MicknMin...Holly 54 Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Love the trip report and the great pictures! Your girls are just beautiful! I can tell they get their looks from their mother! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted June 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Dave, every time I see pictures of your family and read your posts, I am in awe! You and "not Cindy" are truly an inspirational people! I hope to shake your hand soon and meet the rest of your amazing family! I can't wait to read more.Likewise John...I can't wait to meet you in person. Are you still planning any time in east TN this year??Great pictures Dave. Great report too. Your girls are beautiful :banana:Thanks Cherie! They don't get their looks from me. It is so cool that they were able to explore the farm. Your girls are gorgeous!Yeah Rita...that farm is a pretty cool place. The guy that owns it and built all that must be a very generous man. :rofl2: Oh, brother! You're just like my hubby -- he had the kids convinced one Halloween there was a guy named "One-Eyed Jack" living at a house in our neighborhood and dared them to run up and touch the fence without getting eaten.Hilarious! Sounds like a fun Dad. Great report Dave. I love seeing pictures of your girls, they are so happy ( I am sure there are times they aren't, but your pictures show otherwise!). You are a brave Dad, taking 5 camping alone!!! Christy does beautiful work, wish she lived closer to us, she is really talented.I gotta believe, Lorna, that in the weekend at SMGG you had to have seen my girls ticked off at least once! :rofl2: :bravo:Thank you sir!:heart: Too cute Dave!Thanks...more coming soon I hope. Great way to start my Sunday, sitting in my camper reading a trip report with a fresh cup of coffee.You have a wonderful family Dave.I'm looking forward to your trip report of your rainy weekend, Dan! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted June 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Thank you for sharing. Looks like a very special trip that the girls will remember forever.I hope so...I believe that spending time with our spouses and our kids is the most important thing we do. Jed Clampett lived in a cabin like that and look how things turned out for him.Isn't he dead?Those two pictures combine to give such a great view of your family and beautiful daughters. So glad y'all had such a great trip together!Thanks Leslie! Great TR and pics! That campground looks nice. Do they have cabins or a lodge or something there? I was thinking I might get my parents to meet us there next summer. They have a 5W, but we would need somewhere to stay.They do have some cottages near the marina. They aren't the nicest cottages you'll ever see, but they are reasonably clean and have private decks near the lake. My sister stayed in one a couple years ago and we had a great time. They are within a bike ride, or depending on where in the campground you book a decent walk of the campsites. And they are next to the restaurant. Here is the website.Who are you trying to fool here, I know you have a nanny (alpair)(sp) with you all the time, oh Kathy says thats not a..........ummm never mindYou weren't supposed to know about her. Loving the ice cream face. I do the same thing.I tend to get pretty ticked off if I don't get my ice cream too. Love the trip report and the great pictures! Your girls are just beautiful! I can tell they get their looks from their mother! You speak the truth, Holly. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lil Lisa 53 Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Awesome report!! Your girls are just precious and you are such a great dad to take them camping! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted June 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Ok, time for another installment in this riveting trip report. :rofl2: In this installment, we drive by the dam, visit the grocery store and hit the beach. Oh, and we witness the attempted murder of a dog. Don't worry, I think he's ok. After leaving the farm, we headed to the Cordell Hull dam. We visited the visitors center a few years ago and I really enjoyed it. Notice I said "I" really enjoyed. The girls put up with it for me. I'm the kind of guy that will pull over to read historical markers, and then discuss them with my kids. They love that about me. :popo: And the Cordell Hull Dam visitors center was full of all kinds of historical pictures and write ups on the construction of the dam, including the flooding of the river valley that formed the lake in the 1960's. So I was looking forward to another visit. On the way there, we had to take a narrow, winding road with a steep grade. As we were heading up the hill, coming around a bend in the road was a dog, running about as fast as I've ever seen one run. And then, just a couple of seconds behind him, was the reason for his rapid pace...a deer! That deer was chasing the dog so fast and looked to be out for blood! I don't know if the dog had threatened its fawn or what, but the whole scene was wild! They tore off into the woods, and I'm not sure whether the dog got away or if it got a schooling by that deer. I've never seen a deer acting so aggresively, but I will keep my distance from now on. So after that encounter, we arrived at the visitors center. Unfortunately, when we pulled up to the site the old visitor's center wasn't there. In it's place is a construction site, with the makings of a new visitors center. It looks to be about 50% complete. And