Summer camping at Inks Lake

My neighbor/ friend/ "sister wife" and I loaded up 2 of her boys, both of my kids and 1 borrowed boy for 2 nights of mid week summer camping at Inks Lake State Park.  We love this park for many reasons, but this trip just added more to the list.  We arrived on Wednesday afternoon and were thrilled to get site 311.  This is the largest campsite in the tent loop with tons of grassy area for tents, access to the lake and closeness to the bathrooms.  We pitched our tents while the kids played in the water.  We feasted on hot dogs, beans, and fruit for dinner.  Afterwards we toasted marshmallows.  We sat by the lake watching the sunset and counting miles with lightening and thunder for an incoming storm.  The storm ended up coming to our south and north, but the lightening was bad enough to hang out in our cars for about an hour.  The kids ended up falling asleep in the cars, but it still made for a short night of sleep.  The next morning we pigged out on breakfast tacos and set out for a hike to find the geocache.  We were successful, but had to cut our hike a little short to escape another storm.  This one missed us as well, but we decided to wait it out at the park store.  There is a large porch out back with checker boards and picnic tables.  We enjoyed our chips, watermelon, and turkey sandwiches while the storm went around us.  Then we hiked up to Devils Waterhole.  This is where a creek runs into the lake.  The water is deeper and  there is a good sized waterfall.  The fearless (mostly teenaged boys) jump off high rocks on the bluff above into the water.  Ours were more interested in smaller jumps, swimming, and catching minnows.  After 3 hours at the waterhole we headed back to the camp store for Popsicles and shade.  We played in the lake at the campsite till frito pie was served.  We watched to sunset over the lake and ate smores till bedtime.  The next morning we cleaned up camp and headed back home. 
This was a perfect week to camp here.  The lake kept us cool and going mid week got us a great site without a neighbor in sight.  Bring plenty of sunscreen, an inflatable raft, and good shoes for hiking to the waterhole.  Water shoes are a must for the waterhole and lake. 
We can't wait to go back again next year!

Mother's Day at McKinney Falls State Park

I know, last time I posted about McKinney Falls I was not impressed.  But I decided to give it another chance as a day trip and I am so glad I did.  We went for hiking and geocaching today and has a great time.  We have had a good amount of rain recently so the falls were flowing nicely, but not scary.  We found the cache and got our 2nd path tag (www.pathtags.com).  We hiked to the lower falls and followed the path that went by the Indian Shelter up to the upper falls.  We had fun taking off our shoes and crossing the creek just above the falls.  Patrick and I managed to slowly make our way across without falling.  Shawn took Natalie and she was not so dry when they came back.  She fell in the water and almost took Shawn with her.  So she made the drive home wearing a skirt that I forgot to take to the dry cleaners.  We saw some amazing insects.  Huge walking stick and leaf bugs by the bathrooms.  A fuzzy not yet identified caterpillar, gulf swallows and gulf fratillaries were enjoying the wildflowers.  The Indian Blankets, Texas Thistles, black eyed susans, sunflowers and white prickly poppies were everywhere!  We saw cardinals, scissortails, doves, and a variety of wrens, larks, and sparrows.  We saw "old baldy" on our hike, a 60 foot tall 600 year old cypress tree.  Such a fun way to spend the day with my family!

Our Gear

This post is all about what we take with us to be comfortable in the woods.  I spent the day before Easter cleaning gear in the driveway and thought some of you out there may be curious about what we take with us.  For those that have not seen my car, I drive a Toyota Matrix.  It is the size of a Corolla with a hatchback.  I have a roof rack on top that holds about 70 pounds.  We can fit the four of us plus stuff in my car for a three day trip.  What we take depends very much on weather and where we are going.  We have 2 very large shelves (unused closet doors on brackets actually) in the garage that we store our stuff.  We keep everything packed and ready so all I have to do to get ready is pack food/cooler, clothes, and linens.  Shawn keeps his backpacking stuff inside to protect it from the heat.  His stuff is more expensive and harder to replace because it is specifically made for backpacking.  Most of our gear was purchased at Target, Walmart, or Academy. 

