We went on a little getaway last weekend for a surprise early 40th celebration for one of my best college friends. For years we made it an annual get together but life happens—babies are born, schedules get busier as your kids start school, and before you know it it’s been four years since your last meet up and your babies who were drinking from bottles and sippy cups are now reciting Ice Ice Baby verbatim thanks to your friend’s awesome 1991 college mix CD.

Hubby and I had both been looking forward to this trip. Lots of e-mails were passed back and forth between all of us. We’ve always gone to the Land Between the Lakes area but toward the end of the e-mail trail I realized we were going to Cumberland Falls, which my friend abbreviated as CF in one of his last e-mails. I forward it to my husband since he wasn’t copied on it. I assumed Cumberland Falls was in the same general area we’ve always traveled to and I got the girls packed Thursday night so we can leave after work Friday. I tell our friends we’ll be arriving later than anyone, though, just to be on the safe side. Hubby asks me as we’re getting ready to leave Friday if I’ve printed directions and I admit no, I mean that’s a minor detail…RIGHT? It’s then we both realize that Cumberland Falls is in an entirely different area of Kentucky and we’re now looking at about a 4-hour drive from Nashville as opposed to an easy 2 to 3 hour drive max.

Ooops.

Minor detail.

And also?

There is a time change from CST to EST so we lose an hour traveling.

Basically we’re screwed on any sort of dinner time arrival.

Hubby and I got into a rational discussion heated argument and I called my friends from the car to tell them we’d really be late and of course it was all fine but note to self: NEVER ASSUME your husband who has been working crazy crazy hours knows the timetable of your road trip even if he is the one who always ends up doing most of the driving.

If we ever go to Disney World I’m mapping out every detail on an Excel spreadsheet six months, OK OK 16 months, in advance.

But on to Saturday! Saturday was beautiful. We went for a hike from our cabin down to the falls. I had no idea that Cumberland Falls was so gorgeous. There’s a reason they call it the Niagara of the South. Cumberland Falls also boasts an unusual natural phenomenon called a moonbow during a full moon.

Here we are down at the falls. Miss A drank all of her grape Crush that she is holding and I believe she consumed nothing but sugar the entire weekend. Despite her being jazzed up on sugar, hubby still had to carry her on his shoulders down and up the side of a bluff for part of the hike. My husband is a saint. There was also the incident of the exploding Pyrex dish Saturday night while he cooked dinner. Again, he is a saint.

Gorgeous view from the patio at the Dupont Lodge.

Miss C on the rocks. Is this scenery amazing or what?

Amazing view of the Cumberland River.

Cumberland Falls

After the hike my friends got their inner redneck on.

Here’s a link to the official Kentucky state park website for Cumberland Falls. It’s a nice road trip from Nashville although it is a VERY isolated drive on the Cumberland Parkway once you leave Bowling Green. And you do gain an hour on the return trip.