The Adventures of Inkling & FarmGirl

A little over 13 years ago I got a phone call from a certain red head. "FarmGirl (as I was not yet a wife), do you think your parents would let you go on an overnight trip with your very responsible, nearly 20 year old cousin?" After a brief conversation with my folks, they decided to let me make the short trek to Fall Creek Falls with Inkling. I even got permission to skip school as we were heading there on a school night...the night before my 18th birthday & about 2 weeks before my high school graduation.

When I got home from school the next day, I packed & waited for Inkling to arrive. As I recall she was a little later than expected (no...not Inkling...never) but we still had plenty of time to reach the park before dark. We packed up her little hatch back (Honda? Toyota?) and headed out.

Now, I should point out that Inkling wasn't so good with directions & I didn't have my drivers license so I had no practice with navigating on long road trips. At a rather crucial moment in the trip, we inadvertently headed west instead of east. After a while I realized we were heading into Nashville. The conversation went something like this:
FG- Hey, that was Starwood amphitheater. We're in Nashville.
I- No. We can't be. We're going in the opposite direction.
FG- I'm telling you this is Nashville. That was Starwood.
I- Maybe there's two of them.
FG- Nope only one.
(a little while later in a REALLY bad part of town as the sun was setting in front of us)
FG- I know this is Nashville, and we really shouldn't be in this part of town.
I- It can't be Nashville. I can't see the stop light, is it red?
FG- I don't care if it is red. Don't you dare stop this car! I think I just saw someone buying heroin on that corner!
(a little while later in a MUCH better part of town)
FG- OK, we have to be in Nashville. That is the Baptist Sunday School Board building. There's only one of those in the world...and it's in Nashville.
I- You know, I think we may very well be in Nashville. We'd better turn around.

Due to our little side trip, we didn't make it to the park until almost 10 o'clock at night. The guard shack was unattended and we weren't sure we were allowed to camp without checking in. We decided to go ahead and park in a campground because we had no where else to go. Being two young women rather unsure of if we were breaking any rules or not, we decided to sleep in the car instead of attempting to pitch a tent in the dark.

Inkling slept in the back seat & I tried to get comfortable in the front. This is when I should mention Inkling's car had bucket seats & a center gear shift or parking break (I don't remember which)...yeah, not good for sleeping. And I really couldn't lay one seat back & sleep there because that would have smashed Inkling in the back.

We also decided to set the alarm for 3:30 am so we wouldn't be caught by any park rangers illegally camping in a foreign car in the state park. When we tried to move the car the next morning, we discovered we had parked in between three trees. How Inkling got that car in there is one of the great mysteries of our time because she nearly didn't get it out. It took at least 20 minutes & serious consideration of illegal deforestation on our parts.

Eventually we did escape the tree prison and headed off to shower. Inkling (not yet the mountain woman she has become) had to do her hair & make-up before we headed out to hike. OK, OK, so I did apply some eyeliner & bright red lipstick myself...so sue me.

We decided our first planned adventure should be a hike to the bottom of the falls. If you don't know, Fall Creek Falls is the tallest water fall East of the Rockies. It's a mile and a half hike to the bottom making it 3 miles round trip. When we headed down, the cool of the morning (and youth) was on our side. The hike was well worth it. It's breath taking at the bottom of those falls. The hike back up...well, let's just say this FarmGirl was not in the best of shape, even for an 18 year old. My work outs were minimal and usually centered around Marching Band & Football season (this was May....LONG way from football season). I thought Inkling would have to leave me half way up the trail & give her condolences to my parents. The headline would have read: Teen Dies of Exhaustion on 18th birthday Hike.

When we got back to the car, Inkling was hyped for her next hike. I needed a nap. We stopped to eat breakfast & I passed out in the car while she hiked down another trail. At some point we stopped at the ice house to refill our cooler. When it was time to drive on in search of more adventure, Inkling offered to let me drive. I have mentioned I was not a licensed driver at the time, right? I put the car in reverse, hit the gas, and nearly plowed into a very expensive, brand new SUV (at a time when SUV's were new & rare). We quickly decided Inkling would be the D.D . (designated driver) the rest of our trip.

At one point we found ourselves sitting on an outcropping of rock overlooking a deep valley. It was phenomenally beautiful & we were reveling in the scenery. Suddenly Inkling, who was taking pictures, said, "I think we're being watched." Across the gorge sat two young men on another outcropping of stone. They were watching us through a pair of binoculars. They had to have been more than 200 yards away if my memory serves. They waved. We waved. They looked through their binoculars. We looked through our camera (and took a few pictures...you can almost tell there are people on the rock in the photos). Long distance flirting.

In all it was a great day. Probably the most memorable birthday I've ever had. Somewhere there is a paper plate with poetry we wrote on it...maybe I'll dig it out and post it tomorrow. For now, I'll just say, "Thanks Inkling! Can we do it again sometime...with better sleeping arrangements? I love you!"