Happy Non-Traditional Easter at Big Bone Lick State Park pt.1

Church can mean different things to different people.  I know many non-religious people (in the traditional sense of the word) whose 'spiritualness' seems to surpass some of the traditionally churched people I know.  There are those who wouldn't step foot in a brick and mortar church, but who find their 'church' in other things such as meditation or nature.  I don't judge--you've got to find what feels 'correct' and natural to you.

Our family chooses to church traditionally, meaning we go to a service every week and seek additional study during the week as well.  I enjoy the community that a brick and mortar church offers, the mental challenge of questions posed or inferred during the studies and sermons, as well as the emphasis that traditional church helps me to place on helping my children to believe in something that is bigger than themselves, as well as a hopefulness for eternity.  

Just about every week, we attend church.  Except, it seems, for the big church-y Sundays...Christmas and Easter.  We're opposite many of the population.  It seems that we don't completely into whatever box in which society tries to put us.  We don't do new Easter fashions, shoes, etc. for the big day.  We don't even do The Bunny, but we do have small Easter presents which are placed into baskets.

Since Phillip had Good Friday off, and there were no baseball games scheduled, we decided to go camping!  I chose Big Bone Lick State Park in Kentucky.  Big Bone Lick.  The t-shirts are good sellers!  Coincidentally located on Beaver Road, near the town of Beaverlick, but I digress.

The name comes from the Pleistocene Era megafauna fossils--woolly mammoths, ground sloths and mastadons, among others.  They were attracted to the area by salt licks.  They accidentally wandered into the oozy, sulfur saline springs, got stuck and died.  And there they lay, bones preserved, until the early 1800s when the area was visited by William Clark (but apparently not Merriweather Lewis) who was commissioned by Thomas Jefferson to bring back some of those big ole bones.  

We packed up Friday morning and arrived just in time for check in.  Our assigned campsite could not have been more perfect for us...We were in the tiny 'inner circle' in which there were only five or so other campsites. Our campsite backed right up to the playground area, which meant that the kids could come and go as they pleased unaccompanied, to and from the playground.  We could sit by the fire pit and see them.  The inner circle was relatively free of traffic, which meant that Lawrence could ride his tricycle around the whole thing without having to worry about cars coming or going.

Here is our site on Day 1 all set up and ready to camp!

In the spirit of our non-winter winter, the weather was warm and sunny for a few weeks prior to the camping trip.  Until the camping trip arrived.  Then it was accurately forecasted to be freezing temperatures at night and considerably cooler than it had been previously during the day.  All weekend.  Ah, well.  It wouldn't be Dutton camping if it wasn't cold and/or rainy!  This is why everyone is in long sleeves during the day and jackets at night. 

It was actually quite pleasant during the day.  There wasn't a cloud in the sky during any of the days we were there, which made it feel warmer than the probably 55 or 60 degrees that it was.  

Below, I borrowed Archie's bicycle so I could ride bikes with Lawrence around our little circle.  He thought he was quite grown up being able to ride around on the road part all by himself!

We've had a dwindling stash of wood at home for the past two years.  We didn't have many fires this winter because it was so warm.  Phillip brought the last few log chunks with us for our fire pit in the evening.  Here is an action shot of him chopping the wood with an ax.  

We did a bit of hiking on Saturday.  I don't know why anyone put me in charge of finding the correct trail, because when we wanted to hike to the bison, I totally led us down a different trail than the one we were supposed to be.  Fortunately Archie and Phillip figured it out before we hiked out of the park boundaries.  I have always been directionally-challenged.

After hiking down the wrong trail, Lydia was tired and ready for her nap.  Me and Miss Lydia went back to the camper for some down time while the boys went hiking on the correct trail to see the bison herd.  

Phillip was trying to be a good historian and take pictures.  For some reason, he wanted to take a photo of the bison's eye.  He stuck the camera through the fence to get a better shot without the fence lines.  The bison decided he didn't care for a camera stuck in his face.  He grunted and headbutted the fence.  Phillip kept the camera on his side of the fence after that!  

