Hit'n the Trails at Hocking Hills

Breathtaking!  Hocking Hills will forever be a special place in my heart.  The place our family went to because we wanted to stay in a treehouse...but symbolically became so much more. 

Into the forest I go, to lose my mind and heal my soul….My dad always said, “Go live your life.” So that’s what we did. We had a trip planned to Hocking Hills this Father’s Day weekend, before Dad got sick. I was unsure about going, but with his passing so sudden…we needed to just spend some time together, away.

I felt his presence while in these beautiful mountains…similar to the ones Dad grew up in and I visited as a kid every single year. As we drove the winding roads and slept among the trees, we laughed and we cried, and shared memories of him. I told my kids how proud he was of us…all of us. I’ll forever think of my dad when I look back at these photos of our family adventures in the hills.

Hocking Hills is a little gem of a place. We hiked FIVE of the trails…Cantwell Cliff, Old Man’s Cave, Rock House, Ash Cave, and Conkel’s Hollow. Only one of us complained about hiking but then never said a word when we were out exploring. We played board games, roasted s’mores, “swam” in the hot tub, tasted some moonshine and wine (grape tastes for the kiddos), saw some pretty cool pencil sharpeners, and we just sat and stared at the canopy. It was a lovely way to celebrate one of the best dad’s here on Earth and the other best dad up in Heaven.