2020 was a weird one, y’all. And everyone has a story out of it. I’m going to tell ours in cliff notes style with this post.

While we were wrapping up our tri state camping trip, Nathan tested with Exxon for a position at their new Corpus Christi plant as the beginning of a “let’s pull on this string and see what it leads to” venture. And, really, if wasn’t for that developing into more, we probably would’ve come out of 2020 with little tale to tell. Haha

With the rest of March, we managed to purchase 12 new chicks before they went out of stock nation wide and had new windows installed downstairs completing our big house purchase for the year. Or so we thought.

With more and more closing down by the day and the craziness that we were witnessing in big cities starting to reach our small ETX towns, we were forced to stay home more and more. But, never fear! Digital age to the rescue! The kids started participating in a weekly art class stream amongst other interesting streaming programs and made all kinds of masterpieces. Thankfully, Archer and I were able to make a Hobby Lobby run 2 days before it closed down for a month’s worth of supplies!

In April, boredom got the best of me and I started tearing into our downstairs guest room and transformed into an amazing master suite. I really enjoyed the retreat space it created for Nathan and I. We no longer walked out of our bedroom into generally a chaotic mess of the craft/classroom and the kids had the upstairs bathroom to themselves.

By May 1st, I needed a change of scene and time out of the house to keep me from working on it more. Lol! I was getting tired, but couldn’t just sit and rest with so many projects going on at once that my ADHD created. We jumped on the PERFECT opportunity to be the first guests at my former boss turned friend’s rental condo on the Comal River. What a way to pandemic travel, eh? We stayed 2 nights at Froh Haus (check them out on Facebook!) and had a fun and restful time.

When we returned, our friends that we hadn’t seen since the end of February threw Ashlyn a surprise birthday party and I’m pretty sure that was the best day of the year for her.

Mid May, I built the countertop for the massive kitchen island myself and the girls performed their recital routines for Ashlyn’s number one dance fan.

At the end of May, Dad was relocating for his temporary assignment on the Corpus Christi project and Weston and I had the exciting opportunity to be his crew on passage of the “Mother Ocean” to Port Aransas to serve as his residence! Absolutely amazing and empowering experience and as a result, I’ve become addicted to sailing YouTube channels. 😀

On my birthday, Nathan found out he was selected for an interview for the position he tested for 3 months earlier (thanks corona for dragging that process out), and I guess you could say things got real! I started working on wrapping up house projects without going into debt just yet, because that would be pointless if he didn’t get the job. I also experienced my first emergency haul to the ER with one of my kids! A replacement door that was still leaning against the wall, got knocked over by some kids that weren’t supposed to be playing in that room and it fell squarely on Archer’s head. He received 5 staples like a champ and Hospitality ER in Tyler was amazing. Everything turned out just fine, but I don’t think we’ll forget the sight of that much blood coming out such a little dude for quite a while.

In June, miraculously, baseball resumed and for 2 months Weston enjoyed a whirlwind season with his team placing 1st in district and playing some competitive ball at State in Waco. He played catcher for the first time in a few games and while we thought he was pretty good at it, he didn’t like it too much. I guess I haven’t met many boys his age that like all that gear. The state tournament itself was a wonderful reprieve from reality. We rented a massive, secluded house with 2 other families and the outdoor facilities at the ball park made life feel pretty damn normal. Our boys didn’t place and they took it hard, but I love me some summertime baseball regardless.

Nathan’s interview took place mid month in Corpus Christi, so we decided to make a family trip of it renting a condo on Corpus Christi Bay. It was a rushed and exhausting trip as we learned just how far the drive is with 3 kids and the 2 nights we gave ourselves sent us back more tired than when we went. But, Weston found his biggest hermit crab to date and Archer got a taste of surf fishing. And Nathan felt like his interview went well. All we could do was wait some more.

We even managed our annual meet up vacay with my bestie and her family at the end of June. We rented a house on Lake Whitney and had a fantastic time soaking in the clear water and getting drug around the lake on their toy. A little bit of Sahara Dust hanging in the atmosphere made for interesting sunrises and sunsets.

July wrapped up baseball and we enjoyed another trip to Lubbock to visit family. The cousins were thick as thieves, we had tractor rides and Ashlyn learned she loves ribs. As long as Uncle Travy cooks them.

Our first half of the 2020 experience wasn’t too bad! We altered, adapted and overcame pretty well. But there’s even more curve balls to come starting in August…

-Lindsay

***I am FINALLY getting back to my blog game after 9 crazy months off. This is picking up on the tail end of our trip we took in early March of 2020…BCV (before corona virus) 😉 ***

Our departure from Lake Catherine Sunday morning was delayed about 30 minutes when one of the support poles for the canopy popped lose during take down. Thanks to Handy Hubby for a stashed tool kit and Ashlyn’s 10 yr old strength, we got it repaired and salvaged our last night of camping!

