Saturday, July 19, 2008-Julian Price Memorial Park, NC

Today was our Alyssa Day. It was a non-stop series of events from morning to night. Earlier on our trip, Sue stocked up on games and toys at the Dollar Store. We did Frisbee, Ball Toss, Cheering, Jigsaw Puzzling, Soccer, Coloring, Drawing, and the main event of the day, Hiking.

Alyssa and I went for a walk around the campground. Sue had bought an insect kit that had a compartment for collecting and observing insects. Alyssa wanted to catch a butterfly and keep it in the kit. We did not see any butterflies on our walk. I told her that maybe they all were tired and taking a nap. After that, when we walked into a wooded area, Alyssa would clap her hands to wake up the butterflies. We still didn't have any luck.

After some more playtime, we made lunches and had a picnic at the local picnic grounds. The area was packed with picnickers and we had a hard time finding a table. It looked like there were several reunions and family outings.

After we ate, we drove to Julian Price Memorial Park Lake. This lake is very close to the campground. We parked and started on a two and one half mile hike. The trail was mostly in the forest area surrounding the lake, but some of the hike was on the shore. Alyssa was appointed leader and she led us on our hike. There was one area that was muddy and swampy. We had to walk on a narrow board over some mud to get to a bridge over a creek. That was the adventure part of the hike, right Alyssa? We reached the parking area where we started and returned to the campground. When we returned from the hike, Alyssa wanted to go canoeing.  Gigi and Bob-Bob vetoed that idea because we were tired and wanted to rest.

We went to go to Boone for dinner and decided on Applebee's. Alyssa had macaroni and Sue and I had a hamburger.  When we returned to the campground, Alyssa entertained us by playing soccer. She used the lunch table as a goal and we were the audience. By bedtime, we were all ready to go to sleep.