Check Off #3 and #14 (Part 1)

So the weekend before the Tornado hit Tuscaloosa I went hiking and camping with Mom and Aunt Debbie.  This link shows you the area we were in
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM67AE_Chattooga_River_Burrells_Ford_Bridge_Chattooga_River_Trail_Sumter_NF_SC
We drove up on Thursday night and crashed at a motel for the evening.  We woke up early and started to the camp site! We got the camp site Aunt Debbie has always wanted to get and below are our tents set up

Below is our food station set up.  It was the start of the picture taking.  There are SO many pictures that honestly do not do the trip justice, so I am going to try not to show you too many of them but some I just have to share!

So we got everything set up and we are about to start out on the trail at the Fish Hatchery.  We are pointing to "You Are Here" on the trail map!

It's amazing to me that a good 5 minutes down the trail I immediately felt immersed in nature.  The fog was gorgeous and I was thankful for the help with the heat!

There were so many amazing rock formations but this was one that I took a lot of pictures of

We came to the "intersection" where we could take a left and head toward the camp ground or a right to Ellicott's Rock.  Aunt Debbie had never been to Ellicott's Rock so I voted we head that way.  Unfortunately since it had rained the day before we weren't able to cross what should have been a stream without getting our feet completely soaked.  Knowing how much we had left to hike we decided against it.  But we agreed we MUST come back and go to Ellicott's Rock!  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellicott's_Rock

The trails were so well maintained!  This is a wonderful bridge that we crossed.  (Just a Random Though...For those girls who read "Anne of Green Gables" and saw the movie, this reminds me of the bridge where Anne left Gil.)

My Godparents are Uncle Lee and Aunt Am and their last name is "Boyd" when this fallen tree came along our path of course I had to snap a shot.  Although I am pretty sure this practice is sort of frowned upon, I thought it was pretty neat!

More pictures along the way!

So we finally made it back to the camp site and we came out right where Mom happened to be fishing!  It was great!  Mom had gone shopping during the day while we were camping and she bought us some steaks for dinner.  We also had brought some potatoes and decided that since we hadn't had any time to do some real fishing that we would have steak and potatoes.  Well......the meal didn't go as planned but it was delicious!  We were a little punch drunk after the long drive up and the hike so everything seemed to be completely hilarious!  See below and our burnt potato:

The steaks were also a little crispy but really it was GREAT!!  Mom insisted we bring marshmallows to roast and I am SO glad she did!  We roasted marshmallows and had great conversations about old times and life.  I don't think I can really describe how wonderful it was not be worried about a text message or a missed call. We had the best time relaxing and being with each other!

Didn't I mention we got really silly?! 

Hope you enjoyed Part 1 of our trip!  I will try to get the next parts uploaded this week and then I have to get DUMPLIN MAKING uploaded too!