Williamson County Park Greenbelt "the woods"

Well it has been a slow couple of month.  Slow in the camping world, busy everywhere else.  We had a great trip planned in October to Colorado Bend,  but had to cancel due to weather.  The fronts have been coming through on the weekend and that weekend was hot, muggy, and rainy.  Not exactly great weather for camping on the riverbank.  The mosquitoes have been very bad this year too.  We managed a night away, but that was just Patrick and I at cub scout camp.  Not exactly a relaxing nature experience, but a great way to check out Bastrop.
We have made it out to the greenbelt a few times or "the woods" as my kids call it.  It is just down the street from our house.  Easy to get to on foot or bike and a very manageable size for a kid on his own.  Usually he brings a friend.  There are trails made by county trucks.  It is bordered by neighborhood on the west, park on the east, road to the south and ranch to the north.  Most of the time you can still hear dogs barking or lawnmowers.  But to a growing boy it is a magical wild place for exploring.  This area is undeveloped as it is a watershed for the park and neighborhoods.  When it rains the water flows through here and forms Honey Bear Creek.  The ponds are shallow and dry up in the summer.  But after the rain, a series of marshy ponds just perfect for walking through with mud boots form.  We often see cardinals and hawks, and during the fall and spring migrations it is a stop for wild ducks.  We see deer and tracks of raccoons, skunks, possum, and wild boar.  We see the fur and bones left by the coyotes and have been scared more than once by a fleeing rabbit.  In the fall, the leaves change color and the ponds are more full.  In the spring it is filled with wildflowers and butterflies.  In the summer, there are sunflowers, dragonflies, and lots of (icky) grasshoppers.  For a neighborhood as large as ours, the woods should be filled with dirty children.  But it is not.  Often on a beautiful Saturday, we won't see anyone.  As a child I explored the orange groves near my neighborhood.  We built forts using "borrowed tools" and even tried to make a camp fire.  The worst thing that has happened to him in the hours spent building forts, climbing trees and hunting for treasure have been the chigger bites.  We are blessed to have this space and love it dearly.
On this day, it was cold and rainy, but we had to check out a fort Patrick had been raving about.  He didn't build it, but he had a great time discovering it.  We also discovered the coyote population had been very active.  He found a deer skull and we found a boar jaw with teeth intact.  After some time spend in bleach water, the jaw made a great addition to our collection of found treasures. 
We have a trip coming up over Thanksgiving weekend.  We are hoping it isn't too cold or wet.  We are ready for some outdoor therapy.

Krause Springs day trip

I wrote this post last month and am just now getting to moving the pictures from my phone to the computer.  Sorry for the delay, you have been waiting very patiently I am sure.

We get a lot of our inspiration for destinations from a show on PBS called The Daytripper.  The host Chet Garner travels around Texas in search of fun.
Shawn stayed home to work, so we invited Grandma to come with us.  Krause Springs is located in Spicewood, about an hour and 30 minutes or so from our house.  The weather looked a little rainy (weird for August), but we went anyway.  Krause Springs is private property that has been opened for swimming and camping.  This is not a state park so be prepared for a little more open container than you would see at a SP.  The property has 32 springs that bubble up and flow to create a swimming area.  There is also a pool that has concrete added to make the floor and walls.  We headed down to the main swimming hole area and set up our chairs and picnic on the large rocks.  The giant cypress and pecan trees are all around the springs and a good sized rope swing has been added.  Patrick was brave enough to tackle the rope swing, although he came up crying because he lost his goggles.  Mommy had a hard time watching as he grabbed the rope and swung off the rocks.  Water shoes and pool noodles make this a nice area to float.  The water is a chilly 68 degrees, but in the hot Texas summer it is a relief.  In the swimming hole in the back of the waterfall there is a cave.  It is not roped off so you are welcome to go in and explore.  We had no light or bravery so we decided not to go in.  There are bathrooms and changing areas in two different parts of the park.  The camping area is right next to the day use area and was mostly taken by RV's and pop-ups.  The admission price was $6 for adults and $4 for kids.
Just outside the park we stopped for take out at Opie's BBQ.  This was such a cool place and the food was delicious!  Every kind of meaty goodness, sides, and desserts.  I can't wait to go back next summer and take Mom.  They also offer canopy tours in Spicewood, but that will have to wait for another day.
If you are looking for a fun day and have already tried Hamilton Pool, I recommend visiting Krause Springs and Opie's banana pudding.

