What a nice weekend we had.

On Friday we drove down to the Dayton, Ohio area. The hotel messed up our reservation, or perhaps was just plain overbooked. They gave us a room with one bed, though I had booked one on-line with two, and there are four of us, of course.  To add to the injury, they had no other rooms available, and they charged us extra for a cot. So Bill got the cot,  and Steven ended up sleeping in a chair. And the smoke detector was covered with little green blinking lights, and looked like a UFO coming in for a landing all night long. And no one could sleep because the room was stiflingly hot and the air conditioner was not working well and you couldn't open a window.  So that night was a stinker, but the rest of the weekend was wonderful.

We drove on to the Kentucky mountains on Saturday. The state park offered us a very private cabin, down about sixty steps from the others, on a side of a cliff. We gladly took it. It was peaceful and quiet, and the covered front porch (complete with rocking chairs) overlooked the hill down, complete with a bridal path. It was pleasant hearing the music of the horses' hoofs. We also had a private trail going down and joining the foot path to the Cumberland River. Most of the path was a very steep staircase down the face of a sheer cliff down to the River. It was about 1/4 mile to the River, most of it straight down. But when you got there, it was lovely. You could sit on huge boulders next to the water and watch the kayakers and canoeists passing by. Very peaceful, and you could hear the roaring of the Falls around  a big bend downstream.

The cabin had three beds, much to the joy of the kids. It also had the heavenly covered porch, a fully equipped kitchen, and barbacue grill, and a living room with fireplace and cable color TV. Nice way to rough it! And all for less than $100 night. Cheaper -- and far, far nicer than a lot of hotel rooms. It also has central air, but we never needed it. We just opened the windows and let in the cool, sweet mountain air. It was like breathing in heaven.

On Saturday we just rested, other than going to the grocery store and buying some food for the weekend. We had a lot of sleep to catch up on from the night before. Dan and Steven did walk down to the River, and reported on how lovely it was. After dinner, we fell alseep to the distant roar of the Falls, and the hootings of owls.

On Sunday morning we visited the Falls, which were beautiful, and walked on trails along the River. Steven earned a new nickname, SpiderMan , due to his climbing all over boulders as big as houses, and exploring little caves along the trail. Wonderful for an athletic, curious 12 year old boy.  We then ate lunch at the Lodge. Bill especially enjoyed his Kentucky Hot Brown sandwich.  The dining room of the Lodge overlooked the River and its canyon. A ledge outside contained many bird feeders and flowers. As you ate, you could see all of the birds coming to the feeders -- along with squirrels, chipmunks, and a raccoon (much to the delight of all of the children in the dining room).We then went back to the cabin, and I walked with Dan and Steven down to the River. It was peaceful and lovely sitting next to the water. After dinner, we fell alseep to the music of the Falls, the owls, and singing of a pack of coyotes running through the forest.

On Monday we packed up and checked out. We visited the Falls again, then took a scenic drive through the National Forest. It was beautiful. We then drove home, stopping off for dinner at an Olive Garden in Lima, Ohio.

The weekend was restful and totally relaxing. I have not seen Dan that energized and happy in years. It has been so long, in fact, that I cannot even remember when I last saw him like that. Bill spent an average of 12-16 hours sleeping per day, and eating large, healthy meals. He quite obviously felt the best he has since he as a child, the best in about six years. Steven spent time exploring and being very physically active, and otherwise spent hours drawing and listening to music. He was happy, feisty, spirited. I relaxed, slept, listened to music, read. Loved sitting by the River and taking pictures of the mountains and Cumberland Falls. I think this is the best I have felt since shortly before my father got sick and passed away.

Wonderful weekend.