Lounging at Lake Jocassee

My last week of Challenge was probably my favorite. We went to Lake Jocassee and camped at Devils Fork State Park for two nights. Despite a nasty storm on our first night there, it was a great trip and a beautiful place.

Maybe it was because we were there during the week (Wednesday – Friday) but there was very little boat/jet ski traffic. The park has campsites and villas. Our campsites were waterfront and had easy access to put our boats in. We had sites 10, 14, and 15 I think. There were 3, right together. Also, I came home from this trip feeling the cleanest all summer because of the nice bath houses with showers, woohoo! 😜

So, the best thing about Lake Jocassee is that it’s a clear water lake. The water was pretty warm and it was so nice to just hang out and swim and paddle.

One day we went to Whitesides Mtn and hiked. That was an easy hike with beautiful views. It was in Cashiers in NC, I believe. After our hike, we stopped at an ice cream shop in town called Sweet Treats to get cooled off.

It took us about 4 hours to get there but it’s totally worth the drive. I’m already planning another trip to take my family!

The view from our site.

My hammock. I slept like I haven’t slept in WEEKS because of the water lapping at the edge of the lake at night. *heaven*

One of the views from Whitesides Mtn.

Biking and Rafting!

Am I the only one that is more exhausted in the summer than I am during the school year?!
It has been a busy two weeks and this coming week will be my first one “off” of the summer.
Last week was another week of Challenge. This one was for girls only and it was a small group this year. They rappelled, hiked, canoed, and then we took them to bike the Virginia Creeper Trail from Whitetop to Damascus on our overnight camping trip. They were all so quiet and well-behaved that we had to turn around a couple of times in the van just to make sure they were still in there! If you’ve never biked the Creeper Trail, I highly recommend it. It’s easy enough for families to enjoy but someone looking for a real workout could ride all the way from Whitetop to Abbingdon. There are lots of bike outfitters that you can rent from or bring your own and they will still give you a shuttle to the top of the mountain. It’s one of my favorite trips that we do and I’ve gone with my own family twice!

This past week was the boy’s Challenge and we took them White water rafting on the Nantahala. We had 23 boys but they were surprisingly well-behaved. Rafting was fun and camping was rainy but we all survived. 🙂