Thacher Island Arrival

 For some reason, I did not get much sleep and it was very hard to wake up at 4 o’clock in The morning. We needed to get to Granite Pier at 6:15 to go out to Thacher Island. Loading up we realized or rather, I realized that we had a lot to go out this year. I think it’s because I packed so many liquids to drink. The good thing is Will have a lighter load to take back. I always love seeing the views you of the lighthouses as we become closer to shore. And it’s always wonderful to see the familiar faces of the Thacher Island association, they always make us feel so welcome. We took our belongings up to the house and should we decided to stay in assistant keeper house Because of the bigger kitchen and possibly be more comfortable couch in the living room, although we never really sit down. We got back to the boathouse and landed six boats, and after that The Island to look at what we needed to do for the week you did harvest the vegetables Green beans for dinner I’m want some grilled zucchini and some salad.

Camping - Rowley Massachusetts

 We had plenty of time to get over to Leslie Mills farm so we decided to go shopping at Walmart first thing. And then it was a 5 Hour Dr. over to Rowley, Massachusetts although we did get some traffic and some construction. Leslie‘s farm is just beautiful. She has a big White House and a long driveway with several bars and many Finton areas with horses. She directed us to park by the big barn and it’s great because we even have an Electric hook up. We met Leslie and her Farm helper, Bette. When I went into one of the barns to use the bathroom, I met who I believe was Bette‘s granddaughter Hannah. She was the perfect little hostess and showed me all around the barn and even showed me where to get a popsicle if I got hot, Bette says they call her the little mayor and I can see why.It was still early enough in the day, so we headed over to the neighboring village to ride our bikes on What we thought was a rail trail. It was actually a path with lots of gravel. I always tense up on gravel with my bike so it wasn’t that enjoyable and it was a short ride. Afterwards we went to renegades pub and each had a beer. Had tacos and I had a salad with blackened chicken. It was the best salad I’ve had in a long time because I’ve been avoid The recent virus it’s been going around causing diarrhea. Thanks, RFK Junior for erasing restrictions on farm cleanliness!

Trail

Trail

Harvest Hosts Camping - the Hardwood Mall

 We got up and I just had to take some more photos of the goats. They are so darn cute. We headed off for a 6 Hour Dr. to our next harvest host, which was Tje Hardwood Mall. This host is right by the interstate so most likely we’ll be hearing noise at night. But it’s a $30 hook up and very convenient so here we are plus we got to see the beautiful showroom. The majority of the items were beautifully Made tables. There was one long table about 6 foot that had blue epoxy running through the middle. It was gorgeous. We then unhooked and drove over to the Allegheny River Trail. We rode 13 1/2 miles in about two hours. This was a nice trail as it was paved the whole way. At the beginning, The path was lined with a white picket fence, but that was to keep us off the former industrial area, possibly a train yard or maybe oil. The trail goes along the river, but there were very few view points of the river at the end is a tunnel that goes through the mountain. This was built by European immigrants that came over and they worked for $.17 an hour. It was a huge help as they were transporting oil to different parts of the states. When we got back to the trailer, we heated up our lobster mac & cheese, and some frozen veggies. I’m hesitant to buy fresh vegetables as there is a virus going around caused by some of the vegetables that are not properly cleaned by Taylor farms.

Harvest Hosts - Aspire Brewing, Middletown NY

I didn’t get much sleep due to the constant interstate noise, struggling to fall asleep and waking around 2:00 a.m. to the same steady roar. Scotty, however, slept well—I could hear him snoring—and was up by 7:00 while I dragged myself out of bed.

Our mission for the day was visiting my parents’ gravesite. We stopped at Home Depot for ornamental grasses, and I had already prepared artificial flower arrangements in cone vases.  At the cemetery, a caretaker drove us to Section 27 since we weren’t sure of the exact plot. When I mentioned forgetting my clippers, he kindly offered to use his weed eater around the headstone and it looked SO much better. He also shared that the cemetery is maintained by only two and a half workers, with new hires starting at $8 an hour and often leaving for higher-paying jobs at McDonald’s. Afterward, we searched for my grandmother’s grave, which we had found listed online without a section number. The caretakers were mowing on the hill and I didn’t want to interrupt them again, so we decided we might find her resting place on another visit.