On our way back to Texas, we stopped at Crater of Diamonds State Park outside of Murfreesboro, AR. I had read about numerous places throughout Arkansas where you could “mine” for your own gemstones and stumbled across this state park that touted the ability to find diamonds. As the result of a 95 million year old volcanic pipe, lamproite diamonds were deposited and can now be found on the surface of a 37.5 acre frequently plowed field. AND, apparently, is the world’s only public access mining site! We were excited!

But as it turns out, we aren’t built to be diamond miners. Haha! It was probably the mixture of ill preparedness and too high of expectations that set us up for failure. But after approximately 20 minutes of stabbing the hard black gumbo soil with spades a gentleman was kind enough to pass off to us as we were coming and they were going, the boys decided dirt clod throwing was more fun and Sally wanted a walk. As we walked, I noticed parties with SIGNIFICANT mining equipment that appeared to be camped out for the long haul. And after an hour, on our way out, I found out their reason! There is a finders board posted and it seems, a genuine diamond is only found about once a month and usually 2-3mm in size. Lol! And by the crowd we saw in just 1 hour in one day, the mining suddenly seemed more a feat of luck than work. 😉

After a picnic lunch, we loaded back up and made our way back into the great state of Texas via the city of Texarkana.

Another hour on the road and we arrived at Atlanta State Park for our final night of the trip. We had an awesome pull through site surrounded by towering pines with a short walk down a trail through the woods to the bathhouse. The sites were significantly spaced out and even though the park was filling up by the minute with folks getting their spring break started, it was incredibly quiet and you could hear the trees creaking in the breeze. What a peaceful end to our camping adventure!

Once the task of setting up camp and enjoying a simple hot dog dinner was through, we drove to the other end of the park and onto the point that pokes out into Wright Patman Lake to enjoy the sunset. The reservoir is completely surrounded by parks for lake access, so the shoreline is entirely natural and not a single residence to be seen. Again, SO peaceful!

The next morning, after a lovely night’s rest, we broke down camp and found a brief, interesting trail to hit before we headed home. The trail was actually an over one hundred year old road that led to the ferry crossing at the Sulphur River before it was dammed to create the reservoir. The kids got a kick out of it and thought it was crazy that it just came to an end at the lake’s edge, technically continuing under the surface.

Satisfied with our sight seeing, we hitched up to Wanda, headed out and made it to Tyler in time to have lunch with Nathan!

What an amazing time we had! I came off this trip all gung-ho to plan the next one! Go farther! Longer! But, within 4 days of our return, corona virus began it’s global attack and everything went into lock down. Typing this post 9 months after ALL of what 2020 ended up having in store for us is bittersweet. I am SO grateful we had that trip just in the knick of time. I know so many that had to cancel so much. We also haven’t gone anywhere with Wanda since this trip and looking through the pictures makes me miss her and what she enables us to do so much. Looking forward to that again. And soon.

-Lindsay

We left Mount Magazine by lunchtime on Friday and arrived at Lake Catherine State Park south of Hot Springs a few hours later. This camping location put us in a more ideal position for departure Sunday morning. When our trip was originally routed to start in Arkansas first, I had looked at Lake Ouachita State Park to the north of town for the same reason. Ideally, you could try for a campsite IN Hot Springs National Park, but there are only 30 some odd campsites and they are on a first come, first serve basis and I didn’t want to try my luck on a weekend that kicked off spring break for many.

Lake Catherine turned out wonderful regardless! Our site was positioned 75 yards to the bathhouse and about 100 yards to a playground at the top of a hill. And it was HUGE! The kids helped me with the essential parts of set up and burned off to the playground. Once camp was set and I looked over the trails map, I found out the park has a waterfall! I collected the kids and we drove to the trail head of the one mile loop to check out The Falls Creek Waterfall. It was beautiful! It wasn’t crowded and there was so much to explore we stayed til dusk.

After dinner, we turned in early as more and more campers rolled in for the weekend. Rest was tolerable that night, but there was this island just off the coastline where the campsites were and geese flocked there for the night and were HONKING ALL NIGHT! Do these things not sleep?? Because I had been going to bed with the kids every night by 7:30-8, I was waking up by 4 or 5 each morning. Which, worked out pretty good for beating crowds to showers especially when in a booked full campground. And, Dad, you wouldn’t survive here. I’ve never seen this in my life, but the shower has a single push button activation just labeled “H” for hot. Whatever the park deems as hot that is. Which is definitely NOT HOT ENOUGH. And it’s shuts off every 20 seconds. Completely insane. Camping ain’t glamorous, but those sites weren’t all that cheap either.

