After our leisurely departure from South Llano River and a short drive to North San Antonio, we were set up at a lovely campsite just in time for dinner.

With plenty of daylight left after eating, we drove to the riverside park to scope out what we could get into the following day. We were thrilled to discover a beautiful section of crystal clear river shaded by towering cypress trees with a limestone cliff as the backdrop. AND there were only like 5 other humans there (and a few creepy buzzards milling about 😆).

And by the looks of the huge parking lot and overflow parking available for the spot, it appeared it could get quite congested at peak times. We decided to take advantage and planned for an entire day of lounging riverside for this visit. After a little more exploring, Weston made a fire and we enjoyed s’mores and hanging out at the enormous campsite.

The next morning, we had a laugh to discover the local raccoons had helped themselves to our yeti cooler in the middle of the night and ate ONLY the rest of our chocolate bars for s’mores. We had been warned they were crafty, but underestimated their ability to adapt to current ice chest latching systems! We were lucky they didn’t clean us out entirely, just satisfying a sweet tooth. 😉

Our day of river play was so relaxing and perfect. A few people trickled in and out during the day, but we still felt like we had the river all to ourselves. The kids chased minnows, built rock dams and floated. Sally and I lounged on the shore and waded around occasionally. We finished out the R&R day with another campfire (without s’mores unfortunately) and a good night’s sleep after locking the ice chests in the car of course.

It goes without saying, we barely touched on what this park has to offer. We have to go back. For starters, we missed out on touring the Honey Creek State Natural Area (part of our total count) that’s within the park’s boundaries as it’s only open on weekends. We didn’t hike a single trail either and there’s a whole section on the other side of the river.

This park ended up being our last stop of the tour. We had 2 more nights planned at Choke Canyon State Park, but after learning the park was under a boil water notice and plans developing for a trip to Rocksprings that weekend following our return, we all agreed to cut the trip short and headed straight for home.

While we didn’t meet all the goals I had in mind, we hadn’t pulled a trip off like this yet! Camping at the height of summer definitely had its draw backs, but we did eventually acclimate and when we returned to our 76* home, that temperature then took some getting used to! Haha. And even though I had planned on 14, being gone for 12 days was still the longest we have achieved. It makes me optimistic about our ability to venture outside this massive state now that we live at the bottom of it!

– Lindsay

After Abilene, we were officially over half way through our trip and were pointed back South. We took our time packing up from Abilene. I was getting pretty tired by now of loading and unloading the kayaks from the pop up. Especially after not using them at the last 2 parks, but at South Llano River State Park, they would end being worth hauling every mile!

Our drive was easy and pleasant and we were set up by 2 pm with a light drizzle and overcast skies making for quite a cool afternoon. We took advantage and jumped right on a 3.5 mile rountrip hike to check out a canyon wall where water seeps out apparently creating a habitat for lizards and wrens. No luck on finding lizards, but the kids enjoyed scaling the canyon wall and testing their limits (mine as well).

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After an early dinner, we drove to nearby Junction to get some more ice and food for the next few days since we didn’t do it on the way in. We crossed the Llano River leaving the park and the highway travelled along side it into town. I was in the middle of pondering out loud that there must be someway to float or kayak this stretch when I saw a sign for a kayak shuttle service outside a restaurant! A sign is a sign, so we pulled in to find out more! Fortunately, the owners were there and after a brief conversation and some convincing for the boys, our plans for Monday were set. 🙂

That morning we ate our weight in pancakes, loaded all 3 kayaks onto and into the car and drove to the river crossing at the entrance of the state park. Sally stayed behind in her kennel in the camper. We unloaded the kayaks on the river bank, told them to stay, hopped back into our car and drove it to a park in Junction 7 miles downstream. We then called our new friend, Bill with Paddler’s Porch, and he picked us up in his truck and shuttled us back to our kayaks! All for the fair price of $30! Along the way, he gave us tips and tricks for the journey and we chatted about ETX as he’s originally from Longview. Always a small world. I was a big fan of the arrangement. Our car would be at the finish line, we could travel on our schedule and we knew if we wanted to see it again; we better finish! And I didn’t have a plan much beyond that. I packed a backpack that was bungeed on my stern with 10 bottles of water, multiple snacks, sandwiches and tuna packets. Ashlyn was to command the 7ft “banana boat,” Weston the 5ft youth yak and Archer on the bow of my 10 footer.