It made me reflect on overlooked work. I’m grateful for him, who clearly cares for the grounds despite the challenges, and as always, for Scotty, who dug into the hard ground so we could plant the grasses while I cleaned the headstone. My dad’s nameplate, darkened over time, looked only slightly brighter when we finished, but the gravesite felt cared for again, bringing me a sense of peace.

We got to our next harvest host, aspire brewing in Middletown New York. As promised, it is a very large parking lot Outside of aspire brewing just off the interstate.  The lot itself was not very level and there are no hook ups here but we knew that. We were prepared to use the generator if necessary, but Scotty only had to turn it on for 10 minutes in the morning to get it back up to 12 V.When we arrived there was a another couple Parking there Van we got to talking in the parking lot and realised we had a lot in common so we went to have dinner together. The brewery is absolutely huge and they have a very large selection of beers on tap as well as bottled beers with that large of a selection. We were able to find a hefeweisen that was good. I enjoyed my fish tacos and Scotty had a Philly cheesesteak, but even better was sitting with our newly acquired friends Tim and Diane. They are avid campers and are in fact camp host this summer at a small park in Massachusetts we slept only fairly well because in the middle of the night, we could hear the dumpsters being emptied in the trains once in while. But as I said, it’s a convenient stop as it’s right off the interstate. 

Harvest Hosts Camping - Benton Farms KY

 We’re on our way to Thacher Island, hooray. We’re making it a quick trip up and using Harvest Hosts, which are always fun. Today was about a 5 1/2 hour drive to Benton Farms in Walton, KentuckyThe owner said the farm has been in the family for five generations. They are not only a harvest host, but they do educational camps in the summer and other events throughout the year. The best part for us is that we were camped right beside their Little goats. Apparently you cannot have too many pictures of goats because I just kept taking them. They were fun to watch and I realized that each one has Their own personality. It was a great stop.

Kayaking - North Fork Lake f White River

 

We started the day with a lovely breakfast prepared by Lauren—breakfast tacos filled with scrambled eggs, peppers, and a side of bacon. It was so thoughtful of her to get up early and make breakfast for everyone, especially since she wasn’t joining us for the paddle.

Leta and Doug headed back to Nashville this morning, leaving 11 of us for today’s adventure. After an hour-and-a-half drive, we arrived at the North Fork of the White River. We put in at Hammond Bridge and took out at Blair Bridge, covering a total of 11 miles.

Everyone agreed that today’s paddle was fantastic. The river kept things exciting with numerous rapids along the way, and we were all thrilled to successfully make it through Skull Crusher Falls! The combination of beautiful scenery, fun rapids, and great company made for an unforgettable day on the water.

We all met at The Wet Spot in Town for our final dinner. Lots of laughs and reminiscing went on as it was a thoroughly enjoyable week, probably one of the best weeks we’ve had in the Ozarks the evening didn’t end there because when we got back to camp, several of us went down to the river to see the fireflies and the stars. I only wish I had known about the fireflies earlier in the week because they were just amazing and the stars along the river were plentiful and vibrant. I feel so fortunate to be able to experience such beauty in my days.

Kayaking

 

Today was an early start. We left the campground at 7:00 and arrived at Hofsteddler’s about an hour and a half later. After loading the kayaks, we loaded ourselves onto the bus for the shuttle ride. It’s always a fun trip together, but even more entertaining when the winding road twists and turns like a roller coaster. In fact, once we reached the dirt road, there were moments when we couldn’t even see the road ahead as it dropped sharply downhill.

The day began with temperatures around 71 degrees, but by the time we returned to the trucks, it had warmed to 84 degrees. Our group of 14 paddled a total of 8.5 miles. It was mostly nonstop paddling until we stopped for lunch at Boze Springs. The water level was low, so it wasn’t quite as scenic as in previous years, but it remains one of the best lunch spots around.

