Fishing, Fun and Family Vacations

With the price of gas now closely creeping up on the price of a gallon of milk, our vacation plans have changed greatly.  We will drink less milk products and drive fewer miles.  Spring Break was spent in-state, this year,  sipping on filtered water as we explored the mountains of the Ozarks.  As we loaded the car with all of our necessary belongings, I realized that our family can probably never fly again because none of us know how to pack in moderation.  For the life of me,  I don’t know why we had a dulcimer or a 30” supersized  pink polka dot kickball with us, but we did.   We traveled to a small church retreat on top of a mountain that was closed for the winter.  Apparently, they will rent a lodge that will sleep a small church for a deeply discounted price in mid-winter.  We were instructed to only use four beds and leave the other rooms untouched.  I had visions of “The Shining” and the empty rooms of a lodge closed in winter.   Realizing I would be alone on the top of a mountain with three children, I convinced my husband to tag along for one night so he could protect us from any two headed wolves that might be laying in wait at the wood line.   My thoughts raced to pictures of us running from the toothless man who lived down the path as I tried desperately to get a few bars on my phone.  I am not a wilderness girl and having no wifi connections or immediate access to Facebook was going to be difficult for all of us. Upon arrival, we found the camp to be quite nice. The lodge was simply a large home from the 50’s filled with twin beds.  It sat only feet from a cliff giving us the most amazing view of the valley below.  This was the perfect place to have an oversized kickball…. for about twenty seconds or until it rolled off the cliff.   As I unpacked totally un-necessary items, my kids practiced cheerleading stunts precariously close to the edge of the yard and the 400 foot drop off.  One bad hurkey jump and they would be plummeting downhill with the kick ball.   There was a small stocked pond outside our front door and my husband went to fish.   Why is it that men always think that fishing with the family will be fun, until they actually have to do it?  He instructed all three kids not to cast the reels so they wouldn’t backlash the line.  They were also instructed not to reel the line in until he verified that there was, indeed, a fish on the line.  Basically, they were to sit still holding a large pole and wait.  I knew this plan would never work, unless you are sixty, smoking, and sipping on a little whiskey under a tree.    The kids looked to me for a sign that this plan was not a good one and then slung those rods and line across the pond.  Fifty feet of line came whistling out at light speed.  Two feet reached the pond and the remaining 48 feet wrapped up in a large ball of tangled filament around the reel.    I tried, in earnest, to untangle the mess before my husband could see it, but was caught red handed and now fully understand what a backlash is. 

Fishing lasted about as long as the kickball and we moved on to horseback riding leaving my husband by the pond to wonder why he agrees to these trips.   We discovered a wonderful stable with an array of horses and baby animals all just waiting for my daughter to come and love on them.  As the sun set, my son and I went to the open air chapel to watch the colors of the sky change.  Since no one was around and neither one of us can resist  an unattended podium, we took our places at the front of our empty chapel.  My son belted out “Amazing Grace” from the mountaintop and I cheered him on in our two person service.  What we didn’t realize was how it would echo across the hills for others to hear.  While the rest of my family was a mile away, still untangling fishing line, they heard the soft voice of a child come whispering on the wind, singing God’s praises.   Everyone stopped and listened and took in the beauty of their surroundings as the sun disappeared behind the hills. The reels were put away, the campfire was prepared and we all gathered round to roast hot dogs and any other food product that would fit on a stick.   The trip was turning out to be quite the successful outing.  We hadn’t spent a fortune for a vacation and we weren’t punished for our excessive baggage.   The lodge was cozy and comfortable and provided a safe haven from the two headed wolves and crazy axe-man who might be lurking outdoors.  We will definitely travel this way again.