Fall Break Adventure Days 6-8

Day 6: Travel Day

Oh what an exhausting day! We waited for the Enterprise guy to pick us up to get our rental car and of course he was late and then drove about 15 miles the whole way there. When I went to check in the salesman asked for my credit card. I gave him the only card we have and he said he could not take it since it was linked to a checking account. He said that he could not rent me the car. I offered to go get cash at the bank next door and he said no. You have to have a credit card. Ok, let me get on my soapbox here for a minute. We are living in a country in financial crisis brought on by people spending more money than they have on CREDIT! So why should I be penalized when my family chooses to avoid credit at all costs? If we are trying to live responsibly, why should I not be able to rent a car with CASH??!! Ridiculous. Believe me that I will be sending a letter to Enterprise.

Finally I had to call my sister Wendy who had to load 2 kids in the car and head over to let me use her business credit card. We finally get on the road and 10 minutes before we are ready to stop for lunch, Riley falls asleep. So much for the nap later! 4 stops later, including 15 minutes sitting at a toll booth for no good apparent reason, we arrived at Nana and Papa's house. I can say that the ride was beautiful in the mountains. We had a great dinner and then early to bed for all of us....we were exhausted!

Day 7

We woke up to frost on the lawn (29 degrees outside) but Papa still wanted to take us out on the boat. We did convince him to wait until 10:30 when the temperature outside had warmed up to 45 degrees. Nana (who is ALWAYS cold!) bundled up in her snowmobiling coat and the infamous wool hat that she has had since we were little! The toughest part was that since the docks came out of the lake last week, we had to wade into the water out to the boat. The water was 55 degrees! I could not feel my feet!

But the walk in the water was well worth it! The views were amazing! These pictures are great but do not even begin to show the majesty of it all!

After our boat ride, we had lunch and then headed out to help Nana and Papa pick out their Christmas tree. That's right, a Christmas tree in October. Actually they just go tag it now and then the farmer cuts it down in December. It prevents them from having to hike through the snow! The kids had a great time.

Day 8

Today Nana and Papa had a big plan for us! We packed up the backpacks and headed up the road to Fawn Lake. It was a short hike in, but interesting along the way. There were a ton of cool leaves and we even saw a toad. We got down to the lake the view was breath-taking! There was not any wind and the lake was perfectly calm. It was like a mirror the way that it reflected the view of the trees and the mountains! After admiring the view, Papa made a fire and we roasted hot dogs. They were fabulous! Then we roasted marshmallows and had s'mores! Yum! Then we hiked back (only a few falls on the way and none of them me!!).

We had a quite afternoon....Riley napped and John Mark played with Barnabus the dog down on the beach. Yes, he even ended up in the water. Crazy kid and even crazier dog! After dinner we went out on the porch to do some sparklers. A fun ending to a fun day!