Once our kids all met, we decided to give it a try on a short camping trip with everyone at Cloudland Canyon State Park. We took the kids during their winter break in February. It was a bit cold. Talls got long underwear for all the kids and we made sure to layer. Smalls and Talls stayed in hammocks at one campsite. Mediums, Snack Pack, and I stayed in a tent at another campsite along with our dog, Oldilocks. This was an experiment to try and combine Smalls’ backpacking preference with my car camping experience. My van was packed just with my stuff. Smalls came in with 2 backpacks and I had multiple boxes we rolled in on a small hand truck. It was interesting!
We drove up the first day and scouted out our campsites. The next day we had tickets to go to Lula Lake Land Trust. We did not get there as early as we should have, plus we had all 3 kids. The youngest kid was 3 years old and not accustomed to long hikes, so were were not able to do as much as we would have liked. We took the Middle Trail to North Creek Trail and then did the short Lula Falls Trail. It really was beautiful! I fell in love with Lula Lake at this point. There were icicles on the rock faces. The waterfall was booming. We were booking it on the gravel road trying to get back by 5pm closing. At this point, I was carrying Snack Pack. Fortunately, one of the employees came by on an ATV and offered us a ride. We gladly took it.
The last full day there, we took on the stairs at Cloudland Canyon to see both Cherokee and Hemlock Falls. Snack Pack finished all the stairs without being carried. She might have been bribed with a Barbie doll. We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out at camp. Smalls set up hammocks for each kid. Mediums took a nap in the hammock for the first time and he has only wanted a hammock ever since. It was a great trip!
Smalls and Talls Outdoors 