But I digress, haha. After breakfast, the four of us along with Sally loaded up for a day in Hot Springs National Park. Getting to downtown and parking in a free parking garage was easy enough. At 10 am only the top of the garage was left open, so I figured we were in for a busy day. We started at a visitor center where we picked up a map of the downtown area and hit Bath House Row first. Immediately we found one of many hot fountains scattered around the houses. We were thrilled to see the steam and feel the actually very hot water squirting out!

From there we strolled the sidewalk in front of each bath house that were all serving a different purpose except one that still allowed bathing. When we came to the 5th one, my favorite for outside appearance, we learned it served as a museum with all the original equipment preserved. With no dogs allowed inside, but with ample seating available on a large porch, I went with my gut and left 2 kids outside at a time with Sally while I escorted the other rather quickly through the building. That went rather well and all were very impressed with what folks in 1880s through mid 1900s considered a “luxury spa.”

Next we found yet another fountain tucked back in between 2 houses and all partook in a straight from the tap sip.

At the end of the row was Superior Bathhouse that had been converted into a brewery and restaurant. While we’re reading their sign, the hostess poked her head out and reassured us they were dog friendly inside! Hallelujah! Momma had a beer and the kids each had a pint of root beer made with none other than the spring water! I was even able to get a half growler of stout for Daddy!

After our refreshments, we found what I guess would considered the main spring? That area was putting off some heat as it cascaded down the hill side! Then, on our way to the promenade that takes you behind the bathhouses, we saw the wild sight of all these people loading their jugs up at a more modern fountain! They were quick to encourage us to cut in with some of our emptied water bottle and fill up on the “best, most pure water you will ever drink.” It was a hoot! Maybe it’s their secret to longevity.

Our walk along the promenade was peaceful and we encounter a few more spring areas.

We filled up one more bottle “for the road” and called it a day. By the time we’re leaving, the Buckstaff House had a line to the sidewalk for baths and the garage was jam packed with cars looking for a spot. I guess we faired well! On our way out, we drove the mountain road up and down taking in views of the town along the way. There’s a watch tower at the top that looked neat but it was going to cost $32 for us go up to the top and we just weren’t that interested.

We were thrilled with our experience at Hot Springs! I had been wanting to see what it was all about since we moved to ETX and it’s a beautiful place. Even though it was busy, everything felt safe and clean. People were courteous and the area was well organized and easy to navigate. I want to go back with Nathan for a weekend! Ideally, I would book something in downtown and walk everything. You could give yourself a day for the history part, which we did and then another day to hike all of the beautiful trails that branch off the area.

That evening back at Lake Catherine, the kids found a little more energy to hit the playground one last time and I made one more attempt to get a good campfire going to no avail. I’m not having much luck with park bought wood, but I refuse to gather firewood like so many do which is prohibited. Maybe I start bringing my own dried out stuff? We slept much better that night, though! Seems all the extra campers in the area helped absorb geese noise haha.

Sunday morning we would be on way to Crater of Diamonds State Park to dig for diamonds and then into Texas for our final night in another unvisited state park.

-Lindsay

Thursday morning, we left Tulsa after a lovely night’s sleep in a hotel and crossed into Arkansas via Fort Smith by lunch time. I didn’t know much about this town, but when I saw signs for a Fort Smith National Historic Site, my homeschooling self saw an opportunity! It turned out to be quite an educational experience!

The area preserves the remains of 2 versions of Fort Smith. The first was built in the early 1800s as a peace keeping presence between Cherokee and Osage Indians in the area as new settlers moved in. In 1830, the 2nd and larger Fort was built by the US Army as the Indian Removal Act was enforced and it stood as barrier between Indian Territory and Arkansas. In 1863 until 1871, the Fort was under Union control during the Civil War training many United States Colored Troops regiments. We were very pleased with our mid way stretch and lunch break!

Our next 2 hours on the road were quite entertaining and scenic! The roads were twisty curvy and had a quite a few steep climbs. There’s definitely more elevation in Arkansas than I thought! We arrived at Mount Magazine State Park and were set up by 3pm. The ranger at checkin got a good giggle at this Texan with my concern over the reported black bear population, but assured me they were “still asleep” haha!

With the weather forecasting colder at 2500 ft elevation, we took advantage of the 60s and sunny and hit the trail to hike the 2ish mile loop to Arkansas’ highest point. At 2,753ft above sea level, this is the kids highest hike to date!

Along the way, we also scoped out the cabins and lodge that the park offered and were very impressed.

