We celebrated the 4th with nature and family and it was great. Jack and I got up this morning, early, and headed to Dog Creek Falls over near Cumberland Falls. We stopped along the way to grab breakfast at the Huddle House and let me just say they have upped their game. They are much better than the Waffle House with a much broader menu; I was impressed. After breakfast, we continued onto the falls. I'm so grateful for All Trails and Google Maps because I never would have found it. It's off on this dirt road in the middle of nowhere!
All Trails said the bridge to the trail was damaged and you could walk across the rocks; what they didn't say is that to walk across the rocks your feet would get wet. I took my shoes off and went across. Jack was standing on the other side and asked if I just wanted to go to Cumberland. My answer as I was drying off my feet with my socks - No, come on. So he went back to the car, grabbed the blanket to dry or feet with, and over the water he came. The water was cold, but not too bad, and honestly, it just added to the adventure.
We hiked to the falls; for about an hour 1/2 with some strenuous/slippery parts. It was a beautiful, day and the woods kept it fairly cool Magnolia trees were blooming everywhere and it was serene; we could hear water almost the entire trail in some fashion or another.
The falls themselves were cool with these gigantic rocks you could climb on and a nice cave-like thing to the side. There was a pool at the bottom and several folks were swimming. Jack and I meandered down a bit to a quiet spot with rocks and water rapids to chill. We drank some water, ate a fruit strip, and I took my shoes off and walked on some rocks to see further out. It was cool. I didn't really see anything impressive by taking my shoes off and getting my feet wet, but I can say I did it.
We then headed back. We ended up going back on a lower trail which was cool as we got to see some different scenery. I'll say by this time we were both ready to get back. I was sweating in the unmentionable places women do, I had to pea, Jack's shirt apparently soured in the wash and we didn't know it til he got sweaty ... so we were ready to see that car. But it was a really good hike and I'm grateful we did it.
Once in the car, we headed back to Donald's. We saw a Dollar General not too far from the falls and I bought Jack a shirt, some ugly yoga pants, and underwear, and both of us changed in the car. I was dry and comfortable and Jack's shirt is in a plastic bag to hide the awful smell. I have a picture of these yellow and pink pants - they were the only ones they had other than camo. I honestly didn't care, I just wanted to be dry...
We then stopped for gas and ate lunch at Wendy's before coming back to Donald's for a shower and a nap.
After some rest, the 4 of us took a drive down a gravel road to see the river and just explore the area. It was really pretty and peaceful. We came back, ate some Spaghetti, and went to downtown Jelico to watch the fireworks. They were nice; better than I expected for a small town. We then got into some traffic coming home trying to leave the town... and by traffic I mean we had to stop for maybe 3 minutes to let some people out.... these people would die in Atlanta or even Grovetown.
Now we rest. Tomorrow we are heading to part two of our trip at the cabin in N. GA. Until then :)
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