Dinosaur Valley State Park

After an almost 2 month break for the heat and school to start, we are back to the great outdoors.  To kick off our fall camping we headed up to Dinosaur Valley State Park.  I have posted about this park before when we went for a day trip.  We had such a  great time and we excited to try out the camping area.  Overall we had a good time, although there were a few bumps in the road.  We decided to leave Friday night to make it a 2 night trip.  It is just under 3 hours to Glen Rose so we were hoping to leave by 4:00 at the very latest.  And we almost did....except we didn't because as we were backing out of the driveway the truck started to fill with smoke.  After some investigation it was decided that the truck had an oil leak and could not be driven.  So the bikes went back in the garage along with the grill and the washers.  We loaded up my car as fast as we could and were again backing out at 5:15.  After a stop at HEB for ice and charcoal and a stop at Academy for bait, we were on our way.  Fortunately the headquarters is open till 9:30 on Friday evenings, so we checked into site 10 with no problems.  I didn't remember when we drove through last time the camp sites being so small and close together.  There are not very many sites and all are water and electric.  We are snotty tent campers and prefer to camp in a water only (translation: tents only) loop.  There was a very large family next to us with about 481 children.  Ok maybe it was only like 8 but it seemed like a lot.  And the sites all around us were all one family reunion.  But quiet hours came and they were good neighbors.  The people behind us not so much.  The rangers do not seem to come through as much as we have seen in other parks, so it was not the best night of sleep.
But we were determined to make the best of it and set out Saturday morning for a hike.  The kids did well as we hiked about 3 miles through the rocky hills and across the ridge overlooking the river.  After lunch and some playtime in the woods behind us, Shawn set off on a much longer hike while the kids and I went down to the river.  They had a great time swimming and catching stuff in nets.  I found a very shallow fast moving spot and laid down on the rocks to enjoy the afternoon.  We stayed down there all afternoon.  After dinner and much needed showers, we toasted marshmallows over charcoal as there was a burn ban for wood fires.  Our neighbors were much quieter after many complaints to the ranger that day and we enjoyed a good nights sleep.  The raccoons finished off our marshmallows which were accidentally left out.  We had our usual Sunday morning pancakes and bacon before packing up.  Shawn wanted to go fishing so we drove out to Meridian State Park to fish in the lake.  The kids put their bathing suits back on and swam in the lake for  a couple hours.  He didn't catch anything, but a woman in a boat got a huge bass.  So there are fish in there somewhere.

It was a great weekend and despite all the pollen, it was good to be in the woods.

Davis Mountains State Park and Indian Lodge

Friday night August 3rd, we checked into room 311 at the Indian Lodge in Davis Mountains State Park.  The lodge was built in the 30's by the CCC and has been added onto since then.  Our room had 2 double beds, TV, air conditioning and full bathroom.  All the comforts of a regular hotel room.  The Black Bear Restaurant served breakfast, lunch, and dinner and had a fantastic staff.  Everyone was very friendly and helpful.  We went hiking after breakfast up the skyline drive trail.  The kids only lasted about 2 miles, but Shawn hiked to the top.  We also drove to the scenic point at the top of Skyline Drive.  The mountains here are green with trees and lots of wildflowers.  There was are birds, javalinas, mountains lions,a nd the usual skunks, possum, and raccoons.  The one thing they don't have is water.  No creek, lake, stream or pond in sight.  The mountains are surrounded by the Chihuahuan Desert.  After we hiked, we went back to the lodge for lunch.  Shawn wanted to do more hiking and the kids wanted to hit the pool.  So Shawn went out on his own to hike the Indian Lodge Trail, Montezuma Quail Trail and Old CCC trail which lead to the Ft. Davis National Historic Monument.  The kids and I went swimming.  We shared the pool with several barn swallows swooping down to drink.  One also dropped an enormous moth into the pool which the kids all thought was disgusting.  The bird either found it too heavy or also thought it was disgusting.  There were nests all over the lodge built on all the eves and overhangs.  Most were filled with baby birds.  The kids loved them. 
I can't wait to go back to this area again.  The lodge was very reasonable at $95 a night and the restaurant had a good variety of stuff.  The high on Saturday may have hit 90 at the most and the lows were in the upper 60's.  The town of Ft. Davis is 4 miles away and has a few sights including a desert botanical garden, historic downtown with soda fountain, and the Ft. Davis monument.  With the McDonald Observatory only 13 miles away and Balmorhea 45 minutes, we could have easily spent 4-5 days here.  Even if you are not campers, come to this park.