Back at the camper, the sun was going down and the wind was picking up. Like 25mph gusts picking up! We opted for an evening of ease and ate dinner at the lodge’s restaurant. We reluctantly left Sally in her kennel in the camper once again hoping an hour away wouldn’t throw her into a fit. I also adjusted how I zipped the kennel with a carabiner in place. All to no avail. She just ripped her way out this time and was once again wandering the camp site when we returned. Twit. Now the kennel is useless and my dog has a new neurotic trait. I’m now pondering adjustments before our next attempt to the hit the road with her on trip that requires her being left alone at times.

This was a coldest night and the wind made things turbulent at first, but it was also the QUIETEST night of the trip so far and as a result we all slept really well. My trip to the bathhouse at 5 am was lovely with the stars and the quiet woods. When the sun came out, it was still only 38 degrees that morning! We made biscuits in the camper thanks to an awesome toaster oven Grandma gifted me for Christmas and then hopped in the car for some sight seeing.

We checked out a cliff side amphitheater, stood in awe of a hang gliding launch pad and the kids made my momma heart skip a beat as the older 2 walked out onto a narrow outcrop over the valley.

Over on the other side of the park, the temp climbed into the upper 40s and we briskly walked a 1 mile loop trail to a few other scenic overlooks.

After sightseeing, we packed up Wanda and drove 2.5 hours to Hot Springs for the weekend.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in “the mountains” I feel like Archer really connected with something here. He was really up for anything and asked for his picture with the scenery often. This park didn’t just serve as a strategic stop, it was a wonderful experience! Just the sheer peace and quiet would keep me coming back if I lived in Arkansas. Maybe the bears aren’t that scary ;).

-Lindsay

Tuesday morning, we packed up from Eisenhower State Park and were in Oklahoma by 8:30am. We drove straight north through the state to Stillwater where we sought out “life size” statues of Transformers Bumblebee and Optimus Prime. Thank you, Pinterest, for a fun road side tip!

From Stillwater, it was a straight shot east for about an hour and we arrived at Keystone State Park on the west side of Tulsa. Once camp was set up, we hung around the park fishing in a pond and the kids made a friend on the playground in the middle of the camping area.

Wednesday morning was overcast and chilly, but we were soon on our way into Tulsa for a day of play at their nationally recognized city park. Gathering Place made our list a couple of years ago when it started getting media attention for it size and intricacy. We went with high hopes and had our expectations exceeded. We spent SEVEN hours there. We (me included) played on everything and had an amazing lunch at one of the 2 restaurants on site. I think what we found most remarkable was that all of these designs were in someone’s brain and because of the largest private donation (465 million dollars collectively) to a public park in US history, it all came to life! I suppose I could walk y’all through minute by minute of all the cool stuff we did, but I think I’ll just drop a crap load of pictures and let yalls imagination run with it instead. I’ll start off with a map of the place. The 66.5 acres completed of the total 100 acres they plan on.

Even though we were exhausted, they still didn’t want to leave that day. I had to swear that any and every time we find ourselves remotely near Tulsa, we will always set aside time to play here.

We left Gathering Place, expecting an easy evening back at the camper. Instead, we arrived on a prescribed burn going on in the park AND MY DOG WALKING AROUND THE OUTSIDE OF THE CAMPER. Apparently, she wasn’t pleased with the length of time we were away and unzipped herself from the canvas kennel in the camper and busted through a seam of Velcro in the tent part. What the actual hell!? The ONLY reason I didn’t murder her was the fact she stayed around the camper. No one called me about her (she wears a tag with my phone number and she’s microchipped), and she didn’t disappear into the woods. That’s worth a few good girl points I guess. Needless to say… between the smoke inundating the campsites and my neurotic dog, I was a little frazzled. At 4pm, I had made my mind up and we booked a dog friendly hotel in Tulsa and received a refund for the unused night in the state park. We packed up the camper and were situated eating leftovers for dinner at a Wyndham by Hilton that I scored for $70 by 6pm.

I still can’t get over the amazing wonderland that’s been created in Tulsa, Oklahoma of all places. I can’t recommend this place enough for every kid or kid at heart. Keystone State Park, on the other hand, could do with some improving. Locking bath houses between 10pm and 6am is a joke and performing a prescribed burn without notice to guests is a joke. BUT! We came to Oklahoma for one reason and it was worth it. I was happy when we crossed the state line into Arkansas on day four.

