Autumn in New Albany

Life's been pretty busy these days and I haven't been able to post stuff as quickly as have wanted. As part of my "catching-up," here are some pictures of my trip to Indiana back in October.

Since my sister and her family were not going to be in the country for Christmas this year, they planned a trip home to celebrate Birthday Week. (My mom, dad, and brother have their birthdays over a span of four days at the beginning of October.) I decided to drive home to join in the fun and see everybody (okay, primarily my niece and nephew).



My parents just bought a RV and wanted to take us all camping at Clifty Falls State Park in Madison, IN for a weekend. I actually brought my own tent and slept in it. My niece LOVED to play there during the day (and night), which made this aunt really excited! She also loved to wear my flip-flops (picture above).



In addition to my parents and my sister with her family, my dad's sister and her partner also camped with us, while my dad's brother and his wife rode their bikes (with power-assist motors) over to visit. (They only live a few miles from the park.) We had additional visitors on Saturday, too--my grandparents and cousin (with her kids). As is customary with this side of the family, the musical instruments came out pretty quickly.



Before we left the park on Sunday, my parents and I went on a little hike to check out "Big Clifty," one of the waterfalls for which the park has been named. Unfortunately, the lack of rain this summer and fall had taken its toll, leaving us with only a slow drip for viewing.


We did find this interesting "Cake Rock" on the path...appropriate for the birthday couple:)


My brother wasn't able to join for camping us because of his work schedule and (as we discovered later) a little birthday present he bought for himself...


...but we did go out to lunch with him on his birthday at Cracker Barrel.



On a more somber note, I spent time with my mom's side of the family on Monday evening when we had a memorial service for my great aunt who had passed away in September. It was a good opportunity to hear more stories about her life and look at some old pictures. Having lived in Idaho for the last many years, I didn't know her too well and only visited with her and her husband a few times--once at their llama ranch and a few times in Indiana (most recently at my sister's wedding).

As always, the visit ended too soon and I was back driving to Pennsylvania.