On Momma & Brin’s Amazing Roadtrip in May I never shared how much I enjoyed tent camping and sitting by a campfire. We definitely didn’t rough it as we had an air mattress and sleeping bags and a dozen pillows. But there’s something about eating and sleeping outdoors that was addictive. Even though it was more work to set up and cook once I was ensconced by the campfire with my book and headlamp I was at peace. Totally. Relaxed. I found my internal clock unwinding and slowing several beats. There were a few drawbacks; our first night in North Carolina the temperature dipped to forty degrees. And in Kentucky at dusk the mosquitoes seemed to be small fighter jets and I spent nine dollars at the general store for bug repellant! But our last campsite in Tennessee had a small stream rushing by and it was almost as soothing to me as ocean waves.
We camped in a secret garden in Damascus, VA!
Brin was in charge of chow—best greasy breakfast EVER!
We did eat healthy…occasionally!
Spending time alone with Brin and connecting with her as a grown-up-fabulous-person and not only my kid was the highlight by far and we had several awesome adventures. We went zip lining in Tennessee which was a definitely a thrill but our last minute FAV choice was caving at Raccoon Mountain.
There were just the two of us with a young man as our guide. This cave crawl was not for the unadventurous or inflexible; we slithered on our butts and bellies many times; we stopped frequently to defog our glasses; we were completely done-in ninety minutes later but we had a blast. We even sat still in the dark and listened to the cave grow. No you can’t really hear growth, but in the absolute palpable dark you could hear water always moving and flowing from a trickle to a stream and thinking of a cave as a living organism that takes thousands and thousands of years to grow was mind blowing. Caves are a powerfully spiritual place.
No pix from inside the cave but here’s a keeper AFTER!
Looks like you had a blast; I love the idea of hearing a cave grow! WOW!