-Lindsay

Before the full throttle of baseball season kicked in, I put together an 8 day camping road trip for the kids and I taking us to 2 Texas State Parks, the Gathering Place in Tulsa, OK and Hot Springs, AR. I had a basic itinerary in mind for quite a few months, but didn’t book anything until 2 days before we left! The weather had me in fits! But, Mother Nature took favor on us and we had a very successful trip. I’ll be breaking the trip down over a couple of posts with LOTS of pictures.

We started off with an easy 3 hours drive to Eisenhower State Park north of Dallas on Lake Texoma. We had a great isolated camp site in a small cul de sac and setting Wanda back up after a few months off came right back to us. We ate lunch and the boys quickly scattered finding snail shells and digging around the site.

The park is relatively small and narrow along the shore of the lake and the hiking trails were few. There is a full service marina and yacht club within the park that takes up a good deal of space. Along with a patch of OHV (off highway vehicle) trails, but those were closed due to recent flooding.

We selected a 1.5 mile round trip hike to get us warmed up for the days to come and the kids quickly realized how out of practice they were! Haha

We drove to the far end of the park and took in a few more points of interest. We really enjoyed the Lake Texoma over look and couldn’t believe just how big the lake truly is! The kids explored the rock ledge and enjoyed having some free range again.

After a snack back at camp, we walked to the lake shore and did a little fishing, but the kids quickly got distracted by the slate chips scattered all around. 😆

That evening we FINALLY got a decent fire going and the kids cooked their own hot dogs. We turned in for an early night after showering the camp fire smoke off and got a reasonable night’s sleep. Boat and train noises were prevalent throughout the night, but we woke up the next morning ready to head into Oklahoma for day 2.

I was glad we were able to mark Eisenhower State Park off our list, but that was about it for us. If you’re an avid boater or trail rider, this park would have a lot to offer, but that’s about it. Next up, our time in OK!

-Lindsay

This past Christmas, I persuaded Nathan to try out a “less things, more experiences” approach to gift giving and we surprised the kids with a weekend trip in San Antonio taking place a month and a half later. We booked an airbnb house at a great price with close proximity to all of our predetermined experiences. It was a 1940s row style house and we had run of the upstairs with 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, living room, and a bare bones kitchen. I even managed to save $60 on our admission fees to the Zoo and Aquarium by prepurchasing tickets on Groupon. Woot! With all of that set all, we just had to cross our fingers that fickle February weather would cooperate.

We arrived Friday night by 10pm after Nathan got off work and went right to bed. Good thing the house was as expected and we able to do so. Saturday morning, we started off with breakfast at Lulu’s Cafe and Bakery famous for their 3lb cinnamon rolls. Obviously we ordered one of those along with some breakfast tacos. Honestly, I thought we would make good on finishing the thing, but only got 1/3 of the way through it before all threw in the towel. Thankfully, the restaurant is used to this and efficiently wrapped the thing up for us guaranteeing unrefrigerated freshness for a week.

San Antonio Zoo was up first on the list of to-dos and we arrived about 30 minutes before they opened so we got in some photo ops.

The zoo was enjoyed by all but was lacking. It is easy to say that bird species made up a little under half of the exhibits and birds just aren’t our thing. And 3/4 of the Australia exhibit was empty or undergoing renovation. But! Almost all of the animals were extremely active and their reptile house was massive with lots on display. The weather wasn’t very cooperative changing on us overnight and producing an overcast, chilly day with scattered showers. This may have helped with keeping crowds down at first, but the numbers picked up significantly by the time we left around 1:30.

After eating our packed lunch in the park, we hopped on the train and enjoyed a leisurely ride around Brackenridge Park.

With a couple hours till our dinner plans, Mom and Dad had their time with beer sampling at Ranger Creek Brewing & Distilling and Islla St. Brewing. Islla St. made the must revisit list for us. Apparently they rotate their taps weekly and we were there on IPA week (my favorite) and their variety was phenomenal. Now Nathan wants to chance a stout (his favorite) week sometime.

Dinner was lined up at The Magic Time Machine. We picked this place after reading about it online for its whimsical decor and wait staff that dress up like pop culture characters. It was quite an experience! So much so, I didn’t get a. single. picture while inside. The restaurant itself reminds me of something the Mad Hatter and Dr. Seuss would make up with randomness on the walls, ceilings and floors. There were ramps, stairs, twists and turns everywhere. Many of the tables were tucked in little coves surrounded by more randomness. Our server was a young lady dressed up as “Jessie” from Toy Story and she was adorable staying in character the whole time. “Major Pain” came by the table and gave the kids crap about their butt chins and told them to get jobs.😂 “Thor” was the bartender and we caught glimpses of Jasmine, Ace Ventura, Beetlejuice, Starlord, Elsa, Shaggy and Deadpool. Quite eclectic! And as you may have guessed, the scenery is really what this place has going for it. Cheese pizza and french fries for the kids, catfish platters for mom and dad. Meh. But the kids left just mesmorized if not a little over stimulated haha and you should have seen the crowd waiting for a table at 7pm.

