Camping and Hiking in Monte Sano State Park, Huntsville, AL

First, a note to my family members who didn't get sick of looking at eachother during the camp-out--If you double click the picture, it will show up large and in full screen. Just hit the 'back' button to get back to the blog text. A little hint I picked up from Laura A. Thanks!!!!

We'd been talking with my folks about getting together around the half-way point between Mobile and Cincinnati for some time. Since they are RV'ers, we thought a camping trip would hit the spot. Coincidentally, my Dad's birthday was coming up and we decided to make it a birthday trip. What Dad didn't know was that Julie, Jim, Old E (also celebrating a birthday), Ann, Tom, Becky, Kim, Mark and Amber would be meeting us there. He only knew Archie, myself, Regular E and Sara were going to camp with them. Phillip and Morgan were going to try to make it. Morgan's also celebrating a milestone birthday, but they didn't make it to Huntsville because Phillip was sick over the weekend.

Archie and I arrived on Thursday evening, after a frustrating hour or so of driving around Huntsville because many of their streets have the same name and some were blocked off. Mom says I sounded crabby when I called from the Onstar to let them know I was lost. Crabby? Who, me? Never happened!!!!! Crazy talk!

We had a quick bike ride to scope the place out before dark, then a meal. The weather was unbelievably windy...so windy, in fact, that we couldn't hear anything but wind in our tent that night. It was kind of nice, actually. It sounded very much like the ocean coming in waves but never ceasing. The temperature was nice, not warm or cold...good sleeping weather.

Friday morning Regular E and Sara were to arrive around 10am. The others were supposed to arrive around noon, so the plan was to stall Dad until everyone else arrived to surprise him. Well, we waited and waited...Regular E took a lot of "work" calls on his phone trying to get everything worked out. I think some of the other folks had the same problem in Huntsville that I did the previous evening. I was just starving, and was going to make a quick sandwich to tide me over. Everyone else decided that they were hungry as well, so we had lunch. There was only one problem...Julie and Ann were bringing the lunch meat! I was asked to bring cheese for sandwiches, which I did. Two pounds of it! So there we were with three pieces of ham to go among six people with two pounds of cheese! I could see the writing on the wall...Dad asked who was supposed to bring the lunch meat and Mom quickly took that opportunity to throw me under the bus. "Jennifer was supposed to bring the lunch meat, but she forgot," she says. Well, I had to defend myself, so I brought up the two pounds of cheese I did 'remember' to bring. I could see Dad rolling his eyes in his mind. I had a cheese and mustard sandwich. As punishment. For 'forgetting' the lunchmeat.

After lunch, we had stalled as much as we could, and had to go out on a hike because everyone else still wasn't there. The weather was turning ugly...it was warm, but the sky looked terrible and it was forecasted to rain, hail and possible tornadoes. We chose a trail that was pretty simple and close by the camp site. As we were crossing the street to get to the next part of the trail, Old E and Ann's car was spotted. Dad didn't notice and we walked on. During our hike, the others had finally arrived and were sitting around the campsite waiting for us. Some photos from our hike:

The gang, minus Regular E, who was taking the picture.

Regular E and Sara. I don't know if the picture shows it well enough, but there is a trickle of water just below where they're standing. I came back to this spot on Sunday and the water had risen significantly.

My parents at an overlook.

While we were on the trail, the sky was looking worse and worse. All of a sudden, we heard tornado sirens. Needless to say, we stepped it up a notch to hurry up and get off the trail and somewhere more tornado proof. Fortunately, we were close to the campsite and cut through the woods to get back and find some shelter. As we were walking to the camper, the sirens quit. And there, in camp chairs, next to the RV was everyone else! I like this picture of my Aunt Becky and Archie. I think Archie sensed a Grandmother in Training, as her first grandchild will be due two weeks after I'm due. He stuck pretty close to her on Saturday!

The rain began pouring shortly after that, and we fit fifteen people *seated* in the camper! It was a bit crowded and it's a good thing everyone wore their deodorant! Here's a picture of some of them:


After the rain quit, we went to check out the cabins that were rented for everyone else. Regular E, Sara, Archie and me were the only brave souls in tents! Mom had pre-made lasagnas for dinner that evening. Regular E and Sara were to take the lasagnas to the cabins to cook in the ovens. One lasagna made it just fine. The other one however...landed 'butter side down' so to speak in the rocks and dirt of our campsite. Sara and Regular E both had rather tragic looks on their faces when they came to tell Mom, "There's been an accident." So they went into town to find something edible to go with Mom's only remaining lasagna. Everything worked out okay...here is a picture of some of us enjoying dinner.

Here is Regular E horsing around with Archie:

After dinner there was a lively, cut-throat game of 31 played, then off to our campsite for the evening. Amber cleaned our clocks and took all of our money during the card game. Mom, Dad, Archie, Regular E, Sara and I stayed up learning a new card game and had a great time. Sleeping in the tent afterward was much more peaceful than the previous evening. The wind had died down and the temperature was a bit cooler. I slept like a bear!

On the previous day, my Mom had left her bike in the way of our setting up camp. So my brother put it in the wooded area next to the campsite to get it out of the way of his truck. So began the Battle of the Bikes. They were hiding each other's bike all day long. On Saturday morning, my Mom's bike ended up here:

It created quite a stir among the other campers in the park! People were pointing and staring on their way to the bath house. Kids were contemplating how it got up there and how it was going to get down again. Mom got it down before we left for the cabins. Here she is contemplating just how she was going to get it down:

Old E and Ann cooked a spectacular pancake breakfast, complete with sausage and juice. Regular E was providing the main course for the evening dinner...smoked pulled pork! Yum! He created this contraption to smoke the pork. Made from two large clay pots, installed handles, a cut up tall boy, various bolts and nuts, a hot plate and some wet banana leaves:

I had to bake a cake for the dessert, in which I was really disappointed how it turned out. Definitely not my best effort. After the cake was done, we went on a hike to try to hike off some of those pancakes we had for breakfast. Regular E couldn't go, because he had to finish smoking and cooking the pork. I took lots of great pics from our hike. Here's most of the gang on a rock outcropping:

My Aunt Becky tried to push Archie off the roof of the rest shelter:

Archie and my cousin Mark are taking a break on the roof of a rest shelter:

Awww...such a nice picture of Ann and Old E!

