AUTUMN SHOWERS & CAMPING IN THE RAIN

The weather was suppose to finally cool off over the weekend, our first real cool down.  The rain was suppose to move out by 10:00 a.m. which would have been perfect for our 2 p.m. check in time. Unfortunately, we lost a young relative in a freak accident a few days before and were going to attend her funeral before heading on to the park.  It rained all the way south to the funeral.  It rained at the cemetery.  It poured at the family meal afterward and poured all the way back to the park.

We finally got to the park, got checked in and found our campsite.  It was pretty crowded this weekend, as is always the case when the weather gets below 90 degrees in Texas.  The parking space was a good walk up an incline from the tent pad, fire ring and table.  The rain let up somewhat, so we grabbed the ground  tarp, the tent, stakes and hammer and took off to get the tent up.  It was accomplished in record time.

Everything in the back of my truck was soaked, including our wood and chairs.  We kept the bedding and food in the back seat or we would have been in trouble.  We still had daylight, so we took off for a 3 mile hike through the beautiful woods.  It was the perfect thing to begin healing our broken hearts.  We walked and talked quietly, only seeing a couple of other hikers.  We saw several deer scampering through the trees and could hear little critters rustling in the underbrush.  We saw several tall trees that had been struck by lightening laying beside the pathways.  We wondered what it would be like to witness the fury of a lightning storm in the woods.

The rain was subsiding and the sky beginning to clear when we walked out of the trees and down the road to the campsite.

I took Elisha fishing at the river the next day while his mom broke camp.  Not only does his mom have to play the role of mom & dad, I have to be na-na and pa-pa.  That's okay, though.  We have enough love and endurance to play both roles and play them nicely.

The campsite was wet, the wood was wet, we were wet, but we were camping.  Not as much preparation went into this camping trip as with the others, but we were determined to make do.  We ate corned beef hash and ate cheetos and tortilla chips with bean dip.  We drank colas instead of coffee the next morning.  Things can't always go as planned and that's alright.  We were in nature, enjoying the smell of damp ground and trees, listening to the coyotes from our pillows and the owl before dawn.  Sleep well, sweet princess.  We will see you again when the train of life makes another stop and one of us steps into Heaven's station.

FIVE NIGHTS AT BUESCHER!

It was actually two weekends totalling five nights of camping all together.

Buescher State Park (pronounced Bisher) is about 45 minutes from home and one of the prettiest parks around.  It actually connects to Bastrop State Park that was nearly wiped out in the huge Labor Day fires a couple of years ago.  Luckily, Buescher was spared.

It was another scorchingly hot summer weekend when we packed up and headed toward Smithville, Tx.  We picked out a campsite not far from the restrooms/showers and one where the vehicles would be closer to the campsite.  We learned well that carrying heavy equipment and supplies is not very fun in 100 + degree heat.

This part of the park is a "water only" area, meaning that there is no electricity to run a fan at night.  Never fear, I bought one that runs on 46 D cell batteries.  Well, maybe not quite that many, but we did discover that the batteries will last exactly one night and until 3:26 a.m. the following night.  That was Raven's assignment.....changing out the batteries in the middle of the night.

Another thing I learned was to maintain an acceptable amount of ice in the ice chests, they have to be kept in the shade all day and, preferably, covered up to further insulate them.  Before heading out the second weekend, I did some internet snooping and read about freezing containers, like coffee cans, full of water to make the ice last longer.  It really does work.  The second weekend ( a three nighter) the ice lasted much longer & I only had to dash into town for one bag.

Another nifty trick I learned is to keep things cold but dry, use one of those cheap plastic tubs.  It fit perfectly on top of the canned drinks and held the cheese, lunch meat and other food we would rather not eat soggy.  A couple of water bottles with frozen water in the middle kept it all nice and cool, but dry.  We're really getting the hang of this!

We had a blast in the evening playing "baseball" with Elisha and tossing horse shoes.  It was still a little warm for hiking for me and Daisy agreed totally.

