back in the car, and watched X-Men:First Class again, and again, and again..............................

Our drive into California took us through Lassen Volcanic National Park.  It is one of the most serene places I have visited.  As we came off Rout 395 from Reno and rounded into Susanville, radio reports gave me the impression we may be in for delays and detours due to a wildfire in the park.  While we weren't delayed or re-routed, we were able to capture the pillar of smoke coming from deep in the forest, blending with the clouds.  The shadow it cast with the smell of burning lumber and brush was heavy, but seemed very far away.

We stayed with my husbands parents in Redding, and were able to meet up with old, wonderful friends.  Ken and Linda (Gordon's parents), Laurie and Joe (Alia's grandparents) with cousins, aunts and uncles, plus the bonus of Eric, Diane, and Erica Rapport met us at Manzanita Lake for a day of hiking, picnicking  

And a little bit of R&R for this Jolly Camper

A beautiful sunset wished us fair well as we headed to Redding, CA for a few days of friends and family.

 We spent about three days getting FAT.  We ate In-n-Out Burger, we had a potluck with dear old friends, we had Grandmas cooking, and we rested.  

 We rested till the 4th of August.  

Then we had captives.

We dragged (very willingly dragged) Ken and Linda (ok, maybe they dragged us.  Very willingly dragged us) to the southern Oregon coast line.  We spent the night in a charming little cabin by the ocean.  The sea air, seagulls and freshly picked blackberries met us in the morning.  Siri and Alia had gone exploring and fed us their bounty of juicy, coastal berries.  Delish!  

Brookings, OR Harris Beach was a cloudy, cool day to climb rocks, find shells, and play in the sand.  Annika hadn't seen the Pacific ocean before, and was in awe of its size.  She ran from the waves with a smile and a giggle.

 Alia was King of the Hill as Grandma Linda helped Annika navigate walking in sand.

A few hours south found us in the land of the Giants.  Paul Bunyan and his faithful Ox, Babe welcomed us to the home of the redwoods.  We recently visited Italy, and when we were sharing pictures of places to visit in the US, he very eloquently said "That is a MOUNTAIN, not a TREE!"

We said goodbye to the redwoods, the cool ocean air, and our traveling companions and headed to SoCal.

Day 10: Mile High City

July 28, nine days in to our amazing vacay and we are headed to.....DENVER, CO!  Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods, and one of my best friends EVER (also my sister-in-law) were on the list.  We got in late, slept, and got up to GO!

First order of business were the Manitou Cliff Dwellings.  We walked through ancient carved cliffs learning about their customs and life style.  Basket weaving, cradle boards, hunting and gathering, and dwelling development were covered in a short tour.

From there, we journeyed up Pikes Peak.  Have you ever driven up a mountain?  I don't think I ever will again.  It was terrifying.  There you are, 10,000 feet in the air with a suggested speed of 35 mph with NO SIDE RAILS.  Just a soft, gentle drop off a CLIFF.  Did I mention it started raining?  And since the altitude climbed, guess what the temperature did....it dropped.  Guess what happens to rain when it gets cold?  IT FREEZES!  So I'm driving the 19 miles up past 14,000 feet with no side rails in freezing rain.  I don't know why they don't sell beer at the top.  I could have used one by the time we got to the summit.  

Honestly, I think the only reason I got down with less anxiety was a mild hypoxia.  But we made it!  

Garden of the Gods was only a few miles down the road, and the rain had let off, so, we hiked it!  It is truly a marvel to see, and it is very well named.  Spears of rock, ascending to the sky, with boulders precariously mounted on the spears.  Below is "Three Cathedrals".  The weather was perfect, and thankfully held back the rain the entire time we were there.

The day ended driving back into Denver where SIL and I took the kids to a horrible Mexican Restaurant, Casa Bonita.  The food sucks, but there are cliff divers.  

It was a packed day, and we slept well.  We woke up the 30th, had lunch with a friend of mine from RN school (small world), shipped some cookies home from Victory Love and Cookies, said our good byes to SIL, and headed WEST.  Next Stop....GOBLIN STATE PARK!

Day 4: A Day with the Lincoln Family

Day four was another unexpected stop.  After having talked to Grandma and Grandpa, the recommendation to stop at the Springfield, IL Lincoln Museum was made.  Having previously established the nerdiness of my crew, this made perfect sense.  We had a quick breakfast with our favorite Airman near Scott AFB

And headed up to Springfield.  It was only an hour and a half drive, which was a nice reprieve from the previous days 5 and 6 hours.  We met at one of the Springfield malls, ate a little more, and went exploring!

The Great 16th President has always been a love of mine.  Maybe its partly genetic, as my grandfather was also enamored with the man.  Maybe its in my roots in the Land of Lincoln (my bff makes fun that I dress like "Little House on the Prairie"...I told her that is because I'm FROM a little house on the prairie).  IN any case, I LOVE LINCOLN.  The museum in Springfield does a fabulous job helping kids love learning about him as well!

We enjoyed several interactive exhibits and some films.  We got to see authentic artifacts and letters from Abe himself, as well as tour some of the sets and see the grand costumes from the movie, "Lincoln".  After we finished up (we spent probably 6 hours there.  I highly recommend visiting!), Grandpa JC took the two oldest female JC's up to Galesburg, while Grandma JC and I took Boy JC and Baby JC to a special flag ceremony at.....

LINCOLN'S TOMB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The 114th Illinois Volunteer Regiment gave a fabulous presentation with flag lowering, taps, marching drills, and cannon fire.  Boy JC was quite impressed.  After the ceremony, he got some cool pictures holding a sword

And holding a rifle

We were very fortunate that the tomb, which normally closes at 5pm, was re-opened for the observers of the ceremony.  Entering the Tomb Of Lincoln.  Even the thought gave me goosebumps.  In the last 4 days, I've been in the oldest cemetery in New Orleans, seen the grave of the Voodoo queen, the future resting place of Nicholas Cage, the home of Elvis....and here I was at the grave of one of the most influential and controversial men of the last 200 years.  The hype of the previous dead we'd visited pales in comparison, and the pomp and circumstance of pop culture faded to the gravity and somberness entering the grave site of this great man.  

I can't even begin to describe the heaviness and the mustiness, which you can breath in and enjoy because you are breathing with the ghosts of greatness.  I was walking on The President Himself.  Humbled.  Beautiful.  Day 4 was in the books.