Camping at Spring Mill

Kids playing stilts in the village

This weekend my family and I camped at Spring Mill State Park in Mitchell, Indiana.  It is hard to believe that we haven't been here in 5 years!

We came up Friday night stopping to get supper on the way.  Spring Mill is about 2 hours from home.  We set up in the dark and it was cold.  We made a small fire knowing that we needed to save the wood for meals on Saturday and Sunday.

Selfie with hubby

Saturday morning we got up, ate breakfast, and headed down to the pioneer village.  I was surprised to see that most of the buildings were open and there were a few reenactors so late in the year.  We spent a few hours exploring the village.

When we were done at the village we went back to the campground for lunch.  We were just having sandwiches because we needed to get out and look for letterboxes.

Boxing 

We have 2 boxes in the park and someone marked both of them as missing.  We checked on them this weekend and they were both right where they were supped to be.  We did update the clues and included pictures to help future finders get the boxes.

We looked for 3 boxes too.  The first one was in a pouch and the logbook was completely soaked.  We struggled to find the second one because there were so many rocks that looked the same.  But we did find it.  The last box was in a stump near a shelter house.  I believe that the stump was almost entirely rotted away and we could not find the box.  The previous boxer could not find it either. 

Stressful paddle boat ride

Don't tell, but we planted a box while we were there but I won't post the clues until next month. 

Sunday morning we got up, had breakfast, and started to tear down our camp.  It sprinkled on and off and at times there were really bad wind gusts blowing our stuff everywhere.  

We took our time breaking camp and had lunch at the campground.  When we were letterboxing on Saturday, we noticed that they now rent paddle boats, canoes, row boats, etc.  On our way out of the park we stopped and rented some boats.  Bantha Rider and Boxing Turtle took a canoe and the rest of us were in a paddle boat.  It was really hard getting around with the large gusts of wind.  

When we were done with the boat ride, we left the park and started looking for ice cream. 

For the weekend, we looked for 3 letterboxes and found 2.  Did maintenance on 2 of our boxes and planted another.  On the way home from the park I got some ideas for other boxes.  Maybe I can plant up this way for the next PAL Day. 

Campcation 2018

Ft Boonesborogh SP, KY

Yesterday my family and I returned from our 2018 summer vacation.  We are calling it a campcation because we camped almost every night.  It was an exhausting trip but we got to see a lot of great stuff.

We are from Indiana and we went down thru Kentucky toward the Cumberland Gap.  We were not going to make it by dark so we camped at Ft Boonesborogh SP in Ky.  We found our first LB of the trip here.  After checking out the fort we continued south.

Cumberland Gap Pinnacle Overlook

We arrived at the Cumberland Gap National Park around lunch time.  We checked out the northern visitor center and found a picnic area near a creek.  We ate lunch, played in the creek for a little bit and headed to the pinnacle overlook.  The overlook is a spot where you can look down and see the tunnel going thru the mountain.  We hiked around here for a while and then went to set up camp.

Pigeon Forge LB

We hung out in the campground for a while, went to town to eat dinner, and went to a nearby state park to look for a letterbox.  The state park had a nice playground and some old cabins so we stayed there for a while before going back to the camp site.

The next morning we got up, had breakfast, tore down camp, and drove to an Iron Furnace.  Then we hiked up to the Gap Cave.  This cave is just a hole in the cliff but the kids enjoyed playing there.  The hike up was a little rough.

Dollywood, TN

Then we went down to Pigeon Forge.  We stopped at the Great Smokey Mountain Knife Works for a little bit and set up camp at a KOA campground.  After we set up, we went to the Smokey Mountains National Park Sugarlands visitor center to get maps and whatnot.  Then we had dinner and went back to the campground to swim.

In the morning, we got up and went to Dollywood.  We got there 45 minutes before they opened so we left and found a LB.  It took us a bit to find it but my husband said we shouldn't give up so easily.  After stamping in we went back to Dollywood and spent the day there until 7pm.  When we were tired and hungry we went back to the campground to eat and swim again.

Newfound Gap TN & NC

The next morning we got up, had breakfast, tore down camp, and heading off to explore Smokey Mountain National Park.  We stopped at Newfound Gap and hiked to Clingmans Dome.  The lookout at the top was closed but we came all that way so we walked to the top anyway.  The walk down was beautiful with clouds rolling in.