My cousin Kim was exploring a rock crevice. If you double-click the picture, it will enlarge and you can see her hiding in the little cave:

Upon our return back to the cabins we saw that Regular E had not been idol while he was alone cooking the pork. The Battle of the Bikes rages on!

Archie was very concerned about the bike and how it was going to get down. It just hung there from the tree, twirling gently in the breeze! Much like wind chimes. It was very amusing to watch people walking or driving down the road puzzling over the bike hanging from a tree! I don't know who finally got it down. Very clever indeed, Regular E!

I got a picture of the Logsdon Siblings in attendance here. Old E, Julie, Uncle Tom and my Dad:

That evening, the dinner of pulled pork and potato salad was just delicious! The birthday cake, however...left much to be desired. It was by far the worst one I've ever made. It did work fine to hold up candles. But not for eating. Not at all. As a matter of fact, I refuse to even post a picture of it. It is best forgotten. Really.

The birthday party was lovely...Old E turning Old and my Dad turning Older. However, there was a rumor going around that Old E was sick of sharing his birthday...I can't speak to the truth of it, as I got the information second hand. It was said that Old E was overheard shouting "Die, you bastard!" in his cabin earlier in the day. Of course, Old E says he was trying to kill a wasp with a broom. There are others who believe he was shouting in frustration of having to share his birthday with my Dad, his older brother, yet again. Regardless, we kept the brooms well out of his reach, just in case, while Dad was around! Here is a picture of the Birthday Boys!

One of the more amusing gifts of the evening was the "Old Man Boxes" that were given to each. In it was old guy stuff like reading glasses, stuff for various old man ailments, etc. Since Archie and I wouldn't be seeing my Mom on her birthday, she got some stuff too. Archie got her some yard long liquorish. Here they are eating it together:

Incidentally, Uncle Tom--Archie is still telling everyone the Green, Green joke. I mean everyone! We all keep hearing it over and over. The people at the post office who were waiting in line were probably less than amused as they had to wait until he got it all out for the lady behind the counter. The joke was quite a hit and Archie still laughs at it every time he tells it.

On Sunday morning, Mom was on breakfast duty. We had 'eggs in a case' as Archie calls them. Breakfast burritos for the rest of us. Tom, Becky, Mark, Kim and Amber had to head back to Michigan for work and school, so we said goodbye to them on Saturday night. Most of the crowd was going disc golfing, so Julie and I went on a hike. Where there were previously little trickles of water before the storm on Friday, there were now waterfalls after the large amount of rain we had. Here are some pictures:

After dinner, we had yet another cut-throat family game. Stockticker, this time. The guy in the cabin next door complained about the noise. Fortunately it was just Jim.

Sunday night, the tent sleeping wasn't great. It was pretty cold for tent camping. We broke down and used my parents' electric space heater in our tent. Regular E and Sara had their electric blanket. Plus there was some sort of ruckus going on at one of the campers around 1am. There was much shouting and slamming of doors. Perhaps someone had too much 'medicine' that evening. There was also a weird high-pitched noise coming from somewhere else. I could've slept better.

Monday morning, after Regular E and Sara left, Mom and Archie went to ride bikes. I went on a hike by myself on a great trail. Here are some pictures:

We had leftovers and played some games. Archie and I slept in the camper Monday night because it was in the 30's and I had packed away everything in order to get an early start home on Tuesday. We left around 10:30 for home. I ended up not going the way I had originally intended, so I ended up going about 15 miles South before going North. So, I figured I'd make lemons into lemonade! There's a sign near the AL-TN border, around exit 358 or something. I chuckle every time I go that way...it's an advertisement for Big Jim's Boobie Bungalow! I wonder if they're talking about the birds which are boobies? Here's the sign:

The one above it is perhaps a counteraction for the lust below it. A little lust, then a little religious guilt! Even-Steven, I'd say! It just so happened that I was running on fumes at Exit 6 in Tennessee. And whaddya know? The very exit for the Bungalow! We stopped at a gas station next door. Archie was fascinated by the large chicken in front. Wow! A little something for everyone!

It was quickly evident that the entire exit was dedicated to Trucker Lust. There were a couple of Gentlemen Clubs right there and they didn't have any kid-geared candy at the gas station. We were shopping for Bubble Tape and were sadly disappointed. The good news is...I did get a better shot of The World Famous Boobie Bungalow! World Famous, you ask? Well, don't take my word for it...it's on a sign on the side of the building! I didn't notice until I had the picture full screen. Wow! World Famous! Most impressive!

We arrived home in Cincinnati around 4pm, just as the trip was beginning to get tedious. We had a great time. Many fascinating Family Skeletons emerged from the closet...Old E's fear of the dark, as well as his desire to have his birthday all to himself. Julie's penchant for tape recording Elvis songs off the TV back in the day. Uncle Tom is quite the joke teller, even though he doesn't eat much fruit. I'm perhaps losing my ability to make good cakes. Then, there are possibly skeletons which should remain forever in the closet...imbedded under layers and layers of the other stuff in there. Never to see the light of day.

I think Monte Sano State Park is one of the best kept secrets in Alabama. I had never heard of it up until now. I think a return trip would definitely be in order!