It all started with a look into my wedding album.
I saw that we hiked at Yellowwood State Forest on our honeymoon and decided I really wanted to hike it again.
I went to the office and tried to explain the trail I remembered to the ranger.
Apparently I don’t remember much from 14yrs ago…
She finally did make sense of my crazy memories and recommend a trail that she thought the kids would like as well.
The Jackson Creek Trail
At first it seemed great but then the it started getting really narrow.
Narrow means you are brushing up against folliage.
The whole time.
Which is a bad idea when chiggers and ticks are around.
Little bit has the hardest time on these kinds of trails because she gets hit in the face from all the plants.
Finally Nick just gave her a ride.
I was pretty sure this was one of our fail hikes of the trip.
We were going to try to find a place to boondock in Hoosier National Forest but I panicked about not being able to find a place and we stayed here.
No hookups but it was only $13 a night!
One of these days I will actually go through with boondocking!
I like that I am one of those super organized camper/rvers.
Also movie on the tablet.
And I am so thankful my husband bought this Dewalt battery powered fan.
Because it was pretty hot.
This little fan was cute but did not do near as much to cool us off.
I did like that zero hookups meant spending more time outside the rv.
It is so easy to just stay inside in the evenings, when it is hot and there are lots of bugs outside.
But no air means it is actually cooler outside…
This was a really pretty site.
It was also quiet which was nice since all of our windows were open all night.
I definitely felt a lot closer to camping with no hookups.
Well, camping lite.
Or camping jr.
We only stayed one night so we packed it all back up and headed farther south to Hemlock Cliffs and Hoosier National Forest the next morning.
The other problem with a close trail.
Poison Ivy.
Have you ever tried to keep five kids from brushing up against poison ivy when it is all over the trail?
Still, it is a beautiful forest.
We got home and I realized that we did hike on the same trail 14yr ago on our honeymoon!
I thought for sure it was not it while we were hiking but it was!
I really like to relive memories like that so I am glad we took the detour even if it seemed like a bad idea in the middle of the poison ivy!
We also (by we I mean me) forgot to secure the spray I use on the girls hair so the ENTIRE bottle (filled with conditioner and oil) spilled all over the floor of the rv.
Oops.
That is okay, everyone likes their RV to be a skating rink.
Right?
Being able to go on these hikes early in the morning(well as early as I could manage to get my kids out of the rv) was amazing.
If we stay again we will choose a different camping spot though if we can.
It ended up being a perfect hike for a Sunday morning.
We made the mistake of leaving the dogs food out one night while we were there.
We had no clue what it would look like and if we would be able to pay since we were getting there after 5 pm.
They do make it clear that they have flooding problems so keep that in mind when you go.
Instead of getting on the road right away the next morning(we were driving to Indiana for a family event).
I have begun to embrace that there will be these mishaps on our trips.
I really do not like being in the camper with the kids if I can avoid it (they have a lot of energy for a small space) so I took them down to the creek to eat their breakfast.
