Summer in Florida and West Texas

Long time no blogging, but we have not started out camping season quite yet.  Just like last October, it has rained or we have had other plans every weekend.  But today it was chilly and the leaves are just starting to hint that they are ready to fall.  I spend a lot of time distracted by foliage, so I notice these things.  This summer we took our usual trip to Florida for sun and family fun.  We went to the beach and the springs and had a lovely time introducing some friends to the real Florida.
We took a trip in August back to the Davis Mountains.  We loved it so much last year we had to come back with my Mom.  We enjoyed the Indian Lodge and the McDonald Observatory again.  We spent hours swimming at Balmorhea.  We also stayed a few nights at the Prude Ranch and went for a trail ride up the mountains.  One of my favorite stops was the Dessert Botanical Garden.  We hiked down into a canyon and saw beautiful gardens.  The weather was as mild as Texas in the summer can be.  The boys are headed to Cub Scout camp this weekend and we are trying to find a state park with sites available for November.  This area is growing so quickly and people love the outdoors so much, it is getting increasingly difficult to get weekend reservations at our State Parks.  A blessing and a curse I suppose.  Perhaps more people will mean more funding for more parks.  Here are a few pictures from our trips.