Camping Trip 2015-2, T.O. Fuller

Nothing exciting to report here.  We spent five days at our local state park, and had a great time.  There were kids everywhere, and the weather was beautiful.

I'm really glad we have such a nice park so close by.  It's really a hidden treasure, because in order to get to it you have to go through a pretty horrible slice of the ghetto in the worst neighborhood Memphis has to offer.  That is an obvious deterrent for a lot of people, and I can totally understand it.  One sure thing about the Navy is they like to build their bases in the slums.  I've spent every tour in the Navy driving through the ghetto to get somewhere, so it doesn't bother me.  But this park is far superior to the other local park, Meeman Shelby State Park.  I think in my other camping post about Meeman Shelby I likened it to camping in Hell, so you get my drift.  T.O. Fuller is clean, the roads are well paved, and the campground circles the playground so it's very convenient.  The walking trails aren't so hairy that Jack can't go on them, and because of where it's located, the Rangers patrol the park every hour on the hour and there are plenty of them.  We have been camping there though for about three years and there is never any problem.  No crime whatsoever that I am aware of.  And no seedy campers.  It's very clean and the staff takes great pride in it.  They get your trash every morning, and clean the bathrooms every day.  Can't beat it.  Anyway, we really have to come here to camp if The Coach is working, because it's within commuting distance for him.  That's the biggest reason we camp here.  Meeman Shelby is indeed closer, but it's gross.  

I think I took my most favorite picture of Jack in his whole almost-seven years of existence.   I mean really, what a mess this little boy is.  Lucky for him his spirit matches his exterior.  He's definitely a ball of fire.  

Jack ate (no kidding) at least ten marshmallows the first night.  And he likes them black.  

Jack really likes camping.  He's one of the main reasons I like to go.  He has a bad technology addiction.  He loves the computer and his tablet, and whatever else he can get his hands on.  And as soon as we get outside, he turns into a caveman.  He has decided that he wants to be naked and live in the woods like a wild man when he's older.  That probably doesn't come off as a shock to anyone that has ever met Jack.

This genius loves to camp, too.  He spent a considerable amount of time trying to pump up the ground. It kept him out of trouble though, so I let him be.  

He must be searching for ticks.  Like "I can't believe I haven't gotten attacked by ticks yet, let me try harder…" Justice got a nasty tick this time around, on the back of his head.  It took a whole bunch of force to get it out of his head.  It was fat, bloody, and nasty scabby by the time I found it and pulled it out.  If you camp anywhere in Tennessee you must remember the DEET repellant.  I hadn't put any on anybody because I thought it was too early for bugs.  But the same night I pulled one off of Justice's head, The Coach pulled two off of himself in the shower.  So spray yourselves folks!  It's not too early.  

Bo also likes fire.  Specifically to teeter around trying to poke sticks in it, dangerously close to the fire ring.  I had finally had enough and tossed him in the back of the truck.  

See how the campsites circle the big open grassy area?  I really like that.  So many other campgrounds, especially state run parks, are all over the place and not centrally located to anything.  

The kids took the walking trail at least twice a day with a group of other kids they met at the playground.  They also rode their bikes and their scooters.

Oh look, a rare wild caveman sighting.  Just in case you thought I was kidding, he truly was a dirty mess.  But thankfully he is not naked.

 

This little one had a mouthful of marshmallow the whole trip.  He loves them too.

Look at that belly.  Chock full of marshmallows.

He was truly trying his best to fall in the fire.  The weather was cool enough that Justice would build a fire in the early afternoon and we could keep it going all day into the evening.  Very nice.  

There were more families camping with children than I've ever seen here before.  They were really good kids, too.  It was nice to see them all play together, they had great fun. 

Dirty baby hand.  Remember what I said in the post about the travel trailer?  The part about not letting them shower in it?  And the part about not wasting your money on bells and whistles while they are little?  Yuk.  Their whole bodies are like this at the end of the day.

So what we have here is a baby trying to be slick.  These bunks are long, and there is plenty of room for Jack to sleep on one end and Bo on the other.  Bo tried tricking us saying he wanted to sleep with Jackie Mack (that's what he's been calling him lately) so we put him up there with him.  Come to find out he was just waiting for Jack to fall asleep so he could swipe his Nabi tablet.  We put a quick end to those shenanigans.  

Very relaxing trip overall.  I'm really glad we have somewhere local to camp so we can get so much use out of the trailer.  I imagine we will spend many more nights here over the summer.