The Armadillo Times: 2015

March 30 - April 3, 2015
DeSoto State Park, Fort Payne, AL

Lora and I spent spring break at DeSoto State Park accompanied by her long-time friend, Ashley Williams. The laughter flowed freely, the camp fire conversations were divine and the comradery was genuine. And the weather? We had all four seasons in five short days. Weeks like this are what keep me coming back for more!

I continually had flashbacks of past camping trips or day hikes at DeSoto. Before falling in deep love with the Bankhead Forest, Brian and I spent a lot of time at DeSoto State Park. We spent our first Christmas away in a cabin here and woke to snow on Christmas morning in 1989. I am grateful to Lora and Ashley for indulging my many remembrances of this trail and that rock.

Girl Fire Power!

Popcorn tastes better outdoors!
Everything taste better outdoors.

The art of nursing a camp fire, story telling and
opening of hearts and minds has successfully
been passed to the next generation.

FGNG
Fun Girls: The Next Generation

The food plan can make or break a camping trip. There's a delicate balance of fun food and nutrition, packing space and having what you need without numerous trips back to town. Breakfast is my favorite meal to cook. We had eggs-in-a-hole, pancakes & bacon, sausage & scrambled eggs and Jack's biscuit on our final morning. (That was our reward for getting up early and packing the car by 9am.) We had BBQ for lunch one day in Mentone and the other days we had sandwiches at camp or on a picnic. Our dinner menu included hamburgers, chili, hotdogs, Conecuh sausage and one dinner at the Lodge. Pork wins on the best food for the week in the form of bacon, BBQ and sausage. The FAIL of the week was S'Mores made with Bunny Peeps. The sugar on the outside burned and the roasting process felt a bit sadistic. LOL

Mentone Country Store

Country Store / Art Gallery / BBQ Stand

Bacon, Pancakes & Peanut Butter

John Denver sang about the Rocky Mountains, Alabama exalted the Tennessee River and Johnny Cash wrote about the flooding Mississippi River. I don't have a song, but my soul certainly reverberates when I am in the country. I sigh a bit deeper and feel a lot stronger about the people I love. It is healing to my soul and renewing to my mind. God never fails to meet me there for such a time of refreshing. Don't misunderstand, I love the convenient life of living in town, grabbing a baseball game or catching an art exhibit on the spur of the moment. My retirement ambition is a loft downtown where I can see the Barons play from my balcony and walk to all things cultural. I do not desire to be caretaker of pastures and livestock, tend crops in the field. I am content supporting Alabama farmers at Pepper Place while I sip supreme coffee at O'Henry's. However, on a very regular basis I must escape to the country to center my thoughts and align my thinking, to remind myself what it is about my life that is enchanted. And enchanted it is!

Three curly hair ladies enjoying the ease of a beautiful spring day.

Little River Canyon from Hawks Glide Overlook

We spent the better part of one day hiking and then found an off-trail spot to hang our hammocks. The weather was the warmest it has been this season. If every day on the trip had been this beautiful we may not have come home.