On Monday we met up at the church to drop off our bags and break out into our teams. My team name was Dusti's American Dreamers, and we were pumped up for a fun day at 6 Flags Over Georgia. We competed against Becca's team in a photo challenge across the park and had a blast riding all of the rides... my girls were fearless! Chris and Justin picked up the RVs and met us at the park for a pizza dinner in the parking lot. Our first campground of the trip was a quick drive away at Lake Allatoona, Ga. We set up camp in the rain before huddling together that evening for a bible study and time of worship.
We woke up early on Tuesday for quiet time and breakfast before a fun filled day on the lake. Chris rented an awesome double decker pontoon with a slide for us to play on. We spent hours cruising, tubing, and jumping off the top deck. We grilled out some hotdogs before we had to pack up camp and travel to our next stop. We arrived at Cloudland Canyon State Park in time for sunset over the outlook. After dark we gathered around the campfire for songs and bible study before breaking into small groups in the RVs.
The girls I shared my tent with wanted to see the sun rise over the canyon, so we set our alarms to walk to the outlook early. Unfortunately, the clouds were too thick and obscured the view, but it was quiet and serene for our morning quiet times. After breakfast we gathered as a group to hike the trails around the campground. One trail led to two waterfalls and took a couple of hours to finish. From there I went back to camp with a couple of the girls, while the rest of our crew hiked a 5 mile loop around the edge of the canyon. I was starting to set out lunch fro everyone when the bottom fell out. It poured rain for another hour as we anticipated the return of our group. They finally arrived back to the Rvs, soaked to the bone and smelling quite ripe, wishing they had all come back early! After showers and lunch under the picnic shelter, we bagged up all of the wet clothes as we had the longest ride to our next campground at Turkey Creek, NC, just a few miles away from the Nantahala Outdoor Center. We stopped for dinner at Zaxby's, so once we set up camp we had an easy going evening of kan-jam and corn hole.
On Thursday morning we rode the short distance to NOC to suit up for white water rafting. This was my favorite excursion by far. I was pretty nervous about the trip down the river, but once we got out there we had the best time! The river is freezing cold. Like your hand and feet go numb in the first mile, but with the sun shining it was bearable. We had a couple of boys fall in, and the photos capture were hilarious. By the time we finished I was ready to do it again. I've already talked to Connor about going back!
After we made sandwiches in the parking lot, we were back on the road to South Carolina. Our final camp was Lake Hartwell State Park, and we had friends and family waiting for us when we arrived. A couple families decided to camp with us, and they brought their grills and boats and took such good care of us. Other parents came up for a couple of hours just to hang out and eat burgers before we had one final campfire worship and bible study. Not surprisingly, the kids went to bed pretty early, but the "old folks" enjoyed the fire and good conversation for a little longer that night, thankful we survived a week with 15 high schoolers.
Friday morning came quickly. I think everyone was anxious to get home and take a hot shower in our own bathrooms. We made it home to Capstone before lunch with quite the homecoming of parents and church staff. We had to clean out the RVs and separate the smelly clothes before we could head home, but thankfully we had some awesome volunteers who helped make them spotless in no time.