Hailey Velong
Spring Break is always my week long intermission from everyone and everything. I don’t have to deal with work or school, it’s just me and the outdoors. For the past two years I’ve taken the entire week off work to go camping.
Last year my boyfriend and I went to Wekiwa Springs in Orlando and camped in a nearby campground. At this time last year Central Florida was warm. We were able to swim and snorkel in the springs and get some awesome underwater footage… I think that’s when I fell in love with underwater photography. I only had one of the first generations of the GoPro so the photos weren’t the best quality, but now I have an awesome underwater camera.
This year, however, we are going to camp in Tennessee at Falls Creek Falls for the first half and then camp at Fort Mountain in Georgia for the second half. I won’t have the warm, water-filled Spring Break like I usually do but it will be a refreshing change to be up in the mountains.
I can’t wait for the cold mountain air and sizzling bacon cooked over the campfire. The trip is going to be full of hiking with breathtaking views, don’t even get me started on the photo opportunities! When we were looking up Falls Creek Falls to plan the trip, I immediately fell in love. There are huge waterfalls all over the park, hence the name, and giant, dense trees. I can’t wait to wake up at the crack of dawn to get the sunrise peeking over the mountains. The weather is supposed to be perfect… knock on wood.
The only thing I am not looking forward to is the 13 hour car ride there and the 11 hour car ride back home. The worst part is getting through Florida, that’s when I’ll be driving so when the scenery changes I can look out the window and appreciate seeing trees that aren’t palm trees.