Let's start with sleeping.  We have 2 family tents.  Our older tent is an Eddie Bauer 4 person tent from Target.  When a tent says how many people it sleeps, it means adults in a sleeping bag side by side without a mattress.  Our newer tent sleeps 6 and is a Coleman from Walmart.  We have heavy duty, regular, and sand stakes depending on where we are camping.  We also have 2 tarps, 1 for under the tent and the other to make a windbreak when we beach camp and a hammer comes on every trip for tent stakes.  We have 2 backpacking mummy style sleeping bags, Shawn's is very warm and mine is fairly warm.  The kids have sleeping bags from Target.  When they get bigger, we will upgrade theirs to nicer bags.  They don't cold weather camp much yet, so they don't need it.  We have a queen size Aerobed for us and the kids each have a twin sized air mattress.  Not sure why we bothered with Patrick since he prefers the crack between the mattress and the side of the tent. 

Moving on to eating.  We have a large grey bin that holds all the food stuff.  Paper towels, garbage and ziploc bags, reusable bowls and plates, plastic silverware, coffee cups, 2 non-stick skillets, 1 saucepan with lid, small dish soap, sponge, and plastic tub for washing dishes.  Another small container holds the sugar, salt, pepper, matches, can opener, and coffee.  We also bring small propane containers to fuel the lantern (which we don't always use) and the stove.  We have a two burner camping stove that runs on small propane.  This is useful for cooking, especially in a burn ban, and home cooking during hurricanes in FL.  We have a couple of sizes of coolers.  We try to bring the smallest one possible to conserve space.  We have a silver insulated drink dispenser (igloo cooler) and fill that with ice and water for drinking when we arrive.  This keeps garbage low and saves space in the cooler by eliminating bottled water.  The kids have hydration packs for long hikes.  We didn't get camel packs, just the $9 packs from Academy.  We also have 4 marshmallow sticks.

We have a military duffel bag that holds pillows and towels.  In warm weather, we skip the sleeping bags and just bring sheets.  We have 4 folding camp chairs and various colors. 

We bring water shoes and hiking or tennis shoes.  Lots of comfy clothes that can get filthy.  The kids always bring buckets and shovels.  We have a portable charcoal grill for beach camping and an inflatable boat with oars for river camping.  Miscellaneous things include drawing paper with colored pencils, walking sticks, fishing equipment, large nets for catching minnows and frogs, flashlights, a french press for making coffee, and card games.  And beer....always cold beer.

We usually buy firewood and ice when we get there to save on space.   Below are some pictures of our stuff and the small space we fit everything into. 

Mother Neff State Park

This weekend we went on a 1 night trip to Mother Neff State Park.  Mother Neff is located between Gatesville and Temple off 36, about an hour drive from home.  This small park was packed with history and great hiking.  The kids participated in the Junior Ranger program by answering questions about the parks history and nature.  They turned in their answers, pledged to conserve and protect nature, and received a certificate and Junior Ranger badge.  They were very proud of their hard work and even learned a few things.  Mother Neff was the first state park in Texas.  The land was donated by Isabella "Mother" Neff by her son Patrick, who was Governor of Texas in the 1920's.  The land was along a pioneer road leading west and still has 2 of the original mile stones placed to guide west going settlers.  Follow the hiking trail from the pay station at the front and you will cross a grassy pond habitat and continue through a forest thick with pecan and oak trees.  We saw a lot of really great birds, including a vermilion flycatcher.  Continue up to the higher areas away from the ponds and creek and you will find the Indian Cave.  This limestone bluff was home to the Tonkawa Indians and served as shelter and burial ground.  Continue on the trail to the wash pond, a spring fed pond that settlers used for bathing and washing clothes.  There are several nice pavilions built by the CCC and a bell in the main grassy area along with plaques with historical information.  On our hike we found our first state park geocache.  We hope to find the cache at each park we go to and collect cache tags as souvenirs of our finds.
The park had a very damaging flood and is still in the recovery process.  Tent sites are by the Leon river, although river access is difficult due to steep banks and thick grasses with unknown animals residing there.  The reservoir is not far down the road if you are looking for fishing or tubing.  The tent sites were open grassy area with a few trees.  We were in site 11.  The bathrooms and showers were a bit of a long walk, but very nice and as Natalie said, "buggy free".  Not much privacy, but still fairly quiet as there are only 7 water only sites.  Good 3 season park, but bring your bug spray and check for ticks after your hike.