keeping you in the know
Saturday was a manageable, but busy day for the Medders Nation Men. Let no schedule stand in our way for we will conquer it… well… maybe a few minutes later than anticipated, but a victory is a victory.
I’m calling this the “Not so daily vlog” and it will be a series of videos recording throughout the day. Caleb likes to make videos with me and I need to work on things like being in front of the camera, speaking more naturally, editing, and growing an online presence.
Last week was filled with excitement as we prepared for our trip to Red River Gorge on Friday. 
Aimee and I texted back and forth throughout the week about how quickly our trip was coming up and that we couldn’t wait to get away for a bit. I had Friday off, thanks to all you Veterans out there, so we headed out the door shortly after Aimee made it home from her morning class. The drive was a little over 2 hours and Caleb was a happy traveler like always. We stopped for some lunch and then got back on the road.
Once we arrived in the Red River Gorge area, we met up with Phil and his 2 daughters; Erin and Alise to explore into the Daniel Boone National Forest where Aimee visited in her childhood. The entrance to the forest required us to drive through the Nada Tunnel, a hole carved through solid rock only wide enough for one lane of traffic at a time. After a short hike to a suspension bridge we met up with the Mills Family and checked into our housing for the next couple nights, a large 3 bedroom log cabin.
The cabin was everything I expected and more! Big rooms, a game room with a pool table, big wrap-around deck with a hot tub on it, fire pit out back, a kitchen full of amenities, the works… When we weren’t out hiking we were enjoying a comfortable stay in our cabin with friends. Art and Phil are a couple of my cigar buddies so we had our own little Fumadores Cigar Club hangout and broke out the corn hold boards the cabin owners provided. The deck was so large Caleb was able to ride his Strider up and down it.
Caleb had fun playing and chasing the other kids all weekend. Thanks to Ethan, Maya, Alise, and Erin for being so entertaining to him!
Hiking was amazing. We visited several points of interest; Sky Bridge, Angel’s Windows, Natural Bridge, and Chimney Rock. The two bridges were made of large rocks with the bottom middle missing to form a bridge and both trails took us over and around the bridges putting in perspective how high we were.
The weather was perfect in my opinion. It got a bit chilly at night and the wind blew constantly while we were there, but it was nothing to complain about. Thanks to everyone that went with us and we hope to do it again sometime.
Here’s the full slideshow from our camera and be sure to check out Lauren’s pics on Facebook too.
The weather this weekend couldn’t have been any better for a camping adventure in October. I left work an hour early, packed up the Vera Cruz and headed to Otter Creek, which is a few miles on the other side of Fort Knox, with Aimee and Caleb. This was Caleb’s first time camping and although he sounded anxious when he repeated, “We’re going camping!” He really had no idea what he was in for. We met up at the camp site with our friends Art and Lauren who had their 2 kids Ethan and Maya with them and were later joined by another friend, Phil. Caleb enjoyed running around with Ethan and Maya and throwing sticks in the fire. When it neared his bedtime he told us he wanted to go home and although he let out a short cry when we laid him down he slept perfectly in our tent.
Our nighttime activities included eating brats and hot dogs, apple pie moonshine, cigars, roasted marshmallows, sitting by the fire, and a trip to a haunted forest. The next day Aimee whipped up some excellent breakfast burritos followed by a stroll around the camp site on the Strider. Later another friend and her kids joined us for some fun in the stream and a hike on the nature trails which are perfect for walkers, mountain bikers, and horse back riding. A little while after we made it out of the woods from the hike we headed home and relaxed.
Caleb did very well and I’m sure the next time we say, “We’re going camping” he will know exactly what we are talking about.
Below is a slideshow of our trip, a video of Caleb by the fire, and a still shot of a spider Lauren found looking for a place to have some lunch!