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How I wish I had the ability to type out every inch of the 7miles of rapids, obstructions, and still very wild river we traversed over the span of 4.5 hours. I also wish I had a go-pro on the bow to capture some of the shit we went through! Cliff notes are; Ashlyn is a natural, she is all in and was our lead through the whole trip. She would go through rapids ahead of us and call out where the fast cuts were and where branches were hanging out. Her only complaint was fatigue at the end. But she’s ready to go again. ATTA GIRL! Weston’s boat was too small for him already. He also got flustered easy and flipped a few times. He was smart every time and found his footing first before messing with his boat. But for the last half mile, he ended up sitting on my stern holding a tow on his boat while I trucked it to out run a storm that chased us our last mile to the finish. Navigating a 10foot kayak with 60lbs on the bow was a booger, but Archer did really well holding still in the middle as best he could and the one time we got sideways on a log in the river and flipped, he did just as I had advised in my pep talk at the beginning and got clear of the boat to stand up. His biggest complaint was being sore sitting in one position for so long.

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We made it to the city park where we left the car and got the boats loaded all before a hellacious storm blew through. Then, I treated everyone to huge blizzards from Dairy Queen. The whole thing was the most epic adventure I’ve done with the kids yet and while hard, it was perfect! They were awesome at being safe and following directions. Being a completely foreign river to all of us and tackling it with their limited practice on their kayaks, there was just enough risk to make the completion so rewarding! For me and Ashlyn anyways…the boys never want to kayak again. Lol! Maybe they will grow into it, maybe they won’t, but in the meantime I’m looking forward to the next trail with my pro paddler. 😍

After that very full day, we returned to a power outage at the park. Everything was still cool at least since the storm had just blown through. Sally was happy to see us and we spent the evening with an early dinner watching the dozens of armadillos mill about the camping loop. The power came back on in time for bed and we treated our sore bodies to an early bedtime.

The next morning after a good night’s rest, we packed up camp and spent some play time at the “waterfall” area of the river at the front of the park. We had learned the previous day that was basically the clearest spot for the next 7 miles of the South Llano River and the boys were bitter over their lack of swim time the day before. Sally got in on the action as well and we stayed until our hunger drove us into town for a quick Sonic lunch and we were on our way to Guadalupe River State Park.

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This was MY FAVORITE PARK OF THE ENTIRE TRIP. And not just for our kayak adventure. It is still so wild there! We saw whitetail deer, axis deer, turkeys (there’s actually a whole protected roosting area in the park for them), javelina, hogs, coyotes, jack rabbits, raccoons, and so many armadillos we lost count. The park is a registered “International Dark Sky” location and all the campers respected the lights out policy. We were able to walk at night by not moonlight, but STAR light. Just stunning. The campsites are beautiful and accommodating with their awnings and multiple shade trees. I can’t wait to go back. Fortunately, it makes a perfect half way stop for visiting our Lubbock family!

-Lindsay

After an early break down of camp at Brownwood and the shortest drive between parks for the entire trip, we were set back up at Abilene State Park by 12:30. And it seemed we had out run the humidity finally! While the temp was still in the 90s, we were finding being outdoors lovely! With this park being our midway point in the trip, we opted for some activities with civilization. The rest of Friday would be spent sightseeing in the park, but Saturday was reserved for the Abilene Zoo, laundry and dinner at a famous steakhouse.

We started off walking the short 1/4 mile trail from the camping loop to the hub of the park where all the CCC structures stand. The main draw of the park is an almost all original CCC constructed swimming pool…which was closed for repairs. Doh. But we still enjoyed the architecture and the walk there and back was shaded and beautiful.

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Once back at the camper, we hopped in the car with some fishing gear to check out the lake. Uniquely, the lake is across a somewhat busy highway from the park and there isn’t a trail other than walking alongside the highway for a mile between gates. No thanks, we’ll drive haha. We fished for while and explored the shoreline until it was time for dinner. The water was a murky red color thanks to the dirt/clay bottom so we didn’t bother with swimming. It seems like a serene lake to kayak on as the park doesn’t allow anything bigger than a trolling motor to run on it and they even have a kayak rental station (a first for us). But we had bigger plans for Saturday than paddling.

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We woke up Saturday morning to super low humidity and 68*! We had found Fall! Haha. The weather certainly set us up for a lovely morning at the Abilene zoo and we while it is a small setup, we really enjoyed the variety and cleanliness they offered. We saw a cobra exhibit and I told the kids that may have been the first I’ve ever seen.

