Family Trip to North Carolina

We had a great time visiting the Gillespies in Hickory, NC, this past week. For those who haven't been there, Tyler and Anna and the kids live in a beautiful little town that is literally in the foothills of the Smokies. Sara and I ran those foothills on a couple of mornings and let me tell you...it felt a bit different than running on the flat, sea level terrain of Orlando.

We loved attending their ward, having some fun at Hickory Dickory Doc (Hickory's version of Chucky Cheese), and watching the NCAA basketball tourney. Talk about some awesome games and great teams!

We picked a beautiful day to finally take advantage of the beautiful outdoors in NC and went camping at South Mountains State Park. It's about 45 min from Ty and Anna's house. We had a ball! Pretty Jacob Fork River, lots of wild life, good fishing, and solitude all combined to make it an awesome family memory. Luke and Emma made friends with a few of the locals, i.e. Jayla the Centipede and Brooke the Brook Trout.

Jayla the Centipede

Brook the trout

Sara and I also got acquainted with a very brave and very curious/hungry racoon who decided to pay a visit as the fire died down and we chatted around the fire. The night was great and despite a very flat mattress and Gavin waking up every hour, we did manage to get some rest. Breakfast the next morning was tasty, just like you would expect it to be on a campout. Something about the outdoors makes food taste so good!

So, we are officially a camping family. Luke shared his extensive knowledge of camping throughout the evening and morning since he has been on several father/son campouts with me. It's a good thing we had him along for subject matter expertise.

A worn out Gavin

We left for home on Wednesday evening, stayed in a hotel outside of Savannah, GA, took a brief car tour of Savannah the next morning, and then headed for home. It was a great spring break vacation.