Sunday morning started with, yep, leftover cinnamon roll for breakfast and we were off to the Alamo! This visit was mostly for Ashlyn and her increasing interest in history and historic buildings. Besides, remembering the Alamo is always a good idea. The boys found interest in some of the larger than life statues and weapons that were on display, while Ashlyn dove right in reading all the plaques and reliving the history.

Once again, just as the crowd began to file in there, we were on our way out. We did a quick detour over to the Menger Hotel, wandered through the courtyard and peeped in the window of the bar where Theodore Roosevelt made a famous recruitment stunt for his “Rough Riders” regimen by riding his horse into the bar and inspiring the men.

After lunch and a short rest at the house, we hit 3 more breweries! Freetail brewing, Kündstel Brewing and Blue Star. The final brewery turned out to be located along the more recently developed river walk section north of downtown. 4 out of 5 of us were totally down for a stroll! 1 out of 5 (Daddy) opted to drive lol! We walked about a mile past residences and popped up just before the main river walk attraction where Nathan was parked and waiting. 😄 Dinner was at the house and we were all in bed by 8.

Monday was go home day, but after one more experience! The San Antonio Aquarium. Once again, we arrived right before they opened and were one of 8 families in the entire place for the first hour. The Aquarium turned out to be a funny thing. There were probably 10 actual tanks with fish. Everything else were exhibits with actual animals. And quite a mix of them! Kangaroos, chickens, iguanas, a sloth, cavies, rabbits, groundhogs (one was actually hanging out in a tree! What?), llamas…the list could go on. And pretty much everything was up for grabs, literally. Touching all of the critters was encouraged. But, wait! There’s more! For $3 extra you could FEEEDDD the critters! Oh wait! For $20-$40 more you can HOOOLLLLDDDD the critters! Geez Louise. The kids got the “can i’s” out of their system fairly quickly and were happy with the 2 finger touch encounters. Soon a few caretakers came around and actually offered up some hand feedings for free and the kids were thrilled with that. I guess they figured the critters have to eat one way or another and if the place isn’t swamped enough with customers, why not share the fun. I approve. After 2 hours I started tapping my foot ready to get back to the country and pick up the youngest child from the kennel. While the Aquarium didn’t meet Mama’s expectation, it way surpassed the kids’ and Daddy’s and they proclaimed it as the best thing we visited the whole trip! Lol!

Everyone really enjoyed our winter break for the change in pace. We don’t do city vacations very often and we definitely won’t be due for another anytime soon. It was AMAZING never having to drive longer than 10minutes to all of our destinations, but the noise of staying in the city! Wow. Sleep was definitely lost. We did a bunch of touristy stuff, but were lucky/efficient with our timing and always managed to leave just before a crowd showed up, but I still was done with people after 3 days haha. All in all, the kids loved their Christmas present and said it was the best time. We may just have a new thing. 🤞🏻

Now for some time in the woods!

-Lindsay

Saturday afternoon, we had departed Monahans Sandhills and were on our way back east to our final state park of the trip. We scheduled 2 nights for San Angelo State Park due to it’s size and proximity to a donkey rescue that Ashlyn had her eye on for a few years now. On the way to San Angelo, we stopped at the Odessa Meteor Crater.I had only learned of this site’s existence a week before our trip and we excited to experience something new. The crater is the 2nd largest in the United States and formed 20,000 years ago by a supposed 1,000 ton iron meteorite. Impact created a cone shaped crater 100ft deep and 500ft long. Due to wind and rain silting in over history, the crater is now only 6 feet deep but still appears obvious against the surrounding plains.The kids were amazed and thrilled we were able to walk through it. There were signs set up through out explaining geology and history of the area. The most surprising tid bit that we hadn’t explored before is the theory that the result of meteors came from an Earth like planet situated between Mars and Jupiter that broke apart and formed the asteroids in our solar system. Crazy! The kids had a lot of fun Star Wars references for that.

Back on the road, we arrived at San Angelo by 3:00 to our pull through site with a view of rolling hills and the lake. After another easy pop up, we ran into town and hit up HEB (LOVE these stores) for grocery refills. We ended our day with jiffy pop and a small camp fire.

After another night in the 30s, we woke up to a breezy chilly morning, but enjoyed breakfast outdoors watching deer watch us.This park is really big with 2 units on either side of the lake. We were camped in the larger south unit and opted to spend the morning driving the labyrinth of roads to scope out the even bigger labyrinth of trails for what we would want to tackle that afternoon.