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Next we picked up some camp groceries and lunch goodies at HEB…the ONLY HEB in Abilene…it was a mad house. Then google led us to a laundromat with good reviews. Just in time, our laundry pile was taking over and our towels needed some freshening up.

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After our chore was complete, we had just enough time to take the laundry back to the camper and give Sally some outside time before before our 5pm dinner reservations at Perini Ranch Steakhouse. Located just a few miles from the state park and set within the boundary of Perini Cattle Ranch, the restaurant has gained nationwide popularity as a “ranch to table” concept with authentic cowboy cooking. Dining here was definitely a “when in Rome” opportunity! I had a fantastic ribeye, Ashlyn had ribs and the boys each a catfish platter. For dessert, I took a chance on a jalapeño cheesecake and had zero regrets while the kids split a square of chocolate sheet cake. Our table was outside and in addition to the food, we thoroughly enjoyed the scenery of the rustic grounds. So, yea, 10/10 recommend!

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We went to bed with full bellies and loaded up early the next morning to make our way to South Llano State Park. All in all Abilene State Park is a pleasant park. We met quite a few couples camping there just for a quick getaway from the city. The boundary crossing a busy highway is odd, but the trails offered along with the pool when it’s operational on the main side somewhat makes the lakeside obsolete in my opinion. We thoroughly enjoyed our day trip into civilization while in that area as well! Now back to the wild 😁

-Lindsay

We didn’t have much prior knowledge or expectations for Lake Brownwood other than it is a prominent CCC Park and was very convenient to visit on our way to Abilene. Thanks to our morning kayak trip on Inks Lake, we had to,pack the camper up around 10 am just as the heat of the day was setting in. So we took our time for the drive up there and arrived just before 3. Thankfully this site had another prominent shade tree for midday coverage. But the heat of the trip was still getting the best of us and the break down and set up of day 5 was rough.

To kill time until it was a more agreeable temperature for cooking and eating dinner, we drove to notable CCC structures alongside the lake. We marveled at the great deal of stones and intricate brick work used in the construction of the recreation hall and numerous lake overlooks.

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We also checked out a most unique bridge near the boat ramp. Tucked in a little cove is a canoe and kayak dock and this bridge provides access to the picnic area from the ramp without going around. The kids liked the wide open view of the lake and the little bit of sway the bridge did haha.

After dinner, we explored the lake frontage near the campsite. I was surprised to see the lake level was a little higher than the park is used too. I guess the rains earlier in the year made quite an impact on even the lakes notorious for being low. The water was deep with little clarity, so we wrote off swimming and kayaking during our visit.

We slept in the next morning thankfully and hit a short hike accessible from our campsite after breakfast. It was along one of the lakeside ridges scattered along the shore and we enjoyed moderate terrain and nice views.

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That afternoon was spent in the car traveling to the other side of the lake looking for lunch at a local marina. Unfortunately they were short staffed and would only be serving dinner that day. Instead we rested and snacked in the camper until the sun went down a little more and then hung out on the fishing pier. Again, we didn’t catch anything, but we saw a gar act like a dolphin hitting the surface and that was surprising and entertaining. After dinner, we settled in for an early bed time with an early departure the next morning (so happy to pack up when it was cooler) for Abilene State Park.

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Lake Brownwood is a beautiful area with what seems like the best of what central Texas, the plains and hill country have to offer. The lake is ideal for motor boats. Wide open, deep and minimal obstruction to just blow and go. That part along with our heat depleted energy made kayaking un-appealing for us. Perhaps, another time of year and more time in the park could give way to some fun paddling along the shore. The hiking in the park was entertaining, but we didn’t do the 2 other long trails and I’m sure those are rewarding. But the main draw, in my opinion, has to be the historical CCC aspect. SO MUCH work has gone into every corner of that park and you can just imagine a glorious heyday of outdoor gathering during a simpler time.

-Lindsay

Stop number 2 had been highly anticipated for a couple of years after our visit to nearby Longhorn Cavern. I was also very optimistic about our campsite! A less crowded weekday reservation allowed me to have options to choose from and I was able to select a well reviewed water front site! And it did not disappoint! We had a long, level concrete pad with a perfect shade tree over the camper. The water front provided an ideal kayak launch as well! So ideal, that other nearby campers politely asked if they could share the launch and they ended up being a very sweet couple we enjoyed chatting with. And as icing on the cake, the nearby bathhouse was brand new and air conditioned (!) literally the nicest one we have ever seen! If I have to list a con, it would only be that there is zero privacy between sites. That appears to be the case throughout the huge 300+ campsite park anyways. The hilly landscape and lake more than make up for it.