at the entrance to the construction site is a "Recovery.gov" sign...indicating the new visitors center is being paid for with stimulus money. Personally I loved the old building...it had that 60's look and feel about it which I think is so cool. But, it's gone forever and being replaced with a generic 21st century government building. Oh well. So, with no visitors center to visit, we continued up the road just a bit to the dam. This is one of the smaller dams in the TVA system. But, it does incorporate a hydroelectric facility, which is visible on the left half of the dam in the first pic above. The right side are the flood gates, which were closed on this visit. Over to the far right of the dam is the lock, as this dam sits on the Cumberland River which is navigable from upriver in Celina, TN all the way to the Ohio River. After checking out the dam, I planned on heading into Carthage to visit one of my favorite grocery stores...the Bestway!Why do I like this store you ask??? Well, it is one of those locally operated grocery stores that still employs onsite butchers. And the meat they sell is typically very reasonably priced. Plus, they have a selection of locally produced sausage and bacon that is really good! So, every time we camp at Defeated Creek I like to stop here and fill my RV freezer with meat to take home. On this trip, I bought some packs of country ribs, some split chicken breasts, ground beef, sausage, bacon...and a bit more sausage and bacon! :dance: We also hit the Dollar store next door for some beach toys, and the girls found these masks. I bought the beach toys, but said no to the masks. :rofl2: And what small town plaza would be complete without a selection of rides?The kids made me promise to put a stupid picture of myself on FF.net. So here ya go. :rofl2: By this point, it was warming up nicely outside and we wanted to play on the beach, so we headed back to the camper to put away our groceries and get the swimsuits and sunscreen on. Anna, I am pretty sure, had never been to a beach in her life. Not too many beaches in northern Russia. :rofl: So I wasn't sure how'd she'd react to the sand, but she has been so adaptable with most things that I'd figured she'd at least put up with it. That was an understatement. She LOVED the beach!All the kids had a blast making sand castles and swimming. I still never get tired of the views here.After playing on the sand for a while, we were all getting hungry. We headed back to the camper and used the outdoor shower to wash the sand off. That's the main thing I hate about beaches...the darn sand gets EVERYWHERE! But we did a pretty good job of leaving most of it outside where it belongs. I grabbed the baby shampoo and actually just gave Anna her shower outside. :waycool: Grilled up hot dogs and cheese brats for lunch. I'm not the world's biggest hot dog fan, but those darn things taste so good when camping! Especially with a cold beer. We enjoyed our lunch, and then I got Anna down for a nap. A nap that was cut short by some major noise courtesy of Mother Nature. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Dave-I am thoroughly enjoying your report!Great job on taking the five girls camping.You are making some great memories there, Dad!Your new trailer looks great.That campground looks nice too.Looking forward to reading more, and to more photos too!TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
campingpixi 11 Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 great report I just love the pic in the store with the masks!! LOL Quote Link to post Share on other sites
stefa70 205 Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 I love the "old" grocery store! Since you and I are from sort of the same area (Buffalo) I can appreciate those kind of stores.Anna sure looks like she's been eating good! She looks so much healthier and happier from the earlier days. :heart: I don't think that is a stupid picture of you......cheesy, maybe.....but not stupid! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted June 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Awesome report!! Your girls are just precious and you are such a great dad to take them camping!Thanks Lisa! Now we just need to figure out a way to camp with you and Bruce. Dave-I am thoroughly enjoying your report!Great job on taking the five girls camping.You are making some great memories there, Dad!Your new trailer looks great.That campground looks nice too.Looking forward to reading more, and to more photos too!TCDHey Andrew, you know a thing or two about taking daughters camping. It's a lot of fun! great report I just love the pic in the store with the masks!! LOLYeah, that one cracked me up too. :rofl2: I love the "old" grocery store! Since you and I are from sort of the same area (Buffalo) I can appreciate those kind of stores.Anna sure looks like she's been eating good! She looks so much healthier and happier from the earlier days. :heart: I don't think that is a stupid picture of you......cheesy, maybe.....but not stupid! Right! Like an old Bells or Quality market. And you're right about Anna eating good. We try to "slow her down"...and she doesn't eat as fast as she used to, but she still has quite the appetite. But in any case, we are trying to manage that, as she is really "plumping up". :parrot: Take a look at this picture from May 4th, the day after we got her out of the orphanage. And compare her face and body to this weekend...just 7 weeks later!Hunka chunka!! :rofl2: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wak648...Bill 