Clingmans Dome

Then we pulled off and had lunch in a lookout/
parking area.  We continued south and saw a sign for a mill.  It wasn't on the map but looked close to the parking lot and we stopped to check it out.  It had a real short trail and was a nice place to stretch your legs.  When we were done we went on to the Oconaluftee visitor center.  There was a historic farm and a creek trail so we stayed here a while.

We stopped again for dinner and stayed the night at a campground in North Carolina.

One of the main points of the trip was to eat at Chef and the Farmer in Kinston, NC.  We watch a show on PBS called, A Chef's Life.  We love the show and talked about going last year on vacation but it was to far away.  We made it this year.  The chef, Vivian Howard, was not there the night we ate there but her husband was hanging around.  We left with full bellies, t shirts, and an autographed cookbook.  We also planted a letterbox in a nearby park.

The place we stayed at, the night we were in Kinston was just barley a campground.  It was a field with a shower house.  The kids were worried something might happen to us here and were happy that we only stayed one night.

Hotel in GA 

That morning we got up and consulted the old atlas and Google.  We discovered that going the long way back was just 45 min longer and would add 2 new states to box in.  Instead of driving back straight across NC we went thru SC and Georgia.

It took us a while to get out of rural NC.  When we got to a big rest area there were supposed to be 3 LB.  I looked for all 3 and only found 1.  When we stopped for the night in SC we were at a state park.  It had 2 boxes but we could only find 1.  The state parks in SC all have stamps and we were able to snag that too.  The woman at the park office fussed at me for putting it in my National Park stamp book but it's my book and I can stamp what I want in it ;)

Ruby Falls, TN

We drove thru Georgia without many stops.  The rest area that we had lunch at didn't have any boxes :(  But we did find one before leaving the state.  My husband was getting pretty tired and we stayed the night in a hotel.  The younger kids swam again.

We got up in the morning, enjoyed a hot breakfast, and went to Chattanooga.  In Chattanooga we went to Ruby Falls and Rock City.  Rock City has a Fairy Tale "cave" that is actually a building.  As we got to the end of the "cave" we discovered that it was raining cats and dogs.  We were at the end of the trail so we made a run for the gift shop.  We got some post cards, rock candy, etc and ran again to the ticket booth.  My husband was nice enough to pull the van around and we didn't get completely soaked.

See Rock City, TN

Next, we went to Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park.  The place was a lot like Gettysburg.  It had many markers of where different states were stationed and signs detailing the battles there.  It was getting late and with the rain, we didn't spend a lot of time here.

We continued north stopping for dinner and camping at Old Stone Fort SP in Tn.  My kids learned that we were just a few hours from home and tore down camp in record time.  They were tired of camping and ready to go home.  We didn't look for any of the boxes there.

Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Park, GA

We had a great but tiring 9 days.  We only planted 1 box and found 8.  We added 4 new states that we boxed in: VA, NC, SC, & GA.  We left 1 HH and the only ones we found were in a HHH.  The rules of the HHH were to leave 3 in the box.  There were only 3 left and we didn't have any to trade.

Today we are doing laundry and unloading and tomorrow we will go to Holiday World in Santa Claus, Ind.

O'Bannon Woods

About 4 weeks ago we went camping at O'Bannon Woods in south central Indiana.  We had never been here before and were looking to try something different.  I started this blog post a few weeks ago but something happened and it did not save :(  So, here we go again...



The park is a little farther than our usual haunts and we set up in the dark.  On Saturday, we walked down to the nature center, hay press, and village.  It is small but nice.  There are no letterboxes in this park!  We planted two boxes on the path on the way down.  So far, no finders. 

Saturday afternoon, we went over to Corydon.  This is Indiana's first capitol.  We did a walking tour and saw the sights.  There was a cool glass blowing shop,  old capital building, got ice cream, went to the Constitution Elm, and stepped inside the first pub that President William Henry Harrison owned for a while. 

At the park, 3 of us climbed the fire tower.  We found a geocache nearby and talked to a family exploring the area on horseback.

On Sunday, we went and found an old iron bridge that was no longer in use.  We hiked a trail around a wetland and got chiggers :(  The wetland trail was nice but at the end it disappears and we walked thru a clearing of tall grass.  We had our first experience with Beech Blight Aphids.  Which are really scary if you don't know what they are.

The caves in the area close after Labor Day and we missed out on those :(

The weather was great.  We found 0 boxes and planted 2.  I wish I would have taken some to plant in Corydon. 