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Once we were popped up we headed across the camping loop to the trail head for The Devil’s Waterhole. Along the way we were distracted down/up another trail to take in a large section of Gneiss (pronounced nice, thanks for reading that plaque Ashlyn!) rocks and ended up in the dried up bed of Spring Creek that feeds into the lake. Apparently when it’s flowing, the area is a beautiful waterfall and lovely to swim in!

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We finally made it to a more reliable swimming spot coined the Devil’s Waterhole. The rock formations and cliff sides surrounding the narrow corner of the lake were stunning! The water, however, left a bit to be desired for me haha. The clarity was decent enough, but the globs of weeds? pond scum? sludge?….not quite sure what it was… kept drifting by and I wasn’t hot enough to swim with it. I guess the kids were though! They just swam around the chunks and found a good perching rock. We were able to witness one person jump from the highest point of the cliff and it got Weston’s attention, but we decided best to save that for the next day.

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After dinner, we drove to the other side of the park, which is quite large, and tried a fishing pier. We chunked lures for a bit, but didn’t catch anything other than a beautiful sunset.

The next morning after some bacon, eggs and biscuits Ashlyn, Weston and myself hopped on the kayaks while Archer and Sally lounged in the AC of the camper. We paddled around the corner back to the Devil’s Waterhole and up into the narrows as far as we could. Weston hopped off and attempted climbing up the cliff side to jump, but couldn’t get a good grip on the slippery rock in a bulky life jacket and I wasn’t ready for him to jump without one. Another time. They both enjoyed more swim time before we paddled back for lunch.

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Later, Archer gave kayaking in our cove a go and found it kind of meh. Weston and I went back out before dinner to look at another fishing pier. We were really loving that launch site! The boys waded around chasing minnows until dinner and then Weston built a fire for our s’mores. The rest of the relaxing evening was spent watching the fire and the water until it got dark and Archer was ready for bed. The 3 of us opted to sit in the dark and wait the fire out…until a skunk showed up and started digging through our not yet thrown out trash! 😆 Once our light hit him and we realized what he was, it was a race of who ran from who faster! Lol After he stayed away for a minute or 2, I retrieved the bag and sent it to the dumpster. Archer was a little bummed he missed the chaos haha.

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The next morning, Archer hopped on the bow of my kayak and we paddled into the Waterhole and he casted along the bank. One more ride before it was time to pack up. We WILL be back and will get that exact spot and will stay longer and will bring Nathan! Everything was amazing and we barely saw the highlights. We were rallying from Lockhart for sure, onward to Lake Brownwood!

-Lindsay

On August 21st, we started a 14 day camping trip during which we would hope to visit 8 different state parks, staying at 7 of them. We were really excited to see how we would do away from home for that long as well as setting up and breaking down camp every 2 days. I booked all of the sites in advance online and while laborious, I was optimistic we had some good selections. Starting our trip on a Saturday, our first park only had one site left, so little choice there. But everything else from what I researched looked promising! And to top it off, Wanda had just received a new facelift! New tires rated for better highway speeds, replaced and structurally reinforced trim work, all new LED lights, AND fresh paint from top to bottom! The exterior checklist was done! That just leaves the interior for next year. 👍🏻

We started with a less than 3 hour drive to Lockhart and I was so excited to have the opportunity to visit the Luling Buccees for the first time in YEARS! I’m not even sure the boys have ever been to that one. Of course, there’s bigger locations now, but this one is OG for me lol! I also thought my loaded down car and camper looked cool in the lot 😜

We arrived around lunchtime to our unique site and I understood why it was the last one available. It was classified as a pull thru site, but what it failed to mention was that it shared the pull thru driveway with 2 other hookups! Really bizarre and quite tedious having to pull past other camps on the narrow driveway. Then came the leveling. I always pull up to a site, get out and walk the pad before backing/pulling in to survey the best positioning and could see right away this was going to be a nightmare. The entire driveway sloped down a hill….my 30 year old camper doesn’t self level lol! After 2 hours, which included hitching back up to adjust, the use of 2 jack stands and 2 hydraulic lifts…and did I mention the site had zero shade? Oh yea… I finally called it good enough and even then the door barely worked. Why even have that site available? Ugh.