94 Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 And what small town plaza would be complete without a selection of rides?I think the gorls can beat bob's cart in a race with this jalopy! :rofl2: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted June 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 I think the gorls can beat bob's cart in a race with this jalopy! :rofl2: :rofl2: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MLM5.. aka Judy 97 Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Awesome trip report Dave!! The girls look beautiful as always, and I'm loving the "hunka chunka" Anna, I prefer my babies with a alittle chub on them,just to darn cute! The CG looks awesome! My kind of place, I'll have to check out the website, we are itching for a short trip, gonna try to work at least one in before our October to the Fort trip. Sure would be great to run into your family there sometime, I think my girls and your girls would have a blast and I'd get a chance to get ahold of Ms. Anna and those chunky little cheeks!! :banana: Not Cindy does wonderful work!! Quality slip covers that have style are very rare. Your a wise man, taking them camping so they can run wild instead of being at home.. most people dont realize that is the easier choice! Keep it coming! :popcorn: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 I meant to comment on this photo . . .That's Chuck E. Cheese there, isn't it?Something tells me that this Plaza did not have a Chuck E. Cheese in it.What the heck is Mr. Cheese doing there?.Hey Andrew, you know a thing or two about taking daughters camping. It's a lot of fun! Indeed I do.But, I only have three.I think I took the first solo trip with the girls when the TCD twins were about three years old.They just turned 16. And my oldest is now 20!Take it from me: Do as many Daddy and the girls camping trips as you can!I am glad you finally got around to posting a trip report here- you always do a great job.TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MLM5.. aka Judy 97 Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 hmmm Dave, for us work skipping slackers today, gonna need you to work on that next installment a little quicker please, I'm running out of threads to read.. :popo: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Live4FW 30 Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 This is a great report! For those dads thinking about going solo with the kids. It is lots of fun and will build memories you'll never forget. I took all our kids to Stone Mountain (not the gg) without DW and those memories are some of my favorites. Keep it coming Dave! Ohh, only two words come to mind seeing Anna - - THRIVE and LOVE Quote Link to post Share on other sites
anolefan 8 Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Great update Dave! I too, love to read historical markers and look at landmarks. The kids are still pretty young and are patient now, but I have a feeling that will change as they grow older.Being fresh off a vacation from Charleston and my new fascination with Ghosts, when I saw the picture of the Dam I thought it was the Hales Bar Marina and Dam. There was a recent episode filmed there and it was pretty good.http://hauntedhalesbar.webs.com/I love the pictures and can't wait for more. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MLM5.. aka Judy 97 Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Great update Dave! I too, love to read historical markers and look at landmarks. The kids are still pretty young and are patient now, but I have a feeling that will change as they grow older.Being fresh off a vacation from Charleston and my new fascination with Ghosts, when I saw the picture of the Dam I thought it was the Hales Bar Marina and Dam. There was a recent episode filmed there and it was pretty good.http://hauntedhalesbar.webs.com/I love the pictures and can't wait for more.OMG Hales Bar is a scary place, I almost booked a campsite there with no knowledge of the history, I kept seeing it on my way to visit my mother off I-24 so I pulled in one day and checked it out, it's spooky during the day even!! Are you on facebook? A friend of mine has come ghost pic taken that you'll appreciate if your into that kind of thing, you can clearly see a child and a lady in the grave yard.. CLEARLY! I've got chicken skin thinking about it :rofl2: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mgsmom 9 Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Thanks for the link!! I will be seeing them this weekend, so I'll show it to them. Looks like a fun "meeting place" for our scattered family! :dance: The pics of the girls are wonderful - they are just smiling from ear-to-ear! As a Daddy's Girl :heart: , I can tell you they will always remember that trip with you. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
