Friday the 13th Camping...

I went camping this weekend with my family on Friday the 13th. There was no Jason and all of us came out of the trip alive. I was, however, a little worried that it might have turned a little scary...camping with the family, that is. Spending time with family members--especially the parents--in tents in the middle of the forest (with very few witnesses around) could turn far scarier than anything Jason or Freddy could hash out!

It turned out to not be very scary after all and we had fun. (I did, of course, set up my own tent not to be shared with those other crazy people.) I went hiking, biking, and fishing the whole weekend. I discovered a new favorite cliff-side fishing hole that I enjoyed because I felt that being so high up made me invisible to the fishes. Well, that and there was a small waterfall next to it that I could play in once I became bored.

This was nothing like the primitive camping that Best Friend and I are used to. I mean there was actually an established CAMPGROUND and you could see other PEOPLE! Still the beauty along the Tallulah River and the gorge is awesome and you must travel down a long, winding dirt road deep into the Chattahoochee National Forest to get there. Traveling only a few miles down the dirt past our campsite will lead you into North Carolina, but not before traveling through impressive Tate City with only about 6 houses and a whopping population of 32 (give or take)! Tate City cracked me up and we all had a good, long laugh about it.

If you can imagine what it would be like to run across a "city" in the forest, then imagine what it would be like to be sitting in your campsite in the forest and then hear what sounds like carnival music growing louder. I was wondering if Tate City had set up a fairground for it's 30 residents until I realized that it was not a fair, but an ice cream truck pulling into the campground! At first I was taken back by my wilderness experience being tarnished by such a civilized act as ice cream delivery. But that only lasted a moment. This was ICE CREAM, my kryptonite, my diet spoiler, after all!!! HELL YEAH!!! It seemed that I would not have to suffer through two whole days without ice cream after all! Now if only Grand Teton and Yosemite National Parks would just get on board with this program, I might just consider taking a longer backpacking trip next time.
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Here's your grand tour of Tate City! Welcome! If you want, you can just move in to one of the 6 houses and become a resident. Our sign allows for an additional person to move in (or die).

There's grand sites to see like this barn. Anyone who lived in the Southeast along Interstate 75 and Interstate 24 about 20 years ago can appreciate (and find humor in) this knock off of the famous "See Rock City" barns. Those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, give me a sympathy chuckle and move right along...

There's fine shopping at Tate City. Click on this photo to check out the mall! The Pots To Piss In Outlet store is to die for!

And there are also incredible day trips to North Carolina available! This unfortunately concludes the tour of Tate City.

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Self portrait time! It was a difficult task to set my camera on self timer, jump off that boulder, and wade my way across the river before the 10 seconds were up on the timer.

My aunt and dad fishing along the Tallulah River.

My other aunt and my mom weren't into fishing, though.

On one of my hikes I found this really cool snail...

and these pretty cool mushrooms.

Back at camp, we were cold so dad started this roaring fire. It was no where near the quality nor as long-lasting as my excellent fire building skills produce. And I don't cheat by using lighter fluid. Bad Daddy!

And last but certainly not least in my opinion, the ice cream truck! Yay for wilderness ice cream!!!!