For the last 21 years, I’ve been teaching overseas. My brother was in the Air Force, and then he also became an international teacher. Both my sisters married military guys, so they rarely stayed in one place for long. Finally, we’re all living in the States! You would think it would be easier to get together.

For the first time since Christmas, we all met up last weekend at Cumberland Falls State Resort Park in Kentucky. We had planned to camp, but the weather report looked bleak, so we opted for cabins instead (hallelujah!). When my mom canceled at the last minute after hearing about the grueling drive, I took her reservation at the lodge (even better!).

I rode with my sister, Megan, and her kids after driving six hours to get to her house. Turns out the trip to Cumberland Falls was nearly 12 hours! So painful. However, we had some good laughs and arrived to find the rest of the gang already settled in their cabins with food on the stove.

We lucked out with a crisp, clear day for hiking. First, we walked down the path behind the cabins to reach the falls.

The nieces and nephews skittered around boulders and cliffs like little mountain goats as the Cumberland River roared below us. It’s possible we let them skitter a bit too much, and we’re lucky nobody plunged into the waterfall or got flattened by falling rocks. (There was a near tragedy, though … read on …)

We spent a little time hanging out at this beach, where the kids collected garbage for a Scout merit badge. Unfortunately, there was plenty to collect as it gets carried downstream and deposited on these shores.

After lunch, we hiked to Eagle Falls, which was hidden in a cove of massive boulders.

The second day was cloudy, and we were exhausted, but we managed to squeeze in one more hike. Later, we adults hung out around the campfire while the little people played in the woods.

More random shots from our visit …

Tuesday morning, Megan and I took off with her kids and dog for the arduous trip home. As we zig-zagged through small towns and farmland across the southern states, Megan counted Dollar Generals using the voice of the Count from Sesame Street (“16 Dollar Generals! Bwah ha ha ha!”). She got up to 20 before we finally emerged from the countryside and got on a proper highway.

In the meantime, the rest of the family took a morning hike along the river. My brother’s dog, Lexi, wandered too close to the edge and fell in the icy river. Summer, thinking the splash had been one of the children, dove in and pulled Lexi to safety. This happened just upstream from the falls, where the rapid current could have easily swept them both away and given me a whole different angle for this blog post. Whew! Tragedy averted.

I wish we could have had more time together, but as always, we made the most of it!