Happy Birthday to me! 35 years old ... man I am feeling old! Just kidding. I still feel like I am 20 sometimes!
For my birthday weekend, we went camping at Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park in Natural Bridge, VA.
It was a great weekend with surprises everywhere.
When we arrived Thursday afternoon, we arrived in a torrential downpour (thanks to the Hurricane Arthur that was brewing on the coast). Our campsite was nothing but a huge mud pit. My first thought was, this is going to be a terrible weekend with all this mud. We decided, since it was raining, lets go the the Natural Bridge Caverns and stay dry. It is 54 degrees inside the caverns, and luckily I remembered sweatshirts for everyone! The girls thought the caverns were really cool ... they even turned off the lights while we were down there, so we could experience what it is like in the dark! It was DARK!
It rained on and off Thursday afternoon, but stopped long enough for us to cook some dinner and relax outside a bit. We decided to watch a movie (our staple RV with Robin Williams) and go to bed ... hoping for a better day on Friday.
Friday morning, we woke up to BEAUTIFUL COOL WEATHER. The girls gave me their presents and we got ready to go to the Natural Bridge and walk around. It was so beautiful outside, around 72 degrees, so I knew it was going to be a great morning. We headed out, down the 137 steps to see the Natural Bridge.
We made it to the bottom, turned the corner, and there it was ... The Natural Bridge, such an amazing site.
Then Scott said, OH NO, the batteries died in the camera. Let's go back to the campsite and get the other camera so we can get lots of pictures. Since we could come and go as we pleased for 48 hours, we left and went back to the campsite. I was a bit "P O 'ed" that he didn't plan better and we were going to miss the great weather for hiking ... but little did I know, he had another surprise waiting for me.
We got back to the campsite and my friend Allison and her son, JJ, were there to surprise me for my birthday. I was so excited to see her and the kids were excited to hang out with them. So, we decided to get our swimsuits on and head to the pool.
They have a great water area at this campground. There is a pool, a splash pad, 2 water slides, and a jumping pillow.
While we were cooking dinner, the campground had a 4th of July Parade with the golf carts. Yogi Bear and friends were there and the girls were excited to go and see them. JJ was quite unsure why Reagan & Riley were hugging this huge bear!
After dinner, we all headed back to the Natural Bridge to take some pictures and see the light show they put on at night. I hoped to get some good pictures before it got too dark, but we ran out of daylight before making it to the end of the hike. We turned around and came back to the Natural Bridge, so we could see the light show.
Saturday, we woke up in time to say the Pledge of Allegiance with Yogi Bear and Friends. Everyone got more bear hugs ... and even JJ warmed up to give Yogi a "high five"!
Then we headed to the Natural Bridge Zoo. It was definitely hotter this day, so we had grumpy kiddos before lunchtime. But everyone enjoyed seeing the animals, feeding some animals, and the girls even got to ride an elephant!
After the zoo, we ate lunch and then Allison and JJ headed back home. The girls got to participate in some of the activities at the campground and made tye-dye shirts. We ate dinner and ended our day with ice cream and fishing.
Sunday morning, we woke up to a sick Reagan, just in time to head home. We had a great weekend and want to go back in the fall to camp when the leaves are changing. It was so beautiful up there in the Blue Ridge Mountains ... made me miss living in Lynchburg!
Thanks to everyone who sent me birthday wishes ... we had no reception in the mountains, so I did not intentionally ignore you! Love you all!