Lil Ewok kept calling the place Abandoned Woods instead of O'Bannon Woods :D

Let's Go Camping LTC

New Distress Crayons! 

I can't pass up a camping LTC swap.  I wanted to, because it had a short deadline, but I can't.  This is my card for brailleboxer's "Let's go camping" swap.

I carved up a camping image from Life is Good.  I love their simple images and this will probably be my annual Mother's Day plant.  I stamped the stamp on watercolor paper and embossed it with glow in the dark embossing powder :D

Let's go camping: Five Star Restaurant 

I really enjoyed coloring the background.  I found these Tim Holtz distress crayons.  There are many different ways to use them.  I colored the crayons on the paper and then painted them with a water brush.  I also played around with rubbing the crayon on Plexiglas and then painting on the paper.  I liked it but it was too light.  I bought a few different packs of the crayons and you will see more of them in the future :)

I ruffed up the edge of the watercolor paper and glued it to a black background.

200 years in Indiana event

Shelter House

My event was Saturday, September 24th at Lincoln State Park.  It was a little warmer than I had hoped but over all it was a good day.   We had 50 people from all over the country- CA, IA, MO, IL, IN, OH, KY, TN & MI.

Friday evening we set up camp.  We were camping with my parents, sister & husband, and my two nieces.  They went to Holiday World on Saturday and didn't attend my event.  It was nice to not have to worry about the kids while doing event stuff.

Boxers Stamping

On Friday night, I had to climb to the fire tower to hide the box that I couldn't find the last time I was out planting.  All of the kids wanted to go.   A little after 8 we left the campground.  We hiked to the fire tower, planted the box, and finished the loop back to the campground.  We got back around 9:30.  It was cool to walk the trail and go in the fire tower at night.

The shelter was really close to the campground and our site.  Saturday morning we loaded up a wagon and took items to the event.  My kids helped with table cloths and setting out table top boxes before they left for Holiday World.  One of my kids wanted to stay but I told him he would enjoy Holiday World more.

Food & Stamps

It was nice to get to meet so many local folks.  When we hosted our event like this in 2012 we were looking forward to meeting local boxers.  Then most of the people who came were from out of town.  But this time many of the locals came.  It is nice to put a face with the names and stamps you find :)

 People came and went from the shelter all day.  I knew that I would be camped out there all day but I didn't know how many people would hang around.  For about an hour in the late afternoon it was just me & my husband.  We cleaned up a little bit and talked about taking a nap.  Are you a bad host if you nap while all your participants are out on the trail? ;)

Our Site 

I totally forgot about the group photo!  I had planed on doing one after lunch when a lot of people were at the shelter.  But I had also said that we would play BINGO after lunch.  Some of the young ladies were asking about BINGO and I got focused on that and forgot the picture.  Oh well, I think everyone had a good time.

Sunday morning my crew wanted to walk a trail so we walked the penny trail.  On our way out of the park we planted the event stamp.  I would like to go out in November and check all the boxes, make sure they are in their spots, and covered up.  I also have one stamp that I need to return to its owner.

Hosting an event like this is a lot of work.  I am control freak and like to do everything myself.  But I think if I am going to do an event like this again, I will need help :)

Life is Good Again LTC

Life is Good Again: Bed & Breakfast

I am hosting a "Life is Good" LTC swap again.  I really like the simple, positive, encouraging messages from the LIG shirts and whatnot.

I like camping and I recently bought a new book of camping scrapbook paper.  I looked around the LIG camping images and picked this one.  I messed up the words on the first go so I just cut them off and carved it again.  I really like the scrapbook paper but didn't want to hide it so I stamped my stamp on vellum and attached it to the paper with a mini glue dot.

I am hosting an event in September and I thought it would be cool to have a trail of these stamps at the event.  I have asked the LTC participants to donate their stamps and I have a few coming in.  If you have a LIG stamp that you are not using, I'd be happy to take it off your hands :)

For my Indiana themed event, I think I am going to call this series of stamps "Life is Good in Indiana."  

Vacation 2016

Arches NP

I just got back from a two week vacation out west, did you miss me?  Over a year ago my parents suggested that we all go on vacation together.  That would be my parents, me, my husband & 4 kids, my sister, her husband & 2 kids, and my other sister and husband.  It ending up being my parents, my family, and my 2 nieces.

We had a great two weeks out west.  We live in Indiana and went out thru the Rocky Mountains to southeast Utah.  We visited Arches & Canyonlands.  Then we packed up and went to southwest Utah.