PureTcrazy...rita 380 Posted June 28, 2011 Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 I am enjoying your TR! I knew Anna had gained some weight, but I didn't realize how much she had really gained until I saw the two pics together, Wow! I love pictures from the beach. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted June 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 Awesome trip report Dave!! The girls look beautiful as always, and I'm loving the "hunka chunka" Anna, I prefer my babies with a alittle chub on them,just to darn cute! The CG looks awesome! My kind of place, I'll have to check out the website, we are itching for a short trip, gonna try to work at least one in before our October to the Fort trip. Sure would be great to run into your family there sometime, I think my girls and your girls would have a blast and I'd get a chance to get ahold of Ms. Anna and those chunky little cheeks!! :banana: Not Cindy does wonderful work!! Quality slip covers that have style are very rare. Your a wise man, taking them camping so they can run wild instead of being at home.. most people dont realize that is the easier choice! Keep it coming! :popcorn:Hey Judy...we'd love to see y'all at a campground some day. That would be a blast! And I agree, Anna looks a lot better now. As long as she doesn't blow up into Jabba the Hut. :rofl2: I meant to comment on this photo . . .That's Chuck E. Cheese there, isn't it?Something tells me that this Plaza did not have a Chuck E. Cheese in it.What the heck is Mr. Cheese doing there?Ok, great question. Shows you how oblivious I can be. That little merry go round has sat in front of that store for as long as we've been camping out that way...which is around 5 years I think. It has probably been there quite a bit longer. And in all those visits and rides, I've never noticed that it's C.E.C. What's up with that??? I guess they probably bought it at a surplus crap auction. hmmm Dave, for us work skipping slackers today, gonna need you to work on that next installment a little quicker please, I'm running out of threads to read.. Sorry!! I was busy all day, and I can't access FF.net at work cause my firewall thinks it's "inappropriate". This is a great report! For those dads thinking about going solo with the kids. It is lots of fun and will build memories you'll never forget. I took all our kids to Stone Mountain (not the gg) without DW and those memories are some of my favorites. Keep it coming Dave! Ohh, only two words come to mind seeing Anna - - THRIVE and LOVEThank you Scot! We had a great time. Maybe we need to organize a TN/GA/AL Dads and Kids Fiend GG. Give the Moms a break for a weekend. :dance: Great update Dave! I too, love to read historical markers and look at landmarks. The kids are still pretty young and are patient now, but I have a feeling that will change as they grow older.Being fresh off a vacation from Charleston and my new fascination with Ghosts, when I saw the picture of the Dam I thought it was the Hales Bar Marina and Dam. There was a recent episode filmed there and it was pretty good.http://hauntedhalesbar.webs.com/I love the pictures and can't wait for more.Great...thanks a lot Tom. Now you've gone and scared the crap out of me. I'll be seeing glowing orbs in my sleep tonight. OMG Hales Bar is a scary place, I almost booked a campsite there with no knowledge of the history, I kept seeing it on my way to visit my mother off I-24 so I pulled in one day and checked it out, it's spooky during the day even!! Are you on facebook? A friend of mine has come ghost pic taken that you'll appreciate if your into that kind of thing, you can clearly see a child and a lady in the grave yard.. CLEARLY! I've got chicken skin thinking about it :rofl2:Yeah, again...thanks a lot. No sleep for me tonight. :popo: Thanks for the link!! I will be seeing them this weekend, so I'll show it to them. Looks like a fun "meeting place" for our scattered family! :dance: The pics of the girls are wonderful - they are just smiling from ear-to-ear! As a Daddy's Girl :heart: , I can tell you they will always remember that trip with you.I hope you like Defeated Creek if it works out that you go. Maybe we'll be there too! Let me know if you book something. I'll crash your reunion. :rofl2: I am enjoying your TR! I knew Anna had gained some weight, but I didn't realize how much she had really gained until I saw the two pics together, Wow! I love pictures from the beach.Yep, my little Russian fatso. :rofl2: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted June 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 Ok, when we last left off, we had rinsed all the sand out of Anna's butt. :rofl2: I grilled hot dogs and brats for lunch (that's "brats" as in the sausage from Wisconsin...I didn't put my kids on the grill.) And I got Anna in for a nap. I did not have any data coverage on my phone there, so couldn't access the weather apps. But I talked with DW while sitting out under the awning enjoying a nice cold beverage, and she told me her Weather Bug indicated that there was a tornado watch for us, and severe thunderstorms were forming. I keep a weather radio in the RV...but for some dang reason I couldn't find the power adapter for it. I put the TV antenae up to try to tune something in, but couldn't pull in anything. To be honest, it's the first time in three trips with the trailer that I've turned the TV on, so I'm not even sure it's hooked up right. So for all intents and purposes, we had to rely on my keen weather spotting skills from my old farming days growing up. In other words, we were gently carressed. Well, it wasn't long before the skies turned dark, and faster than I've ever seen a storm come up it hit us. The initial gusts of wind were incredible, and our stuff started blowing around. The first thing I did was move to put the awning in, as it was whipping up and down like a bucking horse. We managed to get it in, I threw the chairs under the trailer, and dashed inside. At this point, the power went out. The rain was blowing sideways, and it looked over the lake like a snowstorm. Lasted about 10 minutes, but by then the damage was done. No power, and everything outside was drenched or blown away. But, no damage to