Plattner Ranch: DeSototo State Park 2011 Part 3

THURSDAY!

We started off on top of the rock so Chad could get the safety ropes set up.

I had these great “photographer ideas” of taking pictures from the top of the rock. I had imaginations of the great pictures of the shear determination in their faces as the children struggled to reach that goal of touching the caribiner at the top of the rock.

Three minutes was all it took to realize that those fantasy pictures were not going to happen that day! I was cookin’ on top of that rock!!!!! No Joke! I was off the rock before Chad was finished setting up. We’ll have to do some rock climbing in the early spring or autumn to get those shots! Maybe, just maybe, if I was more experienced and had a better chance at getting that Awesome shot, maybe it would have been worth it.

Waiting…

The Rock ~ with Jolene about half way up and Chad on the ground as a reference for height. Note – this was a beginner rock.

Jolene ~ at the top!

Javan and Jared ~ Conquered it!

Yep! Even Jubilee made it to the top!

The hard part?

Getting her down again! Jesse was the hero that saved the day!

Note ~ it’s best to teach children to trust the rope when they are just a few feet off the ground! Coming down really is fun if you trust!

Chad ~ He made it to the top too, but climbing make a more interesting shot.

AND ~ The Moment You’ve Been Waiting For!

Uh hum…

DRUM ROLL PLEASE…………….

Yep! I made it too and more than once Thank You!

Sorry Jonas, we can’t forget your adventurous spirit! He conquered a couple rocks as well, but these were a little safer for a 4 year old!

From here we went to the Blue Hole, another swimming hole, and this time with a rope swing.

Jesse with a nice long swing.

Javan

Jared - Look Out Below!!!!

Jolene – she did make it a little further than this on subsequent tries.

Jubilee did quite well on the rope swing but she didn’t try it till I had already put the camera back in the van. She was so cute swing with her legs all curled up Indian style, I really wish I had a picture.

Chad and I both took our turn on the rope swing; it was pretty fun. The first time I didn’t make it any farther than Jolene, but once I learned the best way to hold I did o.k.

It was somewhat of a hillbilly swimming hole with a variety of characters in the water. Perhaps they thought the same of us.

Friday we went back to the same area for rock climbing. One rope we set up at the same spot as the day before and the other rope we set up at a nearby wall that was more challenging, for us anyway.

Coming down is lots of fun!

Friday we thought to bring toys for the little ones and things went a lot smoother!

Not sure who Jubilee was talking to but you would never have known it wasn’t a real phone! She carried on a well timed conversation, you could just imagine the response on the other end of the line!

You had to keep an eye on the younger children because even though they didn’t want to put on the harness and climb like us they tried to climb anything they could!

Don’t look Grandma!

Jesse belaying for Javan. The rope is securely tied to the climbers harness and the other end is looped through a security device called a belay device. As the climber climbs, the rope gets slack, the job of the boler is to pull up the slack. One hand feeds the slack through the bole device, the other hand pulls the dangling end down in a locked position so if the climber slips the rope is secure and he just swings on the rope.

On Saturday we packed up and moved out. We stopped on the way out of the park at a dam/falls we hadn’t seen.

The rock wall in the background was really beautiful and while we observed the wall we also got to enjoy watching some people repel down.

You could tell the lady was a beginner.

If you look closely, you can see some people at the top waiting their turn, and the two repelling near the bottom.

It was also very clear that the man was NOT a beginner! :0)

If you were wondering what happened when they got to the bottom, well, they just dropped into the water and swam to shore! Looked like lots of fun!

The water fall was pretty but it was hard to get a good angle to block out the damn and the danger signs.

We went to Nashville from there and spent the night with Mike and Monica Fritz, attended church with them on Sunday and drove home from there.

We really enjoyed the area we went to with the swimming holes and rock climbing. I think it would be about unanimous with the rock climbing topping our adventure and the rope swing a close second.

I will close with a few parting shots taken with Daddy’s camera – the only one the children are allowed to use.