Swiss family Harris

As I was researching things to do for this trip, I remembered an article I had saved about spending the night in a treehouse. Even though it banks close to Amelia Island (our final destination), I felt the opportunity was one we couldn't pass up. Months ago, Gretchen planned out her treehouse for our future home in Utah. This included hand drawn treehouse passes. I had a feeling this place was going to give us inspiration for our own.

It's called the Hostel in the Forest and there is a lot of peace and love here, literally. It's a hippie commune that has developed a way of life in the forest. Here you'll see our treehouse and at the bottom are the gathering places.





Wow!

The rules are:
1. There are no rules.

When we arrived, we found Karen cooking a mixture of garbanzo beans and peppers dish, a mushroom quinoa, broccoli cheese bread, and hummus in the kitchen. All organic, vegetarian,and fresh. She checked us in and told us our communal dinner was at 7:30pm and that we should explore the forest. Karen also said, "Your sheets are in laundry land, toilets are down that pathway (that they safely compost somehow) along with the showers. And the lake, which is clothing optional, so be mindful of the kids, is down that way."

So,there we were the five of us standing there trying to process everything.

Off we were to our treehouse. We got better pictures on our other camera that I'll have to publish later. We stayed in the honeymoon treehouse. It had one full and two twin mattresses on the floor. It was painted with eyes, goddesses, and squiggly art. There was a chair hammock, wild flowers placed in recycled bottles, and a journal where visitors could write down their thoughts (some expressing their fun night in the treehouse, usually in poetry).





We found the lake, the outdoor kitchen, and the indoor kitchen.





If you want a drink, you just go in and get it.



Dinner was lovely. We gathered in the dining room, an outdoor screened place, speckled with lights and tie dye. We all joined hands and introduced ourselves and stated what we were thankful for. Some said forest nymphs, fairies and lizards, others said family and safety. Micah said nothing.

In the morning, Mat was out for a run so I took the kids canoeing in the clear lake. The water was warm and Gretchen desperately wanted to get in. They did say clothing optional, so in she went, glowing white bottom and all. Becket refused to swim in the buff so he swam in his shorts. Mat found us, and jumped in. It looked so refreshing and nice that I wished I had brought my swimsuit. After a while, I threw my clothes to the wind and jumped in. It was so worth it. The water was too clean and warm to pass up. You could see the fish swimming right by you.

Once we packed up I asked Freddy if there was anything we needed to do.his reply "Just give someone a hug or say peace on the way out." I hugged him.

Location:Surprise Location; A Crazy Mad Treehouse