Saturday means morning on the river

We're really starting to live out the small town mountain life this summer... which means time at the river on the weekend. A couple of Saturdays ago we went with the Daniel family up to Oconaluftee Islands Park in Cherokee (just outside of the Smokey Mountains National Park), about 25 minutes from Sylva. The river is wide and shallow as it goes through the town, and the city has put in a nice park with sidewalks and bridges and picnic tables scattered around. Best of all is the bamboo 'forest' along one part of the river - a childhood dreamland.

Luke, Blake, Isaac and Erin

Ah, the life of parents with young children - we got to the river first thing in the morning, along with the fishing crowd, but by the time we ate lunch and then left, the park was getting crowded with families bringing in coolers of food, and tubes for going down the river. What a fun place!

Luke and Timo exploring the bamboo

One last dip for Blake before we headed home