Family Vacation

We took a family vacation/camping trip the first week of October. We had a really nice time! Chris had been camping before, but this is the longest we'd been out. We hadn't really used our DNR season pass, so we decided to visit several state parks over our vacation to "get our money" out of it.

We started out at Summitt Lake State Park near New Castle. We'd never been there before, and we got a little lost on the way, but only ended up going 10-15 minutes out of our way. Aunt Pam, Uncle Doug, Aunt Paula, and Uncle Ron were all camping at Summitt Lake as well. We did a lot of fishing. Not much catching, but a lot of fishing!! Aunt Pam and Aunt Paula cooked bluegill for dinner on my birthday. Couldn't have asked for anything better!

After Summitt Lake, we went to the little town of Metamora, IN. We stayed at a bed and breakfast because it was raining, and we didn't want to set-up the pop-up in the rain. The B&B was haunted... I'm not kidding! The dishes rattled in the sink all night, the light inside kept going on and off by itself, and then the light outside started doing the same thing. There was no one else staying in the B&B... it was freaky.

After staying with the ghosts for a night, we moved down to Madison, IN at Clifty Falls State Park. We camped there for two nights. We did a lot of hiking the trails and seeing the waterfalls at the park. In the town of Madison, we toured the Lanier Mansion and looked around at some of the historic sites. It was a really cool little town!

We attempted to find the highest point in Indiana... we couldn't... this is probably why... "At an elevation of 1,257 feet about sea level, it is hidden in a woods, a short rise above Elliot Road, northwest of Bethel in Wayne County. "

There were no more signs after that one...

I thought this little house in Metamora was really neat. No significance.

This is the grist mill at Metamora.

On the way from Metamora to Madison we stopped and had lunch in a little town called Napoleon. The restaurant we ate at was called "Bonaparte's Cafe." The menu explained the history of the restaurant, and that the owner's had a figure of Napoleon carved into a tree stump in their yard. We had nothing better to do than to go find it!

At Clifty Falls State Park, we did a lot of hiking (only way to see the waterfalls). Here, we hiked up to the top of an observation tower to look out over the Ohio River. Chris loved riding in the backpack. He just smiled and squealed the whole time.

This guy was using some kind of tracking equipment below the observation tower. I had to ask...I wish I hadn't. He was tracking copperhead snakes. This one's "right here," he said. Glad it was underground!

This was a hike to the overlook of Big Clifty Falls.

This is a fountain in the little town of Madison

View from the master bedroom of the Lanier Mansion.

Once we got home, Chris was very interested in helping me unpack the cooler...

Here's a little clip of Chris playing in the cooler