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Extremely hot and tired, I sat down for a minute before making lunch and was able to take in the actual perks to our site. We were right on the bank of the prettiest part of the Clear Fork Creek that runs through the park. And then I broke out in hives.

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I was a little panicked because this had only ever happened once before as a reaction to a vitamin supplement and as a result I don’t regularly carry adult strength Benadryl. So we hopped in the car, drove to Lockhart and were at a Walgreens in less than 10 minutes. Yay for our first park being close to town! While waiting for the 1 Benadryl to work, we went to Sonic for a much needed bite to eat and the hives GOT WORSE. Double ugh. 2nd pill then and they finally started to go down. But then for the rest of the day I was in a fog.

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Our entire camp site was still inundated in 98 degree direct sunlight at 2:30, so we drove 30 minutes to Buda and killed time in Cabelas(they allow dogs btw). We got back, made and ate dinner in a corner of shade and by 8pm it had finally cooled off in the camper tolerably. I’d be lying if by that point I hadn’t thought about scrapping the trip. This was day one of 14 and there was already a lot of bullshit. I didn’t want to bail out to a hotel already, but our next park (Inks Lake) was still full for Sunday night, so we needed to power through just one more night at what I had already coined the “shit park.” Hahaha.

Sunday morning after a crappy night’s sleep with the hives returning and then subduing without meds (still have no idea why that was a thing), we decided we would sight see in the morning and hit the swimming pool during the heat of the day after lunch.

We walked a short trail along the bank of the creek with fishing poles in hand casting where openings allowed. An added bonus was a “story walk” the park installed along the trail and it happened to be Eric Carle’s “Hungry Caterpillar!” A long time favorite of the kids. 🙂 We crossed one of the many CCC dams throughout the park and checked out the ruins of an old latrine lol! The kids couldn’t get over “just pooping out in the open sitting on a hole on rock! And side by side at that!” 😆 I’m thinking there may have been a wood privacy structure at one point. So our morning walk was entertaining, scenic and historical(?)…off to a good start!

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We ate our lunch and headed to the pool in time for its 12-2pm session only to be asked if we had pre purchased our tickets as it was sold out. Oi. Thankfully the 3-5pm session was not sold out and I purchased our entry tickets at $1/kid and $2/adult. Whatever. What to do until 3pm during the heat of the day then…shaded creek to the rescue! A hammock stretched perfectly across and I genuinely rested while the kids built dams and raced leaves.

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Our pool experience was fine. The kids thoroughly enjoyed the diving board and I soaked until I felt water logged enough.

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With more time to kill after dinner before the camper would feel cool enough for sleep, we drove around checking out more CCC attractions. Which this park has plenty! We looked at more dams, a recreation hall, water towers and the site of the original swimming pool. The old pool area really impressed.

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Apparently the CCC also installed golf courses at a number of the parks they created across the state and Lockhart is the only one to still maintain theirs. We learned the original tee-off started hundreds of feet above the course atop a hill by the rec hall and was reworked out of the course in the 70s. Even as non golfers, we thought that would’ve been neat to do.

The next morning we packed it up early and headed for Inks Lake State Park with lots of optimism for the rest of the trip. Lockhart had so many interesting features, but just not enough to make us hurry back. Apparently the city of Lockhart is famous for BBQ. Maybe if we came back to partake in that, we could camp there again. But book in advance and not on a weekend and definitely in another RV area. The other sites in our loop looked just as unlevel and chaotic. The full hook up sites were quite fancy and would be worth the extra fee to save a headache…or hives. Lol

-Lindsay

Now that we had Wanda back and were mostly settled into our new home, I was super anxious to get out again and make up for our losses of the last year! I couldn’t think of any better location for our triumphant return to travel than one of my favorite places in Texas, the Frio River. Which after being a 6+ hour drive my whole life was now a measly 3.5 from Rockport! And to make it even more serendipitous, I was able to book 4 nights at Neal’s Lodges for one of their RV sites just two weeks in advance! The exception was Saturday night of course. Which after looking all over the area for another site, we “settled” for a night in Bandera at their Best Western. Yay for a spontaneous vacation coming together!