Canyonlands NP

It just so happened that where we stopped for the night was having a hot air balloon festival.  And the people that my parents were camping next to said that we could go up in their balloon.  My dad and the 4 biggest kids took off to do that but the winds wouldn't cooperate and they didn't get to go up.  The kids still loved being so close to the balloons.

Balloon Festival

While in southwest Utah we went thru Bryce Canyon and Zion Canyon National Parks.  They are very different and very beautiful.  We hiked a trail at Bryce and just road the shuttle at Zion.

My parents at Bryce Canyon NP

Then we went down thru Nevada.  We had planned on touring the Hoover Dam but had issues.  It's probably to long of a story to go into here.  So we had a picnic lunch there at the lake made by the dam.

Zion Canyon NP

After Nevada we moved on to California where we had more problems.  We got almost to the campground we planed on staying at and we were turned around because of forest fires.  It took a while but we eventually found a place to camp.  We went thru the southern area of the Sequoia National Forest where we walked the Trail of 100 Giants.  We decided that we came this far that we would continue to the northern area.  There we were able to drive thru the famous tunnel log.

Trail of 100 Giants

The next day, we spent a little over an hour at ghost town and then started heading back east to the Grand Canyon.  We walked the rim trail at the south rim, enjoyed some shopping, and ice cream.  The last activity on the way home was the petrified forest.  My kids were expecting the trees to be standing.  They all enjoyed the colorful logs.

We made two stops on Route 66.  One was the Midpoint Cafe where we had lunch.  The other was the Cadillac Ranch.  We didn't take spray paint for the Cadillac Ranch but there were cans all over the ground and my kids joined in the fun.

Grand Canyon

When my parents came up with this idea I said that I had to find a letterbox in each state and I was surprised that my husband went along with it.  I already had boxes in Ind, Ill, and Mo.  I was able to get boxes in KS, CO, UT, NV, CA, AZ, NM, TX, OK & AR.  I found 13 boxes and 2 hitchhikers.  Of all the boxes I looked for only 1 was missing.

Petrified Forest NP 

This was my husband and kids first trip out west.  We camped every night but one.  It was exhausting but beautiful!  Two weeks living in a van is rough.

Cadillac Ranch 

Labor Day Weekend

Looking for a good spot to plant

We just had a great weekend camping at Clifty Falls State Park in Madison, In.  It was about 3 hrs from home.  I was in high school the last time that I was there.  This was my husbands and kids first time.

I looked on Atlas Quest while planning for the trip and I was excited to see that there was one box there.  But we looked for it and could not find it.  It had not been found in 2 years.  We did plant a box while we were there so now they have one box again.  My noxer husband said that I should have brought more boxes to plant.  I guess that means we will have to come back another day.

Creek Peek program

One of the great things about Clifty Falls is the creek stomping.  One of the tails is directly thru the creek.  The kids loved this trail.  Also, the creek is full of fossils.  I picked up a little one for Lil Ewok and the princess asked me to help her find one.  I told her if she can't find a fossil she must have her eyes closed.

Fossils

We did a few nature programs while we were there.  One was a creek peek.  They gave the kids nets and encouraged them to catch fish and bugs from the water.  Two of my kids scooped up crayfish.  They were so excited to get to chase all the little critters around in the puddles.

 We also made bubbles at the nature center and took an owl walk.  My kids were so tired and we probably should have skipped the owl walk.  The naturalist called for 3 owls and the one that called back is the Barred owl that you hear all the time.

Big Clifty

The trails at Clifty Falls are pretty rugged.  There is no trail strait down to the creek; they are very rocky with lots of switch backs.  There are 3 big waterfalls-Big Clifty Falls, Little Clifty Falls, and the Tunnel falls.  It sounds odd but the railroad made a 600 foot long tunnel down by the creek.  But the railroad went bankrupt and never finished the project.  Seems like it would have been much easier to go around the creek/valley/ravine.

The campground was nice.  We were in the primitive area which was very flat but it had little shade and for a few hours each day we hid in the shade of the tents, van, etc.  The kids were happy with the nearby playground.

Fat man squeeze

With all the hiking (and heat) we ran out of water/Gatorade.  The two big kids and I ran to town to get more drinks and grabbed 2 letterboxes in Madison.  It was dark at this point but we had fun finding them.  Good weekend overall :)

Camping at Scales Lake

Fishing with the Smith's

This weekend we camped with some friends at Scales Lake in Boonville, In.  The weather was just beautiful and everyone had a great time.  The kids road their bikes, played on the playground, made a fort, walked trails, etc.  We all went fishing, hiking, and visited the petting zoo several times.

