Mini-vacation One (After ABVD)
Day Two

We awoke on Friday to the sound of loud beeps that indicated that some large equipment was backing toward our beds! The photo above is what Judy saw just four feet from door frame to orange web fence when she opened the door. What a great alarm system for getting the tourists to breakfast! We can not sleep in. Too much to do even though it looks as though it may rain again.

Breakfast was so good. Once again the service was excellent. Judy and I decided to drive through the park and check out the facilities. The 18 hole golf course and swimming pool were not on our agenda. We concentrated on the picnic areas, the 14 cabins, and the campground with 50 camping sites. They were lovely with woods and great walking paths. We stopped the car at the end of the campground road to walk to the Pioneer Farm.

As we neared the Pioneer Farm, we heard an animal crashing through the trees. A black form was only partially reavealed through the foliage. Was it a bear?! No, it was only a curious black horse.

The Bowers Ridge Pioneer Farm is a restored 1830s mountain homestead working farm. A park employee and his wife live in the restored cabin.

They have planted a garden and they keep a variety of farm animals. We saw chickens, guineas, turkey, horses (standard and minatures), ducks, geese, and a "Lassie" dog.

The farm is so neat. The park people found it was necessary to have this area manned in order to eliminate damage caused by vandals.

As Judy was taking my photo, the gentle rain started.

The rain increased and became quite heavy. OK- we are now wet! The cemetary beyond the cabin is off our "to see" list. We headed back to the car.

Had to stop on our walk back to take this photo of mountain laurel.


After drying off in our room, we went to the lobby and played a game of canasta. It was a close game, but....

can you tell who won by the smug smile on the lad's face in the snapshot below?

The nature center at Twin Falls is manned by Joe Swiney, who graduated a few years ago in the area of Forestry at Glenville State. Judy is looking around the museum. It reminded us of our experiences living at Watoga State Park when I was the naturalist in 1967 and 1968. We started our marriage there in 67.

It was now around 5 P.M. and Judy said that we needed to walk the trail to the falls which give the park its name. The two waterfalls are accessed by a hiking trail and are located about 1/2-mile apart on the Marsh and Black Forks of Cabin Creek. There was no problem finding the first waterfall. There is a paved path that will take you to the top of the Marsh Fork waterfall.

The path to the second waterfall was more challenging. It was wet and had many rocks embedded in the trail. It resembled some of the trails we encountered in the past on Dolly Sods.

The snail below greeted us on our trip.

Judy is always the romantic! I had to take a photo of this "heart-shaped" scar on the side of the tree just for her.

It was getting dark and husband Jim did not want his princess to be stuck on the trail after the sun went down. We did, however, find the second waterfall.

This artsy photo below is of the Black Fork waterfall. It is artsy because the light level was so low that the exposure was blurred. I know - I should not have told you and let you believe that this was a planned effect! As mentioned earlier, the confluence of Marsh Fork and Black Fork create the stream known as Cabin Creek.

After having a steak dinner at the park restaurant, we went to bed. If you dine in their restaurant, we recommend sharing the dinners which are huge. We learned to do that the second evening - half a baked potato, half a 10 oz steak, and an extra salad.

OK! We also shared a dessert!

We will conclude our adventure on tomorrow's blog.