the awning and as far as I could tell no leaks in the trailer. Plus, the rain power washed the bird crap from my van! :banana: After the storm, it heated up again outside quickly, and got STEAMY! It warmed up fast in the trailer too. It got pretty uncomfortable, so we took the dogs for a walk to get some fresh air. I figured that, if the power wasn't coming on any time soon, it might be time to pack up and head home a night early. I was close to making the call, when just before 5:00 it kicked back on. Man, I love me some A/C. So, we were back in business. We cooked up some walking tacos for dinner, which were awesome! After the rain, these guys were out in force. And it turned into a beautiful evening! :dance: Cooled off a bit toward dusk, and I had enough dry wood to get a good fire going. With her nap cut short, Anna was ready for an early bedtime. That allowed the rest of us to sit outside enjoying the fire. You know how tough it is to have a fire with a toddler around. :o I had bought smores supplies, but instead of graham crackers and chocolate bars we used chocolate covered grahams. Man, those were good!! ;D After the smores, the rest of the kids were tired and went to bed, leaving me in peace to do some stargazing for a bit. Another thing I love about camping in a remote area is getting away from the city lights and really seeing stars. Out there the stars are amazing. And fortunately the sky cleared up enough to see them. But the really cool thing is that a huge thunderstorm was off to the south of us, not impacting us but you could see the towering storm system and it would light up with flashes of lightening. Very cool! The next morning was a beautiful, but foggy morning. Some fishermen were out early.The campground was peaceful. This was my neighbor...a cool old Airstream. After breakfast, we went for a walk. The campground has always had the same bathhouses since we've been coming here. They look like they are from the 70's if I had to guess, but they are still functional. But on this trip, something new appeared. A new bathhouse was constructed. Directly across the road from the old bathhouse. And according to the sign out front, this too was paid for with stimulus dollars, as the sign featured the Recovery.gov logo. While I'm all for nice facilities for us campers, placing the new bathhouse directly across from another older, but still functional, bathhouse, was puzzling. I could see if it replaced the old one, or if it were in another section of the campground to improve access. But hey, whatever. And the funny thing is, my kids wouldn't use it as the showers in the new one are timed to be more efficient. :rofl2: They used the old showers cause you can take a nice, long shower. Of course, I had to check out the new digs. And for those keeping track, this is Stall #2.And here is the rest of the interior.I have a major pet peeve about those darn sinks. The faucet is too close to the back of the sink bowl, so when you are rinsing your hands you can't help but touch the sink! :argh: Not very sanitary. :popo: Anyways, after checking out the new bathhouse, it was time to walk the rest of the campground before packing up to leave.This gives an indication of what some of the interior sites are like.Looking across the lake.One of the few empty lakefront sites.This is a site that I wanted to remember for future reference. Look at how much space it has!Some more interior sites.One of a handful of pull through sites along the lake. This is one of my favorite views...a cleared hill across from the beach area. If you look closely, there are cows grazing on the hillside.Can you see them now??It would be hilarious to see one of them lose it's footing and roll down the hill. :rofl2: Would you be able to get a milkshake out of it afterward? :parrot: And with that, we were back out our site, and it was time to pack up and head home. Fortunately, everything had dried out from the rain the day before, so after a quick pack n' dump, it was time to say goodbye to this view until the next time.And, it was time to get home so we could pick up It's Not Cindy from the airport that evening. We had a nice trip, but it's always good to be home, and it's always good to reunite with loved ones. I'm glad we camped when she had to be gone, but it's not the same when we aren't all together. Well, until next time...DaveInTN is out! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
lklasing 16 Posted June 28, 2011 Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 Great report! Love all the pictures. Thanks for sharing! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LONE-STAR 370 Posted June 28, 2011 Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 Looks like fun. Wish that campground was closer to Texas . Quote Link to post Share on other sites
polkadotsuitcase 12 Posted June 28, 2011 Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 It would be hilarious to see one of them lose it's footing and roll down the hill. :rofl2: Would you be able to get a milkshake out of it afterward? :parrot: :rofl2: Caught me off guard with this comment -- just about did a coffee spit-take. Too funny!Thanks for the fantastic TR. Started my mornings off with a smile! Looks like a great campground, beautiful family, fun times. Bravo! :banana: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547 Posted June 28, 2011 Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 Great TR. Thank you for sharing! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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