Family Extravaganza!

Several weeks ago we experienced somewhat of a family extravaganza when Mark & Kristin came up from Florida along with Kristin's parents who were visiting from Berlin. Uncle Dan also was in town that weekend, so throw in the rest of us who actually live here in town and you've got yourself a family reunion! Ha! :)

On Sabbath we all went for a walk along the Chattanooga Riverwalk, and walked several miles to the Art District and back. Here are some photos from the weekend.

Weekend in Asheville, NC

Here are some pictures from our trip up to Asheville, NC this past weekend.

We all stayed at Bryan's dad's house near Mt. Pisgah Academy and on Sabbath drove down to DuPont State Forest where we explored 15.5 miles worth of trails (with the aid of our bikes).

After working up a good apetite we all went out to eat at India Garden, in Asheville. It was pretty good -- I'd give it 4 stars (out of 5).

The final picture is of "Patches, BP's Cat." We stopped for gas and noticed this cat staring longingly in through the front door. I got out to take a picture and then decided to see if it was friendly -- thought it might be a stray or had been abandoned. It had a collar and tag that said "Patches, BP's Cat" and then listed the phone number. So I guess it actually lives there! Ha! :)

Boat-camping on Ocoee Lake

This weekend we went boat-camping for the first time with our little home-built sailboat. Our destination: a little recommended campsite on Ocoee Lake, and our only means of finding it was with a GPS!

We arrived at the lake Friday evening just as the sun was dipping behind the trees, and quickly headed toward the little checkered flag on the GPS screen. We were very thankful for our new electric trolling motor which propelled us over the glassy water. About 15-20 minutes later we arrived at a deserted beach with several camping spots and fire rings. We then set up camp, built a fire and fixed supper.

Sabbath morning we awoke to a gorgeous sunrise with steam swirling above the lake as big fish jumped and flipped out of the water. After breakfast we headed out on our big voyage of exploring the lake. We started our trip by checking out the closest big dead-end and on the way we rescued a poor spiny softshell turtle snagged on a fishing hook & line which was tangled in a nearby tree.

Then we hoisted the sail and headed to the other end of the lake to check out the islands (near the dam), towing Todd behind us in the little blow-up raft. The wind wasn't very strong and so we only made an average speed of about 2 mph, which took us about an hour...

Upon reaching the small island, we quickly explored the entire land mass and discovered that we had cell phone coverage there! :) So we happily checked our messages and emails while we were there. We also decided to go swimming. The water was a tad chilly, but very refreshing!

We then raced back toward camp for a late lunch. The wind had picked up by this point and so we were able to reach frightening speeds in excess of 3mph!!! Hahaha!

Arriving again at the campsite we enjoyed lunch, supper, the campfire, and our sleeping bags.

Sunday morning we awoke to yet another beautiful sunrise, again with the "magnificent jumping fish". It was so pretty I couldn't decide which photo to use...

Aside from the "magnificent jumping fish" and the spiny softshell turtle, we were also fortunate enough to see a "leaping lizard", a tiny ringneck snake (maybe 4 inches long), a scorpion, spiders, millipedes, and yellow jackets. Thankfully none of those caused us any harm. :)

After cleaning up camp and dousing the fire, we packed up the boats and headed home.
It was an absolutely perfect camping weekend!