Back to Raysville

After the better part of a month hanging around Athens, GA, we were ready for a break. Cities, even small ones like Athens, stress me out these days. Even when I’m technically miles away from them. It’s not a very acute stress, not even something I notice until I leave and I catch myself sitting around the fire in the evening with my shoulders tensed tight.

I don’t know why, but I know some time further from civilization was calling. Our friends Mike and Cassidy were feeling the same. They wanted to get out on the water in some boats so we all headed down to Raysville, the very first place we stopped when this trip began nearly three years ago.

The campground at Raysville is under used, which is to say almost no one is ever there. We arrived on a Friday and had no trouble getting a spot. It took all of about five minutes for the kids to be out the door and into the water.

I don’t think they’ll ever get tired of getting in water. Doesn’t matter what water really, they’re out there. They’ll ask to go swimming when it’s near freezing temps outside. It’s like just the idea of water makes things seem warmer.

The Raysville campground is an old army corp of engineers campground that the corp sold to the county a few years ago. It makes me laugh every time I think about it because there are all these things that only an engineer would think of — every site has a ground fire pit and a raised cooking grill, and there’s a table to eat off and another by the grill for cooking. It’s brilliantly well engineered. Also the sunsets are remarkable.

The next morning the kids were back in the lake pretty much as soon as the sun was up.

That was pretty much life for a week: wake up, go swimming, write some things, paddle around on the SUP, test out a drone, row the john boat out to the island (which the kids named poop-rock island for what the nesting Canada geese and other birds leave behind), write some more things. Then eat dinner and watch the sun light up the clouds. That’s about all you need really. Water. Sun. Food. Friends.