Vacation Wilderness: Day Two

As the dawn breaks through the trees on the mountain tops around the site, we hear the continuous rushing waters of the river/brook/creek/stream below our cabin.......and then the smell......of nature......not quite.....it's the smell of fresh brewed coffee! Yes we cheated big time here. We brought the automatic coffee maker that woke us up like a revelry bugle player. There are some things that are just a necessity when camping. Coffee is one of them.....fresh coffee makes it even better! Toilet paper is another but that's for another story.

My wife and I sat in bed, nestled inside the warm electric heated cabin and drank two pots of coffee only to be interrupted by Mother Nature calling...... The kind of Mother Nature that requires you to throw on some flip flops and trek up the rocky path to the communal outhouse. The sound of the running water assists in that subliminal thought.

Climbing back under the covers, we continued chatting about stuff. All the things we were up here for to get away from. It's just in our nature (human nature that is instead of mother).  Mavrick had slept right in the middle of us just like at home (just a smaller bed). Did we really think he was going to use his bed?

With no real schedule or calendar of events to follow  we did finally decide that we should go get our showers so we could cook some breakfast. The crowds had finally subsided at the bathing hole and we practically had it to ourselves. Being Easter weekend right after spring break, most people were here all week before and had begun packing up to head home. No doubted they intended on making it back for Sunday services. We brought our Sunday services with us.

I cooked up some English muffins with eggs, bacon and cheese along with some fresh fruit. A hardy breakfast to energize us for our walk up the Falls. The dishes we done, cabin cleaned up so off we went.

The trail is only a half a mile up the road from the campgrounds so we walk that way trying to stay on the edge of the road with Mavrick and not fall off but not get ran over either. There are a few for sale signs of property right on the road that makes me even more want to pursue my "treehouse" getaway some day. Maybe we afford one of these and make it our retreat. That would be really awesome.

What maverick thinks about this mile marker!

Ok, enough daydreaming we begin our hike up the trail. There really isn't a plan to get to a certain height on the Falls, we are just here. Up the trail we go. Climbing the steps are a little more difficult than running. A completely different workout. A fun hike that gave us some fun selfie moments to remember the trip by.

Once we got back to the site, we made up some turkey ham and cheese wraps for lunch and then laid down for a nap.....this is a vacation after all. Even Mavrick joined us for the nap of course. He never passes up an opportunity to sleep. Neither does my wife!

After our slumber we walked down by the stream to stroll with Mavrick and climb on the rocks like a little kid. We gathered a few loose sticks for kindling to start a fire before dinner with the thought of s'mores later on. Everything is so peaceful here. Just sitting without internet or phone or texting does take a little practice. I pile some sticks together in the fire pit and lite up a nice little blaze to set off the evening while my wife heads back up the hill to the store to get some more ice.

When she gets back she tells me that she ran into a friend of ours from First Light. They were just checking in. Her husband and son had just did a long 58 mile bike ride from The exit on Blue Ridge Parkway to Devils Backbone Brewery. Now that make me feel like I need to run in the morning! What a small world it is running into someone we know.

We had a nice chat listening to their adventures from earlier that day and telling them about our day on the hike up the Falls. Afterwards, I began cooking up a nice feast for the evening. Sliced potatoes, peppers and mushrooms grilled up with steak. The smell of it cooking is so intoxicating. I served it up on our decade plus old stainless steel plates with melted cheddar cheese. Yummy!

The plates are cleaned, my wife and I have a deal when camping, I do all the cooking and she does the cleaning. It works quite well. After all, I like making messes better than cleaning up after them. Meanwhile, I stoke up the fire. Sitting relaxing (so challenging) I venture and sketching the fire pit. I realize I don't have my standard black felt tip flair pen........AHHHHHHH! Ballpoint pen doesn't do quite as well......plus it is a pile of rocks and burning wood with a bit of flickering flames....how do you sketch that anyway? Another lesson in futility.

"Hey honey, get out the s'more stuff! It time for dessert."

Roasting marshmallows over an open campfire is always a standard of camping. If you don't do it, it isn't really camping. I'm not sure we really did this as much with the kids when they were little, but thus will certainly serve as our evening treat. Getting the marshmallows just right, not burnt but lightly brown and ready for smooshiness. Squeeze it between two wafers of gram cracker with a slab of chocolate in between. You should have seen my wife's face as she bit into one. SMOREGASM! (I'm going to get in trouble for saying that one on the blog) My wife loves chocolate like nothing else. This was some good stuff.

After a good laugh about our new dessert name and a tasty treat, we head for bed. It's been a good day. The campfire has died down a bit and there is a chill in the air.

It's the end if the first full day at Crabtree Falls.
Good Night my friends.