August had my head spinning over two packages of red ink pens. In my two decades of teaching, I am not sure I have even come close to using two full packages of red ink pens.
Yet, there I was looking at the class supply list for my daughter, questioning why I needed to buy two packages of red ink pens for a sixth-grader.
In the midst of the “Back to School” chaos, I decided the red ink pens could wait. There was something much more pressing at hand. I had a promise to keep that I had made back in May.
I took my daughter, Karlene, to explore the area around Eminence in May to kick off our summer break. Talk about timing! We were there during intense rain and rising waters.
We made the best of it, but the trip took a different tone than we had planned for. As we left, I looked my daughter in the eyes and promised her we would be back before school started.
Those red ink pens, along with the other supplies on her list, helped me spring into action. Instead of stressing over the right binders and highlighters, I knew what I needed to do was pack a cooler and our bags, grab the swimsuits, and head south.
I made a few phone calls and was lucky enough to find the last cabin available on a Thursday night at Shady Lane Cabins and Motel in Eminence.
We fit in an amazing tour of Round Spring Cave on the way down. We were the first ones in line to get our tickets. We did NOT want to miss the tour because this is something we missed when we were there in May (the cave hadn’t opened for the season yet).
My daughter and I loved the lantern-lit tour of the pristine cave. Our guide was both informative and enjoyable.
After that, we checked into our cabin, had a snack, suited up, and made it to Rocky Falls. Unlike our May visit, the falls were not roaring from excessive rains. We carefully climbed to the top of the falls to catch an impressive view.
No trip to Eminence (for us) is complete without a banana shake from the Dairy Shack. We certainly worked up an appetite thanks to the cave tour combined with swimming and climbing Rocky Falls. Our one-night, mini-vacation was topped off with a campfire at Shady Lane with s’mores.