We soon figured out this park is ideal for cycling and equestrian trail riders. Many of the paved roads had gravel roads branching out from them that connected a web of trails to one another. While you couldn’t drive from one unit to another without leaving park boundaries, you could get there via 6ish miles of trails

During lunch back at the camper, we settled on a 2.5 mile round trip trail. Mostly because half of it was named the “Horny Toad Trail” and the boys just knew that meant we would see one lol. Our hike was interesting enough winding up and down through changing landscape. We never saw a horny toad but did get passed by 2 mountain bikers and that got the kids’ attentions! They liked how much faster they covered ground!

The breeze had only turned into stronger wind as the day went on and dinner preparation was an out right battle. Fortunately, at about dusk, the wind died down enough for me to feel comfortable with a fire and we put on quite a blaze that night!Our morning consisted of a quick breakfast and break down of camp. We wanted to leave by 8:30 for our visit to the donkey rescue on our way home. Unfortunately, this was also the morning I got to learn another lesson about my camper! It is a bugger to get the hitch to situate on the ball when I’m backed up at an angle such as when you’re dealing with a semi circle pull through site! I finally broke the rule of pulling into the grass, got a straight backed up approach and it set right down. But it was a lot of back and forth before that decision was reached! At least we weren’t terribly behind and arrived for our short and sweet donkey rescue tour in a timely manner.

Peaceful Valley Donkey Rescue is a nationally recognized organization headquartered in San Angelo. They have satellite locations all over the country specializing in the rescue, rehabilitation and adoption of abused donkeys and mules. Currently their biggest project is relocating the wild burros of California’s Mojave Desert where they are considered a pest so to speak. Ashlyn has had an interest in donkeys for some years now and was looking forward to her first up close encounter. I figured this visit would educate the both us a bit more on what we would be getting ourselves into adding a donkey to the farm one day.Our tour was not as long or extensive in covering the property like we thought it might be, but our guide was a wealth of knowledge and we learned a lot! The kids thoroughly enjoyed all of the animal interaction and were pleasantly surprised by just how friendly a donkey could be! So let’s just say, our visit didn’t deter anyone from having donkeys around one day!

I could see us coming back to San Angelo eventually. We never made it over to the north unit with it’s numerous points of interest and the park is a good midway break location for venturing farther out west. I think it would be especially cool to revisit once the kids all mastered mountain bike riding and really tackle some trails. Our drive home was steady and easy and while we had dearly missed Daddy, the general consensus was we weren’t necessarily homesick just yet. We could’ve gone a few more nights adventuring and been good with it. Which was great for me to hear! I’m already formulating a plan for the spring!

-Lindsay

We woke up Friday morning and departed Garner State Park in a timely fashion taking only an hour to pack up camp. It was Archer’s 6th birthday and we had a 4.5 hour drive, according to GPS, till we reached what appeared to be a Sahara Desert knock off. SIX hours later of driving through some of the crappiest scenery Texas has to offer (I didn’t think that was possible), we arrived at the sandhills of Monahans. And the pictures didn’t lie. Similar to Lost Maples, the dunes of this 3,000+ acre sand deposit appear out of place in the flat, rocky cactus covered landscape that surround them. Here’s an aerial photo I found on Wikipedia.

The park entrance is right off 1-20 across some train tracks and as soon as you enter the gate, you can tell the park was built in the 50’s. 😀 The most Mid Century Modern architecture I’ve seen in a state park to date.

With our rented “sand discs” aka snow toboggans acquired at check in, we started down the mile and a half park road to the camping area. Initially all we were seeing were short sandhills covered in vegetation and the kids were pissed. “How are we supposed to slide on this, Mommy?!” We’ll get stuck by cactus!” “These are small and don’t look like the pictures.” Then, Bam! We rounded a corner and were suddenly in Egypt!

Our campsite was literally an asphalt pad in sand. It was 2:30 and knowing we would be short on daylight, Ashlyn and I busted out another 30 minute pop up while the boys scampered over a nearby hill dying to explore. When I went to fetch them, they were already fully immersed.

For our initial adventure, we left Sally in the camper. I wasn’t sure what was going on over in the dunes or if dogs were even allowed on them. We soon learned that only motor vehicles are restricted and it was basically a free for all. Pick a dune and take a ride! We found ourselves venturing farther back climbing higher and higher until we were convinced we had found the tallest dune there. And no one was out there! The camp sites were plenty full, but no one was playing. The weather was holding a tolerable upper 60s with a little chill in the wind, but the cloudless sky made for a nice balance of heat from the sun. I decided to let the kids stay on our claimed sand mountain and 10 minutes later, being able to view them the entire time, I returned with Sally and they had built 3 sand castles. 😆

We spent the rest of the evening on our mound. Sally ran around like a wild child, the kids went back and forth between sliding down the hill or just tumbling, and I sat enjoying the scenery after one awesome ride down myself. It got exhausting quick trudging through the sand!

