An Easter Weekend Adventure!

Once upon a time, there were five beautiful girls who lived in Greenville. Early in the semester, these girls decided that a road trip was a must sometime before the end of the semester. As the semester progressed, these five girls turned the road trip into a camping trip to be had over Easter break. A fantastic idea to be sure. They planned, and arranged, and got ready for what was sure to be an exciting adventure. After weeks and weeks of waiting FINALLY the time arrived!
"Tennessee, here we come!" they shouted joyfully as they set off.

Thursday before Easter, they packed themselves as tightly as they could into the ever-reliable Eileen and off they went!

With TWO sources of navigation, the girls were sure not to get lost. Rachel B became the navigator for the first leg, and what a fine job she did.

The five girls were Tennessee bound. Nothing could possibly dampen their spirits (not even threats of a weekend filled with rain). Songs on their lips, pillows on their laps, and laughter filling their conversations, these girls from Greenville were more than ready for a weekend away. First stop on the way: the bustling city of Metropolis! And look who flew in for a visit!

Superman and Wonder Woman! Sent to Earth to save us all! So nice of them to stop for pictures too. After stretching their legs a bit, the girls piled back into Eileen. The next stop would be their hotel for the night in Kentucky. "Why would they not set up camp the first day?" you might ask yourself. But let's face it... Do you really see these girls setting up a tent as darkness quickly approaches? They didn't either. So it was a hotel for the night, and camping would start on Friday.

Turns out, a hotel with a pool and cable was the perfect way to start a relaxing weekend. Though, I think the girls were more excited about the cable. It's hard to tell though.

Thursday night came and went, and Friday morning soon arrived. After casually taking some plastic forks, knives, and spoons from the breakfast line (you can never have to much of these things) it was off to Tennessee. For real this time. The girls arrived at Land Between the Lakes Camp Ground to find the most beautiful view from their site they could have ever imagined, and even more amazing weather.

Then it was time to set up camp! The tent setting up went off without a hitch. They're basically professionals.

Here it is! What would be the girls' home for a few days at least. Pretty good job, don't you think?

A trip to Walmart later, and the girls had plenty of food to last a weekend. Plus enough Easter candy to keep their tummy's full for the entire trip. Two of the girls set off to buy some fire wood and ice, but quickly realized they should have brought the car. The wood was far too heavy to carry without. Luckily, a nice man gave them a ride on the back of his truck. It would have been a long walk otherwise! Here they are showing off their muscles.

Campfire and s'mores would conclude the evening. The five girls successfully built a fire, even though the wind tried hard to keep them from doing so. Let me add, these were not your typical s'mores, for these delicious creations were made with giant marshmallows and Nutella and love. ¡Que delicioso!

After much giggling, talking, reading out loud, and calling the park ranger on the noisy neighbors, the girls drifted off into dream world, snuggled tight in their sleeping bags.

They woke up Saturday morning to the still beautiful view, and the sounds of said noisy neighbors trying to get their jet ski to work (which they worked on all weekend, and only got going a few times). It was ok though, the combination of beautiful weather and beautiful view made up for the noisy neighbors. And they really weren't that bad, just kept music playing from their truck the whole time they were there.  That and the jet ski. The five girls spent the day cooking brats and hot dogs, basking in the sunlight, laying out on the beach and otherwise just enjoying the beautiful day God had blessed them with.

As the day progressed, the girls decided that for dinner they would try to find "The World's Biggest Fish Fry" that they had been seeing signs for, and hearing about on the radio. However, shortly before leaving a HUGE wind rose up and nearly took off with the tent and Rachel B in tow! Luckily, the girls were there to literally hold it down. Don't worry, Rachel B escaped alive and unhurt. Unfortunately, however, the rain flap was badly ripped. Nothing a little duct tape and a few more tent stakes can't fix, right? So the girls thought. A roll of duct tape, some rope and a few more tent stakes were purchased and the girls set off to fix their little home. The result was what Dubs would call "Ghetto fabulous." Macgyver would have been proud.

Feeling confident that their tent was as secured and fixed as it would ever be the girls headed out to eat some fish. After driving around for what seemed like hours (slight exaggeration...) they found the place. Much to their disappointment, the fish fry did not start until Wednesday, and no. They really didn't want to go to a demolition derby if there was not any fish there. It was extremely disappointing. The girls headed back to camp, and were delighted to find their tent still standing. They made dinner at the camp site, chatted around the fire for a bit, and then headed into the tent to snuggle and read some more. Easter church service in morning!

As these adventures go, things do not typically work out as planned. The girls were awakened several times throughout the night to storms, wind, lightning, and rain. Lots of rain. And their patch up job on the tent didn't last long. In the early morning, poor Jenny woke up soaking wet! The rain continued to get worse, and the amount of water inside of the tent continued to grow.
"We're taking on water!" the girls yelled (this may have been putting it lightly). There was, in fact, a lake in the tent. Not exactly good for sleeping. Unless you are a duck. Which the girls were not.

When it came time to head to church, the rain had still not abated. So the girls decided to stay in the tent, with the hope that the rain would let up so they could try to refix the tent. After a call to Rachel Irwin's mom, their hopes of the storm clearing out were dashed and the five girls had to make a decision. Stay through as planned and deal with being wet? Or make a dash for it and head out a day early. Had the tent not been broken, I'm sure they would have stuck out the coming storms, but since they weren't overly enjoying sitting in a lake whilst in their tent, the girls made the decision to head home. A quick break in the storms gave the girls enough time to pack Eileen with all their wet things. And let me tell you, their things were soaked. They piled everything on the picnic table, rolled up the tent, and shoved it all back in Eileen. Just as they were getting into the car, the heavens opened up and it began pouring once more.

Several hours, and one McDonald's stop later the girls were back in Greenville. It wasn't quite the adventure they had planned on, but it was an adventure nonetheless. They made memories to last a lifetime and can't wait for the next time when they can tackle the Great Outdoors again! And that, my friends, was an Easter Weekend Adventure! So until next time...