The kids found this hut and added on to it.

We had fun but I never got to just sit around the campsite and chill out.  Our friends have kids the same ages as our 3 older kids and Lil Ewok was often left behind.  So guess who had to walk with him to find the other kids?  Me.  I don't think I every walked so much on a camping trip.  I told the kids we are never camping here again.  There is just too much to do and too many places that I have to take the baby.

While we were here we looked for one box that is listed as active but has been attempted a few times.  We could not find it.  There are supposed to be other boxes here but they are listed as unknown and one is retired so we didn't try them.

We planted our LB near this dirt bike trail.

We did plant a box of our own while we were there.  The stamp we planted was our Curious George stamp that we sent away last year to the Animals at the Zoo event.  I thought this park would be a fun place for a curious monkey to live ;)

Camping LTC

Camping: Zero Tasking

It is too cold to camp here right now. We have 6 inches of snow on the ground and have broken several records for cold temps. But here's to wishful thinking ;)

I have joined another camping LTC swap.  My card is called, "Zero Tasking."  One of my favorite things about camping is that you don't have to do much.  Yeah, we'll go for a hike, visit the nature center, cook 3 meals a day over a fire, and we might go fishing but there is no set schedule.

I like the "Life is Good" images.  They are easy to carve and positive so that is what I started looking for when I joined this tracker.  I stamped my stamp on vellum using brown ink.  Then I attached the vellum to s'more paper.  I should have carved my stamp a little smaller but I was worried about the text.

Think warm thoughts.

Mother's Day 2014

Suspension Bridge to many of the trails

Every Mother's Day weekend we go camping!  My parents have been going since before I was born.  This year we went to Turkey Run State Park.

We had a great time.  The weather was pretty good.  It rained Saturday night but it was warm enough on Sunday to dry stuff out.

Dad & Lil Ewok playing in the creek

Our camp sites were near the playground which the kids enjoyed.  They also liked the hikes.  We walked trail 3 & 7 over the weekend.  For both of the trails you have to walk in a creek bed.  The kids loved that!

Kids stopping to rest along the trail

We also went canoeing.  It was only 3.5 miles but they kids really got a kick out of it.  The baby fell asleep during the trip and my oldest son wanted to go some more.

The letterboxing part of the weekend was bad.  I printed off 6 clues and we only found 2 boxes.  We planted our 4th annual Mother's Day box which was good.

Before the baby fell asleep

We had a good trip and will defiantly go back to Turkey Run again :)

Letterboxing 

Nashville Event

Kids at the Jellystone campground

Over the weekend we went down to Nashville, Tn and attended a mini meet.  We drove down Friday night and camped at the Jellystone campground.  On Saturday we spend most of the day at the zoo and swam a little at the campground.  That evening was the event.

crazy goats at the petting zoo 

This was our first event of the year and I was real excited to go.  It was in a room inside a restaurant.  We exchanged, passed around table tops, personal travelers, and what not.  We also talked and ate.  My kids always end up getting more stamps than me.  I guess I have to take care of the baby and that slows me down.

lots of elephants 

After the event we went back to the campground and swam a little more.  The next morning we got up and tore down camp in record time.  While we were there we looked for 6 letterboxes but we found 3 and a hitchhiker.

Moss Wright Park

We had a lot of drama on the way home.  Just before the Kentucky state line there was road construction and traffic was at a crawl for a long time.  Then we missed our exit and didn't realize it for a while.  We ended up going an hour out of our way.  Once we finally got going the right direction we ran out of gas.  The 4 kids and I stayed at the car and my husband took off walking.  Just before we couldn't see him any longer it looked like someone picked him up.  Thankfully they did and he was back about 30 minutes later.

Lil Ewok sleeping on the ride home

All in all it was a pretty good trip.  Last year, two local ladies and I put on a "big" event.  But this year I am not able to get a hold of them :(  I think I am going to put on a mini meet event instead of tackling a big one alone.  We have a few new boxers in our area and it would be nice to meet them.  

Lego Clone Trooper at the event

R2-D2 stamping at the event

Cheekee Monkey in the pink, Crosscressent & Lucky Mike on the right.
Colorful Caterpillars to the left.