Take a Hike with the Claytons

Take a Hike with the Claytons

Monday, June 24, 2013

Mountain Lakes - Guntersville, AL CABIN 6-21-13



OK, so maybe this wasn't really camping since our pop-up Jack didn't join us, but it was still a trip to the great outdoors, and thus good enough for a blog entry!!!

So this trip began several months ago when we entered a contest at Camping World and "won." It seems to us that all you had to do was sign up at the table and you "won" a trip to Mountain Lakes. They called us back in February and we planned to go in April, but cancelled ... again in May, but cancelled ... and now we made it work in mid-June. Our original plan was to take our camper, but since the fine people at Mountain Lakes offered us a cabin, we went for it (June can be a rough month to camp in a pop-up ... really hot, lots of people around, and even more bugs).

We loaded up the car Friday afternoon about 1:30 and left for our cabin, all while hoping Carter would get in a great nap on the way! This trip was without much packing since we were staying in a cabin instead of the camper. It was much easier since we had an efficiency and did not have to bring a bunch of food. (This is Kelly- really I just didn't pack any food this time because it would force us to eat out the whole time and I didn't have the energy while packing to plan any meals except for hotdogs!)The most exciting item we packed this time around was the bikes! We are still trying to find a way to take them with us when we also have the camper, especially since we saw on this trip how much Carter loves to ride the "Mommy-cicle." Regardless, the trip was very easy ... Carter napped great ... pregnant mommy was comfortable(-ish) ... and no bikes fell off the back of the car. We made it to the campsite around 4:00, checked in, and moved right into the cabin.


Cabin #2, more effectionately known as "Bigmouth Bunker," was our home for the weekend; however, we almost didn't make it to our temporary home since Tessa the front office worker told us it was Cabin #6. Donald walked straight into #6 and was greeted by a dinner table full of dirty clothes.  Fortunately there were not any big scary people cleaning their hunting rifles when the city boy walked into the wrong cabin. Disaster averted.  Soon we were settled into Bigmouth Bunker after stepping over the giant animal cage on the way in- comforting. 




After re-checking with Tessa, we made it into the correct cabin and found some time to relax. Carter then found his toys and the television. He became pretty hooked on Mickey Mouse before we pried him away to go eat dinner. The sweet part about this campground is that there was a "country cafe" about 100 feet from our cabin. We basically ate every meal there and added many pounds to ourselves. Friday night was a catfish special!!!! Once we had devoured all of the catfish, hush puppies, French fries, and tartar sauce our stomachs could take, we toured the site on bike. It was great to see the lake at sunset and to relax on the shore for a bit. Finally we made it back to the cabin for bedtime. Carter took a little longer than normal than usual but eventually fell asleep.





We all slept really late ... 8:00! ... and then jetted out for a country breakfast. Direct quotes from breakfast: Carter: "Yummies!" Kelly: "I ate way too much." Donald: "Are you gonna eat those hash browns?" Now that breakfast was tucked away, it was time for kayaking!!! We drove down to the boat ramp, inflated the kayak, and got ready for a nice cruise through Guntersville Lake. For some reason unknown to us, something just didn't seem right. We paddled around for a bit and dodged some bass boat waves. Then, Donald began acting weird. His questions turned from "Have you ever seen a lake so nice?" to "Do you have any water in the front of the boat?" As the paddling became more difficult and everyone's swim shorts became more wet, it was evident something wasn't right. Turns out that "super cool outdoors dad" forgot to plug the bottom drain in the kayak. Yes, that's right, we toured the lake for about 10 minutes while we slowly took on water. Luckily, we made it back to the shore before Carter received his first swimming lesson in the middle of Guntersville Lake.  Now that we were safe, we took Carter to the pier to use his kids fishing pole.  He threw it in the lake three times and Kelly saved it twice... but not before we got some cute pictures. :) As we were all leaving the pier feeling pretty defeated, Kelly randomly started a bloody nose.  Couldn't get any better!



So, the morning was a pretty big fail, but hey, we could correct all of that with a nice trip to the pool! We took Carter and he was successful in stealing a bunch of toys and running everywhere his parents told him not to. But, he did his usual entertaining gig for a sweet grandma named Miss Pat. No one was sunburned so we'll call this a success.

Carter then pretended like he was going to nap, but faked mommy and daddy out. He was a little too wired for napping, so we all headed back out for some fun. This time it was the playground and other areas of the park before coming back for pizza. Lastly, we closed out the evening with another bike ride to the pier. We were able to see the sun set once again before retiring for the evening.







As for the final morning, we were signed up for a 90-minute presentation so they could try to sell us a membership.  After much prodding on their end, we said no. We're more of a state park family. :)

Until next time, happy camping.