About the time we started to take in the sunset, a sudden chill hit and sent us running for the warmth of the camper! Desert life!

We enjoyed hot showers in probably one of the nicest bath houses I’ve seen in a state park and hoped we got all the sand out of the boys’ pores. I cooked birthday boy’s requested Frito Pie dinner on a camp table erected on our asphalt pad and we dined indoors as the temps hit the 40s. We had been very lucky the first 2 nights of this trip with mild temps at night. But knowing winter was going to catch up with us, I had electric heating blankets prepared in addition to our space heater. And instead of sleeping under them, we would be sleeping on them in our slide out beds. I had recently read a blog post from folks that FULL TIME pop up camp (wow) and they had made the suggestion for how deal with your bed being suspended in frigid air. And it worked wonderfully! It got down to 34 degrees that first night and we had a frost on the ceiling of our slide outs, but we were toasty warm! It was just difficult getting up lol! Fortunately the sun came up in another cloudless sky and dried everything up for us to pack up and be on our way by noon. This time we only had a 2 and a half hour drive to our next park, San Angelo State Park.

The kids were dying for another day of play at this park. While our one night there was a noisy one due to the nearby interstate and surrounding mining and oil industry, we could’ve easily handled another night there. I’ve promised them return visits anytime we’re passing by. Apparently the surrounding geology keeps the Sandhills from migrating, but the dunes are ever changing with the seasonal winds and you won’t experince the same park twice. This place was bucket list level for us and I’m so glad we got to experince such a Texas style winter activity.

-Lindsay

The week before Thanksgiving, the kids and I embarked are our longest and farthest trip to date. We covered 3 new parks and were gone 6 days. This was also our latest in the season camping trip. I had been watching the weather a few weeks before and realized we were just going to gamble with rain chances and overnight lows, but upped our preparedness.

Lost Maples is aptly named for a grove of maple trees that appear to be lost in the cedar/post oak hill country. So the Fall is a particularly beautiful thus busy time of year for this park. Their small camping loop was booked, but we lucked out with availability at 30 minute away Garner State Park. We previously marked this equally as stunning and attractive park off our list in 2015 as tent campers, but Garner isn’t one of those places you tire of easily.

We arrived Wednesday afternoon and had the camper set up in 30 minutes! We learned our lesson after Cleburne to survey the site before backing in and we were able to get level on the first try at each park. With a few hours left of daylight, we opted to explore the Frio River bank behind our campsite. We had a great time burning off energy and stretching our legs after the 7 hour car ride.

Our first night cooking dinner in the dark and doing dishes by flashlight presented its own annoyances that I hadn’t originally accounted for by camping in the Fall, but we managed and turned in early. We had a scheduled day pass reserved for Lost Maples the next day.

I’ve never been to Lost Maples during peak season and was unsure of what to expect, but having the day pass secured made me sure we would at least get in. And we would just hope for the best that we wouldn’t be elbow to elbow with others. I had also preselected a 4.6mile roundtrip hike to maximize our experience. The kids were well warned and we came prepared for a full day lol!

Our hike began in the heart of the maple grove and it was already apparent that our “crowd” was the occasional elderly couple and we were off to a delightful start.

A little over a mile in, we came to a formation named “Monkey Rock” and immediately saw the reason. Weston theorized that this was the result of old river flow AND a waterfall.

Another mile of rock formations and creek crossings, we came to the “Grotto.” This area was fascinating with the ground water seepage causing stalactites and feeding the ferns hanging from the rock surface.

From there, we began our uphill climb. And were rewarded with fantastic views!

Downhill was slow and tedious and fatigue had definitely set in. 1 mile more and 4.5 hours later we had conquered the kids’ longest hike! In the end they were quite proud of themselves regardless of the intermittent whining and complaining throughout the hike. 😉

Once back at the camp in Garner, the kids talked me into letting them wade ankle deep in the river to a rock island.

One more dinner in the dark and then another early bedtime in preparation for our drive out farther west the next day. There was a lot of potential for rain and scattered thunderstorms during our 2 nights and days in the area. It was certainly overcast, but we never were rained on and temps were in the mid 70s and only hit low 60’s. We even ran the AC at night! Perfection. Lost Maples State Park is one of the elites. Along with Garner. We won’t pass up the opportunity to revisit these places in the future.

-Lindsay