My Wife Left Me....And I'm Defeated

There have been a rash of non-Fort trip reports lately, and I've personally enjoyed the heck out of them. So, I figured, it was time for me to jump into the fray. I haven't written a trip report since last October, over at Voldemort. And I've been getting the trip report itch. So, if y'all will bear with me, I'm fixing to write a short one here, about how my wife left me and I ended up defeated.

Yes folks, my wife left me. It's Not Cindy flew up to Pittsburgh this week for a slipcovering summit, an opportunity for her to take some classes in slipcovering techniques and to network with other people in the business.

I should say that I did encourage her to go. I travel for work a bit, but she never goes away without all of us. She had considered attending this before, but the cost kept her away. But this year, she applied for and won a scholarship which covered all but her actual travel expenses. So off to PA she went. She loves slipcovering, and she's good at it. Check out some of her work. I'm proud of her!

So for three days this week, she left me. Left me to play Mr. Mom to my five DD's. DD15 and DD13 are easy. They take care of themselves, and they help a lot with the others. DD11 is getting easier all the time, although she has her challenges. DD3...little Anna, is about as exhausting as any toddler. Yes, that exhausting. And then there is DD5. Our Challenge du Jour. She has been tough lately. And this week was no exception.

So, what would we do?? We could just stay home and "get through it". That seemed to make the most sense. But, I figured, as long as I gotta take three days off work to watch the kids, there's no sense just sitting around the house. Right? Not when we've got an almost new trailer sitting there, just aching to get out. So I did what any sensible...or should I say, any crazy Dad would do in this situation. I took them camping!!

Where would we go? That didn't take much thought. We went to our favorite spot in Tennessee to camp...a place that we typically get to two or three times per season. A little COE park on Cordell Hull Lake called:

Yes, Defeated Creek Park. A gem of a park that sits on a peninsula in Cordell Hull Lake, just outside Carthage, TN.

For those major Al Gore fans in the crowd, Carthage is his hometown. You might expect Carthage to be an intensely hot place, but the weather here is pretty much the same as anywhere in middle TN. Go figure.

Now why is Defeated Creek a favorite of ours? It could be that it features full hookup sites, including sewer, for $24/night. And many of those sites sit right on the lakeshore, where you can drop a line in or even anchor your boat right at your site. It could be the nice beach for swimming, the marina, or the great restaurant right on the lake.

Could be, but not quite. The real reason I love this place is the views from my comfortable chair under my awning.

I could sit and stare at that lake all day. And there have been trips in the past when I did. But that's not possible when you are playing Mr. Mom. And Mr. Dad. All at the same time. I was a bit too busy to sit for extended periods of time. But don't worry about me. I did sit a little. And I thoroughly enjoyed myself. We did a lot in just two days. Which I will proceed to tell you about coming up.