After an easy drive out Thursday morning, we were soon popped up and our sweaty selves were ready to cool off! We loaded some essentials back in the car and drove across the highway to the swimming hole. Navigating down the hill to the river and finding parking amongst the trees and boulders was quite a task and I decided then that future trips would just be on foot. But for now, we were here and oh my god did that water feel amazing! After some coaxing<dragging> through the water in her life jacket, Sally got situated on a rock in the river near us. Weston wasted no time jumping off the big rock. He then convinced Ashlyn to join him. Soon, it was time for dinner and the kids wanted to check out the playground after dinner as well.

Once we were at the extremely “vintage” playground, we noticed a barn/pavilion area that turns out hosts nightly dances/music/bands, has a bar, AND is kid/dog friendly! That wasn’t a thing last time I stayed here! (15ish years ago 😆)

So that night, we went to the bar! Mom had drinks, the kids had an arcade to blow all my quarters in, Weston learned the “sport” of GaGaBall and became obsessed playing all night with a hoard of kids, and Ashlyn and I managed to have a dance or 2 when we were able to rope one of the boys blasting by to sit with Sally a minute. Great first day!

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Feeling ambitious Friday, we rented a tube for Mom and Sally (the ice chest tube was a great option) and hopped on the shuttle that dropped us off upstream for a 4.5 hour float! Growing up on this river I remembered the areas of rapids and waterfalls and felt confident in our ability to handle them. What I had forgotten were the areas where you draaaaggggg hahaha. Turns out that 15 years can change how your body reacts to stumbling over rocky river beds and falling on your butt after slipping on the smooth ones. Too bad I was no longer light as a feather and just zoomed over the low spots like the kids. I also have a new found respect for my dad handling the ice chest all those years. Having that and the dog’s float tethered to me made things even more chaotic. But! We survived, had SOME fun and decided we didn’t need to float anymore this year. By the time we got back up the hill and were fixing dinner, Momma was ready for a drink! Back to the bar that night!

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Saturday was time to bug out for the night and being pretty sore and tired from the day before I was happy to enjoy a hotel room for a little bit. The drive to Bandera was gorgeous as most hill country drives are and we were able to check into our room a little early! After showers and some cable tv, we walked down to the Old Spanish Trail Cafe (OST Cafe) for some awesome grub! I had what could easily be called one of the top 5 best chicken fried steaks in my entire life and Ashlyn experienced chocolate pie with a 5 inch layer of meringue.

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The next morning after our covid room serviced hot breakfast (that didn’t suck and much preferred to crowding in a buffet room), we re-provisioned in Bandera and headed back to The Frio.

The rest of Sunday and all day Monday were spent swimming, rock jumping, and water sliding. The evenings were at “the bar” which is called Joe Jimmy’s by the way haha.
Once home, we had mixed emotions enjoying seeing Nathan and resting, but at the same time missed the cool, fun water. No biggie, though. 10 days later we were back! Haha

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At some point during the previous river trip my bestie, Alisha, “convinced” me to return and she would meet us with her youngun, 3.5 year old Garrett. Never mind that they would be sharing a dinette turned twin sized bed in the camper, the Frio is worth it! 😆

Somehow the first weekend in August had one RV spot open and it happened to be in a different area than we had previously stayed. And we really liked this spot! It backs up to a creek bed, has a clear path to the fishing pond, is across the road from the bathhouse and is COMPLETELY shaded all day. We’re booking this site in advance from now on! The only con compared to the other RV area is the complete lack of privacy. You will see and hear everything going on, but there were only 4 other sites in the area and no one was rowdy, this time.

We proceeded to spend another 3 days swimming, jumping and sliding and 3 nights hanging out at “the bar.” Garrett fearlessly had fun and ran amuck with the rest of them. My kids were happy to have a few more days, even though Weston initially took some convincing haha. And after 13ish pre-baby years since mine and Alisha’s last river trip together, I thoroughly enjoyed our mom version 🙂

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We all agreed that was enough Frio River for the year. Time to get back to our State Park touring! It is so good to have Wanda back.

-Lindsay

Once we were settled into trailer park life, we started looking for any chance to get out of the trailer. Thankfully the winter weather on the coast, so far, was incredibly mild and we made the most of it with a day trip to the beach. The State Park is located on Mustang Island just a ferry ride away from Aransas Pass or bridge drive from Corpus Christi. We didn’t put a lot of prior planning into the visit because returning anytime would be easy, so we just packed the car with a few sand toys and lunch. The park boundary covers both sides of the narrow barrier island and consists of beach, marsh/wetland and camping. We decided on actual gulf beach before checking out the bay side.

