That Magical Place We Knew As A Kid (Part 1)

Danae's been mentioning to me the past few days, "I haven't seen you write anything for your blog in a while." I know, I know. I can't quite put my finger on it; call it lack of inspiration. More accurately put: lack of motivation. My tendency has always leaned more towards the lazy spectrum of life. I'll go through these highs and lows of drive towards different things. Take for example: the other day, I got it in my head that I needed to start cleaning. The house wasn't very messy by any means, but that's just what I was feeling compelled to do. So that's just what I did. The following day....not so much.

That's how it goes for me. I feel ready to go one minute, and the next I'm just as content to sit on my butt and stare at the ceiling fan. Oh, did I mention that we got a new ceiling fan? This one actually puts off a bit of wind, which is PARAMOUNT during our oh-so-beloved Texas summers.

The past few months, my thoughts have been traveling back to my family's trips to our cabin. My great grandfather Sam Mears, built a cabin in the Allegheny National Forest many years ago. Our family would take multiple trips to the cabin throughout the year, and I LOVED it! As a kid, there were hundreds of amazing things about that place. 

I vividly remember how anxious my brothers and I got as we loaded up the car so much that you couldn't see out of the trunk window. We often would fight who would get to sit in the back seat. That seat was often loaded up with the pillows and sleeping bags, which is a natural pre-built fort ready to accommodate the lucky inhabitant for the duration of the trip. 

It's amazing how in just under a two hour drive, the complete landscape of the world can change before your eyes. I remember it seemed as if we were driving to a different world. The trees became giants, the rocks and stones turned into cliffs, and the air always became more crisp and fresh. It felt as if this different world was very old, yet somehow pure.

Once we got to the entrance of the woods that would lead to our cabin (marked by the crossing over a specific railroad and emerging onto a dirt road) we were allowed to take off our seat belts and roll down the windows. I would get chills as I took that first deep breath, taking in the scent of pine, spruce, and hemlock. My dad always slowed the car down to take in the sights. I would always scan between the trees, hoping for a glimpse of a bear. I'm not sure if I ever came across one. 

At a certain point between entering the forest and arriving to our cabin, we would pass through a deep valley that stretched on either side of the road. The area was completely devoid of trees on both ends as far as you could see. I believe it was a power line trail. But, to our family that was the prime deer spotting location. Every time we went to the cabin and hit that specific spot, dad would stop the car (or at least slow down significantly) and check both sides for deer. It got to the point where we would anticipate reaching that mark of our journey. I'd dare say that now, most of the things I've just mentioned were all little parts of our journey that we anticipated the most. 

Not the actual power line trail, but a field in the area

But there were so many more great things to come...