Weekend Getaway, Part 2
We went for a walk before dinner to gather woods for the fire. We trudged through the woods around the cabin down to the ravine looking for anything we could use for the fire while looking our nervously for poison oak and poison ivy... and, of course, snakes hiding under logs and leaves. But in the end, we collected a nice armload of wood and headed back to the cabin, and no one was bitten or poisoned. We saw no ferocious wild life in the process.
Night came. Dinner was done. Sydney asked incessantly all through dinner whether it was time for the firepit and was worried that we were too full to eat smores. After reassuring her that our evening plan was intact, I headed outside to start up the fire. Despite having the porch lights on, it was pitch black outside such that I had to shine the SUV's headlights from the driveway to see where we were going. Everyone pitched in to add kindling, dry leaves and anything else that we thought would burn on top of the existing log in the raised fire pit. We were truly city slickers, huffing and puffing trying to get the fire started. A few kindling and leaves caught on fire but the flame was short-lived. Sydney was getting very anxious. I was getting irritated. Tracie rushed inside and came back with and handful of paper towels. We shoved the paper towels under some twigs and stared them down, quietly cursing the wood to bend to our will. Apparently, it worked. I shoved the lighter into the paper towels and flicked my Bic. The paper towels caught on fire and the magic began. The leaves caught on fire and a flame roared to life. We had a serious fire going before long.
The marshmallows came out. We stuck one on the end of three little sticks that we broke off some poor tree. We roasted the marshmallows and made some smores. They were delicious!! But we soon got tired of the smores. We were never sweet eaters in the first place. But at least we tried them and could check them off our bucket lists.
Sydney marveled at the fire and asked why the sparks flew up high into the night sky like little fireflies. We had impromptu science lessons right then and there. We scoured the grounds to find more twigs and branches to add to the fire. It was fun while it lasted. About an hour later, just as quickly as it started. it was over. The fascination over the fire was gone. Sydney asked to go back inside the cabin. Tracie followed and I was left all alone tending to the dying flame. Geeze. After a few minutes of sitting there listening to the night sounds, it got rather creepy. Periodic rustling sounds in the woods nearby and sitting all alone in near perfect darkness was a bit much for a city slicker to take. I admit it. I was quickly becoming a scaredy cat. I got up and headed inside to get water to squelch the fire. Sydney even offered to help. After three cups of water on the fire, it was out. I placed the cover back on the fire pit and called it a night.
Sunday morning brought us a brand new day. It was time to pack up and check out of the cabin. Luckily, we got an extra hour due to daylight savings time coming to an end. It was time to head to Ana Ruby Falls to check it out anyway. We found our way to the fall and looked around. I can't say I was not a bit disappointed. We mistakenly thought that Ana Ruby Falls was the same fall as Ruby Falls in Tennessee. Ruby Falls was an underground falls, and I was excited to show Sydney how cool it was. Unfortunately, we were several hundred miles off. Duh! But we walked up to see the falls anyway. If nothing else, it was a photo opportunity.
Similar to other tourists to make the visit a bit more interesting, we invented a game to try to catch the falling leaves before they hit the ground. It was much harder than it looked, having little room to dash around to catch the leaves. We made our way back down and called it a day.
We'll go to the right falls next time. What mattered was that our Sydney-boo had a fantastic weekend and had already declared that she would love to come back to Helen for another weekend getaway. She asked if we could go back in two weeks, while she was out of school for Thanksgiving. Well, perhaps next autumn.
Night came. Dinner was done. Sydney asked incessantly all through dinner whether it was time for the firepit and was worried that we were too full to eat smores. After reassuring her that our evening plan was intact, I headed outside to start up the fire. Despite having the porch lights on, it was pitch black outside such that I had to shine the SUV's headlights from the driveway to see where we were going. Everyone pitched in to add kindling, dry leaves and anything else that we thought would burn on top of the existing log in the raised fire pit. We were truly city slickers, huffing and puffing trying to get the fire started. A few kindling and leaves caught on fire but the flame was short-lived. Sydney was getting very anxious. I was getting irritated. Tracie rushed inside and came back with and handful of paper towels. We shoved the paper towels under some twigs and stared them down, quietly cursing the wood to bend to our will. Apparently, it worked. I shoved the lighter into the paper towels and flicked my Bic. The paper towels caught on fire and the magic began. The leaves caught on fire and a flame roared to life. We had a serious fire going before long.
The marshmallows came out. We stuck one on the end of three little sticks that we broke off some poor tree. We roasted the marshmallows and made some smores. They were delicious!! But we soon got tired of the smores. We were never sweet eaters in the first place. But at least we tried them and could check them off our bucket lists.
Sydney marveled at the fire and asked why the sparks flew up high into the night sky like little fireflies. We had impromptu science lessons right then and there. We scoured the grounds to find more twigs and branches to add to the fire. It was fun while it lasted. About an hour later, just as quickly as it started. it was over. The fascination over the fire was gone. Sydney asked to go back inside the cabin. Tracie followed and I was left all alone tending to the dying flame. Geeze. After a few minutes of sitting there listening to the night sounds, it got rather creepy. Periodic rustling sounds in the woods nearby and sitting all alone in near perfect darkness was a bit much for a city slicker to take. I admit it. I was quickly becoming a scaredy cat. I got up and headed inside to get water to squelch the fire. Sydney even offered to help. After three cups of water on the fire, it was out. I placed the cover back on the fire pit and called it a night.
Sunday morning brought us a brand new day. It was time to pack up and check out of the cabin. Luckily, we got an extra hour due to daylight savings time coming to an end. It was time to head to Ana Ruby Falls to check it out anyway. We found our way to the fall and looked around. I can't say I was not a bit disappointed. We mistakenly thought that Ana Ruby Falls was the same fall as Ruby Falls in Tennessee. Ruby Falls was an underground falls, and I was excited to show Sydney how cool it was. Unfortunately, we were several hundred miles off. Duh! But we walked up to see the falls anyway. If nothing else, it was a photo opportunity.
Similar to other tourists to make the visit a bit more interesting, we invented a game to try to catch the falling leaves before they hit the ground. It was much harder than it looked, having little room to dash around to catch the leaves. We made our way back down and called it a day.
We'll go to the right falls next time. What mattered was that our Sydney-boo had a fantastic weekend and had already declared that she would love to come back to Helen for another weekend getaway. She asked if we could go back in two weeks, while she was out of school for Thanksgiving. Well, perhaps next autumn.
posted by DaddyEyeduck at 8:42 PM
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