Unlike other parts of Mustang Island beaches, this section in the park is not scraped and maintained with a roadway and while driving on most of the beach is still allowed, it’s quite dicey without a 4WD. So we opted for the parking lot a short trek over the dunes to the water. I quickly appreciated their policy for keeping the landscape wild. The dunes and drifts in the sand were very picturesque! And it allowed for much of the beach to remain powdery and pleasant to walk on.

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The water was beautiful and looked inviting, but the surf was quite rough and the water was decently cold, so the kids stayed knee deep. I was satisfied with just getting my feet wet! Brr! Sally, of course, had a ball zooming around the kids. lol

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Now that everyone was sandy and salty, we walked about a 1/4 mile to the bathhouse and were pleasantly surprised with how nice they were! But then it hit me that they were completely rebuilt after Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Given that most State Park bathhouses were built no later than the 80s, this was a pleasant surprise! The kids enjoyed showers inside and Sally even got a rinse off in the outdoor area.

We hopped in the car and drove across the highway to a caliche road that snaked alongside a channel that connects the bay to the gulf. We were immediately disappointed that we spent so much time at just the beach! We want to fish this area! The kids really liked that we could have the car nearby (they were sour about carrying our stuff across the dunes), the water was calmer, and there are still beachy areas.

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We got a pretty good idea what this park has to offer! We will definitely go back for some fishing. I doubt we will bother with camping. While the sites looked well maintained and level, they are of course sitting out wide open and actually share the same bathhouse area that the public uses. Since we were there during the week in January, crowds were not an issue; but I could see the bathhouse being miserably backed up during popular times.

Now that tourist season has calmed down in the area, we may be getting around to fishing that channel sooner rather than later! I’ll update this post with a report. 🙂

-Lindsay

After our quaint NYE spent in our newly acquired home on wheels, we woke up on the first day of 2021 to some pretty decent weather and an antsy to get out Momma. Yea, that had already started haha. We quickly decided to start the year on the right foot with a state park visit! Something we hadn’t done since March of 2020! And how convenient we now lived in this new region chock full parks we haven’t hit yet. 👍🏻

We decided on Goose Island, home of the “Big Tree,” for some nearby entertainment. Located on the other side of Rockport, it was only a 40 minute drive and would be easy to experience in a day as it is rather small.

We started our visit after a quick and pleasant check in at park headquarters with a drive across the park to basically the only trail they have. Along the way we scoped out the camping situation and decided quickly it wouldn’t be for us. While each site is ultra private tucked back in a bunch of brush, they are TINY. You basically have a clearing for your tent/camper and a small area to access the picnic tables. It looked so claustrophobic! And I could only imagine in the heat of summer not feeling the breeze and mosquitoes just feasting!

The trail was similar to the campsites as it was cut out of thick brush with occasional sprawling oaks cutting across. But it was well maintained and we enjoyed just stretching our legs. Weston even spotted a buck rub on one of the trees just off the trail and was quite proud of his observation skills. That area of the park also offered numerous birding areas where feeders and water features were set up within view of blinds. I just don’t think we have what it takes to be birders lol!

Back in the car, we drove to the island part of the park and found the opposite of what we had just experienced! Wide open water front campsites, a fishing pier, and a long beachy peninsula to walk out on. And the wind was getting it and we were cold! We opted to skip walking out on the pier this trip. But I would like to come back for some fishing!

On the way back we spotted a CCC building constructed unlike others we have seen before. Known for being resourceful and constructing with what nature made available to them, we’ve previously observed buildings made from limestone, logs, and iron ore rocks. The blocks used to construct this building were made by mixing oyster shells with cement! Too cool!

Oddly enough, the “Big Tree” isn’t located within the state park boundary and can be viewed by the public anytime. So we drove to it on the way out. While it isn’t officially the oldest or even the biggest in Texas, it is pretty famous, well taken care of and quite impressive. And, really, just one of those Texas bucket list things you gotta do. 😉

It’s too easy to revisit this park, so I’m sure we will be back. I’m slightly intrigued by the water front sites and wonder what fishing with lights at night might be like. But….mosquitoes…perhaps the breeze stays and would help with that. We’ll for sure attempt a pier fishing trip in the near future! And maybe say hi to the tree a few more times.

-Lindsay

By the end of July, Nathan received word that he had been hired. We were officially moving to Corpus Christi. Time to do the big thing we had been putting off for 4 years in order to sell the house…the kitchen. Within the first week of August, we gutted the remainder of cabinets and furdowns, placed a cabinet order, and had all new sheetrock hung. Then it all just stalled out thanks to a cabinet back order that took 2 months to come in! The massive island, huge sink in the mudroom and my instant pot were sanity savers during that time! This also meant listing the house would get pushed back. Oh well. Times of covid.

