Climbing trip to Red River Gorge, Kentucky

We have made some really great friends here in Ohio and among our favorites are the Millers. They are fun and spontanious and are always in the mood for adventure. So, naturally, we do quite a lot with them. We decided that during Jay's first short break of Dental School we were going to go climbing in Red River Gorge. We heard it was a must while we lived so close to it. We hopped in the car and got the kids ready for our 4 hour drive to Kentucky. The drive was beautiful. This was just one of the wonderful housed we saw on the way. Jay and I decided that we could be so happy in a place like this- Just not so close to the freeway :).

The first thing we did when we got there was set up camp and the first thing all the kids did was play in the mud puddles and get dirty!

This was so funny. He seriously did dive into the mud head first. Such a great sad face.

A little family picture by the almost started fire

Andy, Evie, Tabi, and Brooklyn (their other little girl Madi stayed home with Tabi's mom)

We joke in our family that Jensen is our really good eater. Seriously, he will eat just about anything (especially meat) but come on, this is taking it way too far! :)

Jay is bonding with Jensen while building the fire. I still think it was a miracle that Jay and Andy actually did get that damp fire wood to start. I won't mention the trip to the gas station to get the starter log! I tell you. There was major determination going on there. In their defence, I think they tried for hours to light those saturated logs and for the safty of all of us they had to resort to the starter log. We were sure gratful for it though!!

Lennix was so dirty so I wanted to take some pictures. He was being cute and silly and these pictures made me happy.

Brooklyn and Lennix are the best of friends. I caught them holding hads as we started the hike.

I couldn't believe how beautiful it was and it was not even spring yet

So pretty

We mad it to the Natural Bridge. . . I guess I was under the impression that nothing like this exsists out east. Well, my uneducated mind has been changed and the more I live here and learn of places to go, the more I love it.

On the other side of the bridge

Lennix is on his way to walk on top

This is a great picture. I think Jensen is looking for some good hand holds.

As we stood on top of the Natural Bridge. Our next destination was that flat rock right behind us.

Lennix and Brookly being good sports about us taking pictures

This is as we looked back at the Natural Bridge from the other ledge. So amazing. I can't even imagine how beautuful this place will be in the summer and especially in the fall. We've made it a goal to come back during the fall to see all the leaves change.

Jensen had enough hiking for one day. Jay was pretty talented to take him off his back and set him down with out interupting his nap. If I had a nickel for all the odd places my kids have taken a nap! :)

I LOVE this picture of Jay. That is such a genuine smile. Boy, I married a handsome man!

Tabi and I still talk about how wonderful Our husbands were on this trip. We did not pack for rain at all. Jay and Andy spent many hours constucting some type of shelter so that we could eat our meal in a dry area. They even made a shelter over our fire because everything we brought needed to be cooked over the fire. Thank goodness for the Millers bringing their camp stove for that first meal or we would have been eating raw carrots and potatoes for dinner.

Our sencond day of hiking. Yes, it was still raining and so we did not get to climb but it was so beautiful. It actually wasn't a hard rain, it felt like those misters at a baseball game so it was actually quite pleasant to hike in and it kept us nice and cool. Pretty sweet cave.

This part made me think of Zion. The beautiful trees and hundreds of feet of sheer rock clifs to our side.
Jay and Lennix enjoying their hike
Me and my Jensen
This describes Jensen perfectly. He is my little lover. I have to say it is one of my favorite pictures because he is really giving me a great big kiss on my cheek!!
All of us in another cave. It did start to rain a bit harder so we couldn't handle not climbing at all so . . .
All of us played on the rock a litte bit.

Okay, this one is just for laughs. This is officially Evie's first climb!
Yup, eating dirt. Maybe I should have packed some treats :)
Lennix kept on throwing dirt on Jensen so he had to sit in time out. I think he enjoyed it more than anything.
This was the mood for the whole day. It was so beautiful with the fog hugging the mountains and when it rains I feel like it is cleaning and refreshing everything. The millers kept on saying how they wish that it wasn't raining so that we could have climbed but I know they agree with me when I say I wouldn't change one thing about this trip because it was so memorable -rain and all.
We had to document the shelter over the fire.
Okay, we got back to camp after hiking and it started to rain pretty bad. The kids were not having a great time so we decided to put on a movie in our car while we got things ready for dinner. It was getting pretty dark so I went into our tent to get my flash light and noticed that a wonderful puddle of water was forming on our sleeping bags from the drops that were coming from the top of our tent. I wanted to be a good sport so I told Jay that we could somehow dry our things and figure it out or sleep in the car. Well, I was so relieved when he said that we were just going to pack up and take off that night. I was actually out of clothes for the boys and I don't think I've felt more dirty on a campling trip. The only stipulation was that we didn't want to leave until we cooked Andy and Tabi's Steaks that had been marinating for 2 days. As you can tell they were well worth the wait!! The best steaks I have ever had (well, close second to my father in law Art's cooking :)). I don't know if it was because I was starving or what but we tried to duplicate that taste and can't quite get it! After we ate it didn't take up very long to pack our things and all of us headed out of Red River Gorge at 10:00pm for our 4 hour drive home.

Andy and Tabi -Thank you so much for such a memorable weekend. We couldn't have had as much fun with anyone else. I think it will be one of the trips we remember most!! Plus, a good steak always makes everything better! :)