Camping @ Stone Mountain, GA - Oct. 13, 2009

Posted in Family Fun

A couple of weeks ago, our family took a camping trip to Stone Mountain, Georgia. Now, for you hard core backpacker/primitive camping types, Stone Mountain is luxury camping! Every campsite has running water and electricity. The first time we camped here was the first time I'd ever had power at the campsite, and I didn't have to haul buckets of water from a community spigot to the site to do dishes. So, in our usual over-the-top fashion, we lit up our campsite like a Christmas tree. I am not kidding. We brought way too many strands of Christmas lights to decorate our area. A strand of plain white lights were strung around the inside of the canopy that covered the cooking area and served as our kitchen. A strand of white icicles lit up the dining canopy that covered the picnic table. A strand of decorative bamboo lights (don't ask) provided reading light in the tent. And various other lanterns and lights guided our way around the site. We definitely did NOT need a flashlight to find our way back from the bathroom!

Anyway, for those who had not heard, the Atlanta area was hit by the "worst storm in 150 years" that week. They surpassed the one hundred year flood mark and kept going. Six Flags had so much rain that the roller coasters were under water. A particularly large loop-de-loop coaster looked like a tabloid photo of Nessy with only its loops peeking out of the water. And we were camped on the shore of a lake.

We arrived on Friday and set up camp in nice dry weather. Then it rained until Tuesday. The mountain itself was just across the lake from us and buried under cloud cover most of the time! You really learn what kind of person you are under these circumstances. We all tried to make the best of the situation, laughing at how much "closer" we were becoming as a family while huddling together under a leaky canopy trying to stay warm and dry. However, after a particularly scary storm Sunday night that kept my hubby and me awake all night enjoying some extra special quality time with God (which means we were both praying like crazy for about seven hours straight while lightning struck the trees, the ground, and the power poles around us) and had the lake lapping at our tent door in the morning, I turned into a wimp who was ready to go home. I admit it. I was wet. I was cold. I was covered in Georgia clay. I was tired of huddling at our campsite watching a river run through it, and I don’t mean the movie. I was done.

However, my dear, tenacious husband, who knows me so well and loves me very much and is so very smart, had the intelligence to dump my whiny backside at a pavilion with internet access while he and the kids moved all of our gear to an unflooded campsite. They were such good sports, and I was so grateful to be able to get out of the rain for a while. I don’t know how they kept up their positive attitudes, but they did. I repaid their kindness by providing clean, dry clothes (the campground has washers and dryers), and yummy hot meals. They felt loved.

Monday and Tuesday went a lot better with a lot more sunshine and a lot less rain; however, flooding and mudslides closed off a large part of the park. Roads were washed out from underneath causing the asphalt to collapse in thirty foot sections. Several trails were closed and impassable. We did manage to climb the mountain, though, which is one of our favorite challenges when we go to Stone Mountain, and we did manage to find forty-five letterboxes which really helped to salvage our vacation. By the way, we already booked our site for a return visit in May. Are we gluttons for punishment or what?

Thank you for stopping by! Hope you enjoy the pictures of our ill-fated vacation. I'm sorry that there aren't more pictures. The cameras hid from the rain more than we did!

Betty

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

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Comments

Oct. 13, 2009 - I have been there...

Posted by Anonymous

No really I have, not the funky weather part, I hate it for you on that. When I was but a yute - that is youth for normal talkin' people. It was the summer of 72. Twas a good year and camped at the campground across de la montaña.

I personally appreciated the hand silhouettes. Glad to see there was more than only one finger showing. A lot of fun and lots of memories.

If you can ever get to Guatemala, I believe there are times of the year to challenge the rain and mud thing, any takers_

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Oct. 13, 2009 - Emergency Break

Posted by Anonymous

Hey

I am proud of myself for spinning the van tires. Plus, I couldn't see the emergency break handle under all of daddy's junk lol.

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