René of the Day // 7.9-10.11 // Laurel River Lake

Just returned from a weekend of jetskiing at Laurel River Lake in Corbin, KY (home of Kentucky Fried Chicken!) with my parents & MR. We had a great time - it's the most beautiful lake I've been to... hadn't been since I was much younger. The water is so clear, in the distance it looks like the ocean until you look up at the thick green tree line. You could see all the way down past your feet in the water - which is impossible at Cumberland or Norris. This is mainly because the lake is inside Daniel Boone National Forrest so there aren't any homes or developments built on the water - the edge is forrest and rocky cliffs - it's gorgeous and very serene.

Saturday we got started a little late... 75 was locked down so MR made it in around 2:00. We headed out on our two jetskis - the smaller pink & purple Kawaski we refer to as the "sports car" and Big Blue, the new black & blue Kawasaki referred to as "The Cadillac." The difference in handling is huge... On the smaller one, the steering is very loose but it's super fast and sensitive to it's great for tricks, high jumps over wakes, figure-8s and donuts. The bigger boy is very smooth and steady and take much more effort to turn the handle. Matt & I spent most of our day on Big Blue because I flipped him off the other one early on and lost his sunglasses - luckily I brought an old pair for him - and he was so frustrated trying to handle the wiggly steering lol

We stopped in numerous different coves to enjoy Labatts & Yuenglings and hang out & jumped off some big rocks (see photo below of MR's fantastic form lol) I was cracking up listening to MR commentate like it was NASCAR since a bunch of our friends were at the race at Kentucky Speedway... lucky he didn't injure me! Evidently there's a line and he his counter-part at work, Blake, always say from "The Hangover 2" - "Comin' in hot!" and he kept saying it as he'd speed towards huge wakes - ah!

We had dinner at Applebee's - yes I ate at a chain restaurant, gasp! - because it's the only restaurant in the county that serves alcohol. We had a good ole time analyzing the couples on their first dates in Corbin haha. Honestly, the food was surprisingly good - but we were famished anyhow... Loved our hotel, Country Inn and Suites - Chip & MR love the fresh baked chocolate chip cookies when you walk in the door and the full breakfast on Sunday hit the spot before we got back on the water. It was so quiet and the water was smooth as glass that early in the morning... we were all so sore from our sun-blistered skin and bruised butts that we took it pretty easy... lots of cruising - we were all beat to hell.

Weekends like that always go so fast... I'm thrilled that MR finally got to play with our toys and we had perfect weather - I could've standed for 10 degrees cooler but hey, I got some good bronzing.