Carlsbad Caverns, McDonald Observatory, Balmorhea State Park

I had a hard time deciding how to write about the last leg of the trip.  We saw so much in just a couple days that it was hard to group places together without creating the longest blog post ever.  So I decided to tell ya'll about the parks we visited, but did not sleep in together and write about Davis Mountain State Park and the Indian Lodge in the next post.
We left Palo Duro State Park on Friday morning and made the super boring drive through west Texas and eastern New Mexico.  Sorry Lubbock, I was not impressed.  It was a very long drive that even changed time zones.  We got to Carlsbad Caverns around 3pm Mountain Time.  Unfortunately I have no pictures of this stop because my cell phone died and the camera was in the car.  So I will put some pictures from Google on this posting.  Just try to use your imagination.  The visitors center has a restaurant (where we later had dinner), a gift shop (of course), and exhibits about the cave.  You have two choices when you come in how to get into the cave.  The natural entrance is a 45 minute hike down 750 feet.  It is steep and not recommended for anyone in a wheel chair (duh).  No strollers of any kind are allowed in the cave at all.  Shawn and Patrick took the natural entrance and Natalie and I opted for the elevator.  The cave is a wonderfully cool 56 degrees, practically freezing after our days in the canyon.  We brought sweatshirts and enjoyed the cool air.  The hike through the self-guided area is about 2 miles.  There are bathrooms and another gift shop down in the cave.  Like all the other national parks, they offered a junior ranger program that the kids participated in to earn a patch or badge.  We saw all kinds of amazing formations including soda straws, stalagmites, stalactites, drapes, and columns.  There were pools of water and very deep holes to peer into.  They offer special tours for those that like to crawl around caves and enjoy small spaces.  We did not take one of those tours, instead we stuck with the self-guided tour.  At 7:30, they allow people to start lining up near the mouth of the cave to see the bats emerge.  We still had a 2 hour drive and a time change not in our favor, so we skipped the bats.  The drive to Davis Mountains State Park was beautiful.  We drove past El Capitan and the Guadelupe Mountains National Park.  We saw a thunderstorm in the distance over the mountains and the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen.  We arrived at the state park at 11pm.
More about the park in the next posting. 
The next evening we drove the 13 miles through the mountain pass to the McDonald Observatory.  They have one of the largest research telescopes in the country and on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday nights they host Star Parties.   The party starts at 9:30 pm in the summer.  There were around 100 other people there.  We sat outside on a circle of stone benches while the astronomer took us on a tour of the night sky with a green laser pointer.  We even saw a meteor streak across the sky.  After the sky tour, we went into the telescope park to look through a dozen or so telescopes at stars and planets.  We saw Saturn well enough to see it's rings!  After the full moon rise around 10:45, we got to see the moon through a telescope.  Even with the UV filter it was still very bright, but it was so neat to see all the craters.  We left there a little after 11pm.  Some people brought small children and babies, but this is really more of an older kids and adults event.  It is so late at night and when looking through the telescopes you mustn't touch or it will move it out of focus.  So there were a few screaming tired toddlers, but it was still a fun night.
The next morning after checking out of the Indian Lodge, we drove out of the mountains and into the dessert.  Our last park of the trip was Balmorhea State Park.  This park is very special because it is an oasis.  A natural spring with perfectly crystal clear, cold water comes up to form a swimming hole 22 feet deep in some spots.  Patrick snorkeled and even jumped off the tall diving board.  They have trees for picnicking under and 2 diving boards to show off your skills.  We stayed for 2 hours of refreshing fun before driving off to Fort Stockton and on to home.  Bring food to Balmorhea because there is NOWHERE to eat for 100 miles other than a few small sketchy looking Mexican restaurants.