After they got back (and after our naps) the boys told me of their bison adventures. I decided that Lydia and I had to see the bison too!  We opted to drive to the visitor center in order to walk a shorter distance to the bison herd.  On our hike through the woods to the bison herd, we came across this snake sunning himself in the crook of this tree.  The tree was out of the ordinary because it appeared as though it might be an Indian Trail Marker tree:  A tree that was bent to mark a trail or creek or something else.  You can see how it has an elbow that looks a bit unnaturally grown, as well as the double trunk.  The snake was a big one.  It was hanging on both sides of the crook in the Y.  A black rat snake, as I later deduced.

Lydia was saying goodbye to the bison after we were done looking at them.  She started to pucker up for the goodbye kiss and approached the fence.  However, the bison decided he didn't want a kiss and let Lydia know.  Can you imagine someone not wanting a kiss from Lydia???  She is walking away as quickly as possible while saying, "Scary!  Scary!"  

I'd have to say that Miss Lydia's favourite activity of the trip was swinging.  She talked whomever she could find into pushing her on the swing.  Other kids, us, other parents just standing around, anyone!

At the visitor center, they have an outdoor exhibit.  Here is how it might have looked to see one of the great mammals sink into the stinky ooze in order to get at the salt lick.

One of my favourite activities of the whole trip was a little hike that Archie and I took together, just the two of us.  Along the path was a few of the saline sulfur springs.  You could smell them waaaay before you came upon one.  Blech!  Archie and I got quite a giggle out of people who came to immerse themselves in this stinky quagmire with the hopes that the water offered healing properties when the area was turned into a spa way back in the day.  Maybe the pools looked nicer in the early 1900's.  We both decided we'd need to be pretty sick and desperate before we'd set foot in that slimy muck!

One of the great things about this camping trip was that the little ones were worn slap out just before dark!  It was nice to have time to relax in front of the fire together without having to get a drink for this one, put shoes on that one, etc.  I enjoyed spending time with everyone, but it was really quite nice for me just to sit and enjoy after they went to bed.  The first night, even Archie went to bed around 9:30 or so!  It was pretty darn chilly, but wasn't the coldest camping trip we've ever taken.  We had our little heater going in the camper which helped.  The kids used the electric blanket and Phillip and I used our cold weather sleeping bags and it worked out just fine.  

There was so much sunshine during the daytime, everyone had slight sunburns! 

On that first night, we had some partiers who were several campsites down.  They didn't arrive in the park til around 10:30 or so, but they were loud.  I would have complained to the rangers or something, but it was too cold to get out of bed.  I suppose they got kicked out because they were gone in the morning.  I was toying with the idea of getting up around 8 or so and yelling WOOOOO!!! over and over  right in front of their tent.  I figured they should have had pretty sore heads by the way the party seemed to be going on and on.  They left their campsite a mess, foam coolers and paper and bags all over the place.  I hope they at least got double billed.  

The second night was pretty peaceful.  The camp hosts shooed all the noisy children off the playground right at quiet hour, so it was good.  

Sunday morning (Easter morning) we decided to celebrate the occasion by going to Waffle House for a fancy breakfast, instead of hot dogs or ham sandwiches.  We don't have a very accessible Waffle House (takes about 30 minutes or more to get to one from the house) so we consider Waffle House to be a treat.  The waitress gave the kids Waffle House cook hats.  They were a big hit!  

As soon as we arrived back at the campsite from Waffle House, we found that the campers next door had hidden eggs around our campsite for the kids to find!  The couple there had a mentally disabled daughter (who was about my age) who really wanted to do an egg hunt.  She was supposed to have a friend come to do the egg hunt, but the friend couldn't come for whatever reason.  So she hid the eggs around for our kids!  It was very thoughtful and really touched my heart.  What a very sweet, wonderful thing to do!  Here are the kids hunting the eggs.

Miss Lydia is doing her favourite activity again, just before we left.  She looooves to swing!

Even though the Big Bone Lick was crowded (all campsites were full all weekend) it was a great experience.  I was almost a little sad pulling out of the park!  We loved the park, the hiking trails were well-kept, but still woody, and the indoor / outdoor museum was interesting and the fossils were amazing.  

I told Phillip that we had the best, worst spot in the whole park.  It was the best because of its proximity to the playground--the kids could come and go as they pleased.  It was the worst because of its proximity to the playground--it was a bit of a gathering place for the noisy teen set after dark.  Since the park is only 40 minutes from our doorstep, a bit of a crowd during spring break and on the weekend is to be expected. We had a fantastic time and it is definitely a park I would visit again.