Camping at Clifty Falls

Friday-Saturday, we went camping at Clifty Falls State Park, just over the river in Madison, IN. It's about an hour drive from us, and it's somewhere we've never been before. We reserved a spot online in the primitive campground (non-electric), boarded the dogs, and were on our way Friday afternoon (Kevin got off work early). Much to our surprise, their definition of primitive is far from what we're used to--instead of pit toilets, there was a big, beautiful bathhouse with flushing toilets, sinks to wash our hands and brush our teeth, and even showers! Of course, we didn't bring anything to shower since we were expecting to survive by pit toilets and a measly spigot of water. It was a very nice surprise!

Speaking of toilets, someone is officially potty training:

 He did really well! We thought that his little potty would be convenient to have at the campsite, but he ended up preferring to go to the BIG toilet (as he called it) at the bathhouse. Whatever, little man!

We set up our site and then went out to find dinner. We ended up going to the Clifty Inn, on-site, and it was really good. It reminded me a lot of the place where we had our wedding reception (good, home cookin'). Afterwards, we went outside to check out the grounds:

And Kevin chased Lewis up and down the hill a few times. :)

On our drive back to the campsite, we saw quite a few animals: 

Wild turkeys and deer

We saw two different sets of a mama and little deer and lots of rabbits.

The deer on the right is peeing or pooping. :) Ha.

Back at the campsite, it was time for s'mores: 

 Or just eating a piece of Hershey bar, if you're Lew:)

 Roasting the marshmallow

 And giving it a try (by licking the marshmallow)

He decided he still doesn't like them, so Mama had to eat it. :)

Getting him to fall asleep was pretty rough. We decided to wait until it started to get dark (so 8:30ish), and by 9:15, Kevin and I were both going to bed, too, to try to help him fall asleep and/or restrain him in the tent. He kept trying to escape, saying he needed to go potty, etc. for awhile, before FINALLY melting down into sleep somewhere between 10 and 11 (we aren't sure what time it actually was). He slept ok until 2:30ish, when he woke up and started playing with my hair. He then got up and tried to open the door and said, 'I need to go potty!' I was going to take him, but he thought it was too cold when I opened the door of the tent and decided he didn't have to go after all (he was wearing a diaper anyway). He fell back asleep quickly, but Kevin and I were both kept awake by some lovelies who were still up partying. Thankfully it started to lightly rain at some point, and that ended their party. Lew woke us up around 7:30, which was ok with us. I'd been awakened a little earlier by the annoyingly chipper birds (the nerve!), but I was able to fall back asleep until Lew was up. Kevin said he didn't feel like he really ever fell asleep for any amount of time, so we were all asleep pretty early last night at home.

Anyway, sleep or no sleep, here is our Saturday:

 Breakfast time!

 Mmm, cinnamon rolls!

I'd never made them in our pie iron before, but they turned out perfectly.

After breakfast, we took off for some hiking:

 :)

At Tunnel Falls, I think

Lewis Pete, the Trooper

The trails were pretty rugged and there were a LOT of stairs, but Lewis did really well. Towards the end of the morning, Kevin had to do some carrying and shoulder-riding, but, overall, Lewis held his own. He said 'I love hiking' and 'I love camping' a few times during our trip. :)

After that first trail, we decided to head out to see Clifty Falls and Little Clifty Falls. Before starting that hike, we stopped off for some playground fun:

Daddy's a fireman!

Until now, Lewis has always shied away from the fireman's pole. Kevin showed him how it's done, and Lew decided to give a try after he saw how fun it could be.

Whee!

He said, 'I'm like a fireman!'

Enjoying a snack before our second hike

Heading down some stairs to see Clifty Falls

Lewis said, 'It's like train tracks!'

Just under Lew's elbow you can sort of see Clifty Falls :)

Columbine, growing out of a rock

Did I mention there were a lot of stairs?!?

We went back to the campsite for lunch, and packed up the car to go home. We made one last stop at the observation tower on the way out:

View from the top

Lewis had dandelion-painted hands, so he was being very careful not to let them touch anything. :)

And that was our trip! 24 hours of time away that felt like a lot longer (in a good way). Lewis fell asleep about halfway into the 1 hour drive, and I put him in his bed at home, where he slept another 2 1/2 hours. Tired boy! Tired mama and tired dada, too.