After about a week of these short rides in fairly calm water, we drove the boys with their tubes a few miles up the road so they could have a longer ride. There are a couple of drop-off places for rafters up the road that dramatically change the ride down the creek, There are cascades to pass over, and a small waterfall that drops three or four feet that will get your adrenaline pumping.
Our grandsons spent the month of June with us leaving a few days after Independence Day. The days were full of rafting and hiking. We managed at least one six-mile hike each week they were here. Consort and I went on a difficult hike last year to Laurel Falls that included a 250-foot drop in elevation. The climb down into the basin of the falls was exhausting, but it was the climb back to the top that elicited a promise to myself that I would never, EVER, hike this trail again.
Well, here we are, pictured above, ready to set out on the selfsame hike. I'm even wearing the same t-shirt as on that fateful day last June. Our friend from the campground, D, had us park our truck at the bottom of the mountain. He then drove all of us, including D.O.G., to the top of the mountain and dropped us off. He assured me this hiking trail was much easier as it's all downhill. He told us to follow the creek and there was no way we could get lost. At one point in the hike, we came up against a solid rock wall. We had been forewarned, but still had a difficult time locating, and then navigating, the inches-wide footpath we had to follow between the rock wall and the five-foot drop to the creek.
Obviously, I'm sitting here typing away at my computer, so we did make it safely back. None of us are experienced hikers, we had no maps, and we seldom ran into other hikers. There were definitely times when we felt turned around and a little lost. Thanks to our middle grandson, who kept his eye on the downstream flow of the creek, we made it out unscathed -- at least most of us did.
Here at Roan Creek you can park an RV, pitch a tent, rent one of their cabins or a glamping tent. There are tube and kayak rentals available. Apparently, I have been confused about kayaks. When I think of a kayak, I think of this. I have always known I am not coordinated enough to man a sit-in kayak. I have visions of floating upside down in the creek banging my pretty little head against the rocks on the bottom as I slowly drift downstream.
The kayaks here at the campground are sit-on-top kayaks. Big difference! Much more manageable. I will be kayaking the Salt River next time we're in Phoenix!
Consort minding the steaming tamales.
It's been a couple of years since I've been with my grandsons on a daily basis and I had completely blocked out forgotten how many groceries these boys can put away. While we were in Brownsville this past winter, I learned to make tamales. The tedious part of making tamales is spreading the masa onto the cornhusks. Actually, placing the filling on the masa and then rolling the husks is pretty mind-numbing work, too, unless you're sitting in the kitchen with R&A and drinking mango margaritas. I brought both masa and cornhusks (as well as mango margarita mix) with us when we came out to Tennessee; one never knows what may or may not be available at the local market.
Big thanks to R&A for the tamale lessons!
My goal was to spend a morning rolling tamales with the grandsons. If you make the full tamale recipe, you'll end up with something like 150 to 200 tamales. The boys were agreeable to helping and eagerly joined in. After about 15 minutes of spreading, stuffing, and rolling, their interest began to wane. At just about that same time, consort made an appearance. He said he was going to help D use a chain and tractor to pull out some logs caught in the creek under the bridge. Any volunteers to help? The next thing I know, the cat and I were left alone in the trailer with a mound of masa and piles of cornhusks. Even the dog abandoned us for more exciting times. I dutifully finished the task alone, politely refusing the cat's offer to spread masa on cornhusks.
The boys, consort included, finished their logging work and eventually returned to the camper. Consort set up a propane-powered crab boil pot in the yard with just enough water to steam the tamales. Three hours later and, Aqui esta tu cena. Disfruta!
This is D.O.G. taking a break during a six-mile hike. I mentioned above that most of us walked out of the forest unscathed. D.O.G. is the one who did not. When we returned to camp, we noticed he was limping, favoring his back right leg. He was definitely having trouble getting into a standing position. We have now been to the vet and learned he has some arthritis in his back right stifle (knee), and a degenerated disc in his lumbar spine. He was prescribed an anti-inflammatory and a muscle relaxer and is nearly back to normal.
While we were stopped in Amarillo, D.O.G. got a grass awn stuck in his paw. We saw a vet and had the barbed seed removed. While in the doctor's office, D.O.G. was weighed. He gained five pounds over our winter in Brownsville making him officially 20 pounds overweight. We have become laser focused on this issue. The good news we received at the vet here in Tennessee is that D.O.G. has lost the five pounds gained over the winter. While he still has a long way to go, at least we're headed in the right direction.
These are the falls at the end of the Gentry Creek hiking trail. We had Kae with us that day. Kae is the granddaughter of our friends here at Roan Creek, Bella's new owner, and the recipient of this Raggedy Ann I made.
Found this "K" made of sticks at the side of a hiking trail.
The bright yellow circle is a mushroom.
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