The Big Camping Trip

Ben for his 30th birthday decided that the family should go camping.  So we loaded up the car, and drove up to a gorgeous campsite right on Lake Chatuge at the Georgia-North Carolina border.  The lake was literally 10 feet from the front door of the tent, which was a bit closer than desired given the lake's magnetic pull on young Luke.  But alas, it was not the magnet that did us in, it was the weather.  Hot and sticky when we arrived and pitched the tent, we got pelted with an intense thunderstorm that first evening.  The storm at first confined us to the car and then to McDonald's for dinner.  It rained a few more times during the night, but the next morning brought a fresh start.  Ben whipped up some pancakes and bacon, and we went out for a bike ride, at which time it started to rain again.  When that stopped, and when we saw we had a two hour window before the thunderstorms resumed, we decided to abort and return home.  The decision was clinched when a woman called out from the next site over "There's a snake in the water! There's a snake in the water!"

Ben and his helper

Luke and his mom in their camp chairs

"Hello Ducks!"

Yes, Mr. Brown and Mickey made the trip.

Before we got wind of the snake...