Several people decided to take the plunge into the spring, and judging by the shrieks that followed, the water was far too cold for me! Shortly after Boze Springs, we reached the rapids, which looked very different from previous years because of the low water. Nevertheless, we had a great time navigating our way through them and enjoying one last bit of excitement before finishing the day’s paddle.

It was another wonderful day on the river, filled with good friends, plenty of laughs, and beautiful Ozark scenery.

Kayaking - Jacks Fork, Ally Springs to Eminence Ballfield

 

It was an early start today, and we met at the campground at 8:00. From there, we drove to Wendy’s Outfitters, where they loaded our kayaks into the shuttle cage. After snapping both a group photo and a fun photo inside the cage, we were ready to head to the river and begin the day’s adventure.

We put in at Aly Springs and paddled to the ballfield in Eminence. As we settled into the rhythm of the river, we navigated a few strainers along this stretch and managed only a couple of tumbles once we reached Eminence. Along the way, we made our customary stop at the cliff where a few brave paddlers carry on the tradition of jumping off. Unsurprisingly, I was not one of them!

By the time we reached the end of the route, we had paddled a total of 7.5 miles. To cap off the day, we treated ourselves to a visit to the Dairy Shack in town, which was the perfect ending to another great day on the water.

Kayaking – Current River, Akers Ferry to Round Springs

We awoke to another beautiful day. I really think this has been the best week of paddling we’ve ever had when it comes to weather. The days have been warm but not overly hot, and the evenings have cooled down enough to make for great sleeping.

Today we put in at Akers Ferry and paddled down to Pulltite. We stopped at a gravel bar for lunch, and as always, this section of the river was an easy and beautiful paddle. The route from Akers Ferry to Pulltite is 9.7 miles long and offers plenty of scenic views along the way.

Once we reached Pulltite, we had the option of ending our day there or continuing on to Round Spring Campground. Six of us decided to keep paddling, turning the day’s route into a total of 19.5 miles.

As usually happens with a smaller group, our pace picked up on the second section. The current started off fairly slow but gradually increased as we moved farther downstream, making for a fun finish to the day.

After such a long paddle, we were pretty proud of ourselves. We were also a little disappointed that there wasn’t a throng of cheering fans waiting to greet us at the takeout. Since no cheerleaders appeared, we simply cheered for ourselves—and honestly, after 19.5 miles, we had earned it.

Another wonderful day on the Current River and another reminder of why we keep coming back to the Ozarks.

Kayaking- Current River Cedars Grove to Akers Ferry

 

At 8:30, we met in the campground parking lot to drive to Akers Ferry. We needed to leave two cars there for the shuttle back from our takeout, so once those drivers were organized, we headed upstream to Cedar Grove to begin our paddle downriver.

The river is narrow at the beginning of this stretch, so we often paddled single file. This is such a great group of paddlers—all experienced and comfortable on the water—so we never had any bottlenecks or bunching up along the way.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day, with temperatures probably in the 80s, bright blue skies, and just a few white clouds. Days like this always remind me how lucky we are to be out in nature, paddling some of the clearest and most beautiful rivers around.

The Current River is becoming very familiar to us now. We passed springs flowing from the rocky bluffs and stopped for lunch at the old hospital site, with Blue Spring providing a stunning backdrop. Altogether, we paddled about eight miles, spending roughly four hours on the water.

We saw plenty of wildlife throughout the day. An eagle soared overhead, geese lounged along the riverbank as if they were enjoying a spa day, and an otter rolled around on the bank, looking both funny and adorable. We also spotted several ducks and lots of large fish swimming in the clear water.

Back at camp, we enjoyed a community dinner with Michelle and Lauren, with everyone contributing something to the meal. We feasted on hamburgers, sautéed mushrooms and onions, Caesar salad, and fresh vegetables with dip. By the end, we were completely stuffed.

Later, we headed down to the lower campsite, where we sat in a circle, shared stories, and laughed until our sides hurt. As if we hadn’t eaten enough already, Doug made a dump cake for dessert. It was delicious—and the perfect ending to another wonderful day in the Ozarks.

Cedars Grove to Akers Ferry - 8 miles