Because We're Crazy, We Went Camping Again

I keep saying that camping with kids is too hard, but I keep doing it. This particular time, we had originally just planned to spend a day in the Red River Gorge and go hiking, but that morning I asked Jacob if I should pack a few camping things just in case we decided we wanted to spontaniously camp that night. I had  basically decided I did want to. Haha! And we did. Somehow it ended up being a decent camping experience. We had a quiet camping spot and a good time.

Someone offered to take our picture on the top of the Natural Bridge.

Watching the lift go up and down. 

The views are not as splendid as they are in the mountains, but the gorge is still beautifull. 

Our camp

We left camp in the car to find a swimming hole. We had to drive through this very dark, one-way tunnel to get there. 

And we had dinner at the swim hole. 

A Near-death Experience: That's Jacob jumping from that rock. I've never jumped from anything that high. I'm guessing it was close to 20 feet, but I'm terrible with estimates. Anyway, after several other girls and even some kids had jumped and Jacob tried it, I really felt like I had to do it. It was absolutely terrifying. There is something so weird and scary about being in the air so long before you hit the water. I don't know if I panicked or what, but when I hit the water, I ended up inhaling a lot of it. I seriously thought I was dying. I also thought I was just going down and down deeper and deeper, and then all of a sudden I popped out again. I was sputtering and gasping for air. I thought people would come rushing to save me, so I tried to give a thumbs up that I was alive, but apparently no one was going to save me anyway. I guess the whole thing looked a lot less dramatic to on-lookers. Jacob even said I popped out of the water almost immediately. It was such a scary experience. I did not jump again. 

The rest of the evening was much more chill. 

Reading stories by the fire before bed. 

Sitting by the fire with a cigar late at night is a very nice way to end an evening in the mountains. 

Taliya still sleeping the next morning.

Cuddly Micah

Camp breakfast

We camped right next to a creek, which was so nice.

More my speed. This is great rock to jump from.

The water was cold, but it was so nice.

V