We busied ourselves the rest of August with packing non essentials and taking loads 7 hours across state to storage. During that time, we made the most of beach fun and visits with Grandparents.

September kicked off with taking advantage of Labor Day weekend to haul some outdoor items to the family property in Rocksprings for safe keeping. My goodness we have really accumulated a lot of crap! But we enjoyed a couple days at the property and around Kerrville as what felt like would be our last family trip for a while.

Nathan moved down to start work September 13th and we kicked off Weston’s birthday fun shortly after that. At his request; his best friend, his brother and he enjoyed a game day at Grand Slam followed by Rounders Pizza and a sleepover.

A few days later, we were headed for the coast to meet up with PawPaw for our dove hunt weekend, and to celebrate Weston with Daddy. We rented an awesome kitchenette suite and a beach buggy in Port Aransas and had a blast being tourists.

Archer came as an additional “bird boy” this year for dove hunting and kept his momma thoroughly entertained. It seems, though, he is hooked and looks forward to this September already. Good timing as Weston may be coming as a hunter in the next year or so!

Things started to get strained as we were still waiting on cabinets to be installed thus holding up listing our home. But I busied myself with meticulously cleaning every space in the house, staging and taking pictures for listing purposes. Finally, on October 20th, the cabinets went in. On the 22nd, Nathan came into town and by October 24th, we had the kitchen completed and the house listed for sale by owner.

Halloween was a wonderful break from reality in the way that it was an absolutely NORMAL holiday. Probably the single most normal day of the year! The kids dressed up, trick or treated door to door in Grandma’s neighborhood, and we hung out with friends. Absolutely perfect.

The beginning of November meant opening weekend for deer season, and with little movement on selling the house, we headed back to the coast to send Weston with Daddy for a hunting trip to Rocksprings. Ashlyn, Archer and myself stayed on Dad’s boat in their absence and participated in a trash cleanup and enjoyed more beach time.

On November 12th, my patience had run out on dealing with spam callers, scam emailers and people asking if I would owner finance/rent to own, so we listed with a realtor. Then we planned Archer’s birthday. He decided he wanted to go fishing for his birthday, so armed with a new spinning rod and reel from Grandma and Grandpa, back to the coast we go! I mean, there are worse places to always be visiting, but by now I was sick of the drive. Regardless, we had fun and Archer got a taste of saltwater fishing.

Our return from Archer’s birthday was rough. On November 23rd, I came back to ETX with an ailing Skye and she passed via euthanasia at our vet. Healing from this is ongoing and maybe I’ll be able to say more about it another day.

We did a fish fry at Grandma’s for Thanksgiving and then attended a wedding in Houston at the beginning of December.

By mid December, my patience (see a theme here 😉) had run out again. Nathan and I were both fed up with the back and forth across the state. The time and money we were spending to maintain our family over the last 3 months was frustrating. Also frustrating was being stalled out on things the kids were accustomed to. Dance, baseball…a place that could feel like home…. SO within a week, Nathan found, bought and secured a spot for a 30ft travel trailer that all 5 of us, a cat, a dog and a lizard could call home…..for now.

We spent a week in the trailer, which basically felt like a camping adventure, and we were on our way back to ETX to spend Christmas with Grandma. The week was filled with all kinds of holiday joy and we crammed in as much friend time as possible. At one point there were TEN kids around my dining table decorating cookies! A priceless memory.

When we returned to our little trailer in Aransas Pass, we came better prepared with necessities from the house and threw ourselves into learning how to be “full time RVers.” NYE was spent playing UNO and eating s’mores gathered around the dinette and that was a wrap on 2020.

Everyone has a 2020 story. I started the year out feeling like we were golden. We already homeschooled, we already liked avoiding crowds, grocery store shortages weren’t all that extreme, we had a thriving garden and a freezer full of meat.  Sure I missed state parks by mid year, but really we were handling the times of covid well. Our story for 2020 won’t be about a pandemic, but rather trying to relocate across the state…during a pandemic. Kicking 2021 off in the situation we are in now wasn’t at all what I had in mind for our future as we rung in 2020, but isn’t everyone saying that at this point? So here’s to keeping on keeping on.

-Lindsay