Our plan A place, Peterson Prairie, had a double site for us, but we wanted to see if there was anything better, so we paid for the site, thinking the worst that would happen is we'd be out $30 if we opted for another spot. So, we left camp chairs in the site and taped a note to the Wilsons on the message board (part of our plan was for the Wilsons to check the message board for changes in the plan) letting them know that we were exploring other options and to please pick up our chairs if we weren't there and go on to the next plan. We drove 9 miles up a gravel road to our plan B place, Cultus Creek. It was a long, bumpy trek up the mountain, and when we finally got to the campground, we saw small overgrown sites, no people, and LOTS of mosquitoes, as in, bugs flying into our mouths when we stepped out of the truck. It didn't take long to decide this was not the place for us. We drove back down the mountain and decided to set up camp at Peterson Prairie. The kids helped unload everything, and we set up camp, tent and all. We ate some lunch and did a little exploring and quickly realized there wasn't much to explore--no creek, no lake, no hiking trails. We decided to go check out some of other places nearby, just for future trips, of course.
We drove 6 miles down another rough gravel road to Goose Lake. It was pretty, and I was tempted to relocate there, but the campsites were literally on the side of the hill, had to go up a flight or two of stairs to get to the sites, and we, ultimately decided it wasn't worth the hassle and $30 to move there. Forlorn Lakes were pretty, as well but still not worth moving campsites. Forlorn Lakes were on a loop on the map, so we just continued on the road rather than turning around, but we ended up coming to spot on the road that was washed away and impassable. The road was too narrow and had the mountain on one side and a steep cliff on the others, so Greg backed down the road a quarter of a mile and when we came to a spot where it seemed feasible, I got out to help him back up and turn around. It was a little stressful but very exciting. :) We were going to head back to our camp, but there was just one more place we/I really wanted to check out--Trout Lake Creek. So, we drove 30 minutes past our campground and found an amazing spot right on the creek, so amazing that I was able to persuade the rest of the family that it was worth relocating. They agreed that it was a better spot but were reluctant to drive all the way back to our other campsite, tear down, and set up all over again. It took some convincing, but they all agreed. We paid for the site, left the trusty Great Grandma quilt to claim our spot, and were back on the road again. Unfortunately, we took a wrong turn on our way up to the main road and ended up going 15 minutes up a mountain, the wrong way. We had to drive until we found a safe place to turn around (again), and another 15 minutes later, we were back on the right road and drove the half hour to our campsite where we took our tent down and loaded up the truck in a mere 20 minutes and drove the 30 minutes back to our final destination. At this point, it was 6:30pm. The Wilsons rolled up before we even had our tent set up. They loved our spot, and we were all glad we'd switched, even though it had meant many hours in the car and extra work. From that point on, it was pure fun! Well, except for Grant falling in the creek fully clothed in his tennis shoes and except for Kari getting attacked on the nose by a horsefly.
We explored an ice cave, natural bridges, another cave, played in the creek, and ate yummy food. Great time with great friends!
