Lake Gaston Vacation

I have mentioned in past posts that the Craft family did not always go on the most luxurious and exciting vacations. This was the case with our Lake Gaston vacation. Now, don't get me wrong, we all love Lake Gaston, NC. It's just that at least Sarah Margaret and I already spent a week there every summer at camp, so we did not have that anticipation that generally comes before a week of vacation.
We rented a little cabin on a creek called Pea Hill Creek. There is nothing in the surrounding area of Lake Gaston besides a few small towns with antique shops and BBQ houses. So we were fully aware that all our time was going to be spent in that little cabin or in the water. Upon arrival at the cabin we put the ski boat in the water and unloaded our bags. We went to the dock to check out the water and that is where we met our neighbor for the week, Junior. Junior had the most awesome looking wave runner and he promised to give us a ride! Vacation was looking up.

The first day on the water we discovered the perfect cove for tubing. Dad would fling us around and around in circles until our scramy little arms could hardly take it anymore. And then right when we thought we couldn't take anymore and the pain was greater than the fun that comes with tubing, he would steer the tube right into the middle of the cove where all the wake had been stirred up. We would all go flying. We named it Dead Man's Cove. The Crafts definitely frequented Dead Man's Cove that week.

One of the highlights of the week was a little companion we found to go tubing with us. Her name was Juniper the Junebug and yes, it was a real junebug. We caught it flying around the dock one day and just knew that the little beetle would love to hang out with us on the boat. So we stuck that poor bug in a compartment and velcroed the flap down. Juniper was stuck with us for the day. I like to think that she died of sheer joy and too much fun rather than drowning. I don't think Junebugs were meant for the water.

We tubed so much that week that our arms were rubbed raw and we were covered in bruises. Junior's wave runner didn't help the situation. He would just throw us off the back every time. That week I learned that I do not enjoy activities that just hurt. Dennis and Sarah Margaret would fly off the wave runner all day and zoom around Dead Man's Cove. I did these things a few times, but I prefered to just hang out and swim by the dock. It was a classic youngest child thing to do.

We didn't think it would be a great vacation, but it turned out great. We mayb have ended up with some scrapes and bruises, but at least we were better off than Juniper.