Before the long weekend trip to Buescher, I prepared a menu of each meal, went shopping for what I needed and made "meal packets" the night before, freezing it all so it would stay fresh and help conserve ice.  I made chicken breasts stuffed with veggies and spices and wrapped in bacon, then wrapped in foil and all put in a gallon freezer bag.  There were double stuffed potatoes, hot dogs split and stuffed with cheese then wrapped in bacon  I made pancakes, johnny cakes and cinnamon toast for breakfast, along with cold juice and hot coffee.  We kept lunch light with summer sausage, cheese and crackers and sandwiches.  A good meal prepared outside is the best.

These were good trips.  As always, we met some interesting people and made some good memories.  Elisha is learning more about nature and how to live outside.  It's been an awesome summer.

Armadillos and Bobcats

There's a State Park between Luling and Gonzales, Texas that will take your breath away.  Palmetto State Park is nestled among huge trees with a nice little lake for fishing, canoeing or paddle boating. There is also the San Marcos River that meanders through the park and can be accessed at several points for kayaking, tubing or just cooling off.  The hiking trails are just awesome and take you back to another time and era with the canopy of trees overhead, the palmettos growing along the paths and the sounds of wildlife in the woods off the paths.

We prepped most of our food before leaving home so we could spend more time hiking, sightseeing or just chilling out in camp with a good book.  

I made an awesome spinach dip with spinach and green onions from my garden.  That went great with the grilled chicken and corn on the cob.  I tried out a recipe and baked blue berry muffins in orange peels that had been scooped out and wrapped in foil.  That was so good and so easy and was done by the time the coffee had perked and eggs and sausage were done.  There is nothing better than cooking on a fire outside.  That is probably my favorite part of the outdoor life.  One thing we did learn and that is Jiffy Pop popcorn in the little aluminum skillets do not do well on a campfire.  At least they didn't for us.

While we were all three taking some "relax" time and reading our books, Daisy, the wonder camp Shih Tzu, started alerting us to something moving around in the trees just behind our tent.  At first we figured it was a squirrel or a bird, then we saw the little scavenger.  It was a small armadillo.  Guess he was looking around for some scraps.  Raven walked toward him and he scampered down the bank toward the river.  Later, as the sun started to set, we caught a glimpse of a small bobcat a few feet into some brush on the other side of the tent watching us.  He took off when we made eye contact, but we kept Daisy close just in case mamma decided to come looking for easy prey on a leash.

We have learned that the people we meet while camping have so much in common, regardless of their backgrounds and where they are from.  We all share a love of nature, a longing to be one with the elements and a deep respect of the beauty that God has gifted us.  When everyone is packing up to leave at the end of the weekend, it is with sadness that we say goodbye and with a hope that we will meet again soon at another campsite on another day.

YEP, HE'S HOOKED

Mid July in Central Texas can be a scorcher.  This was no exception, but I had reserved a campsite at the state park just outside of our home town for the whole weekend.  We were up late the night before putting everything together, sometimes forgetting we were going to be about 4 miles from home.  Within thirty minutes of me getting home from work, we were packed and pulling out.  What a great adventure this was going to be.  

We arrived at the park, picked out our site and got registered in.  I had bought one of the awesome pop up tents, so once we figured out which direction the door was, we popped that baby up in less than two minutes.  This was when we discovered that it would not hold three air mattresses.  So, I had to make a quick trip home to bring more bedding and sleeping bag for Elisha's bed  on the ground between his mom and me

We made at least a hundred trips up the incline to unload our gear, plastic crates of cooking utensils and ice chests of food and drinks....in 110 degree heat.  That was the first clue that we just might have over packed.  

I got an awesome fire going in the fire ring just before sunset and Elisha got to roast hot dogs over the fire.  Building a good fire is one of the most important arts in camping.  It can mean the difference in being cozy warm or freezing, having a hot meal or eating cold from the can and coffee.  We'll get into some of the many ways to start and maintain a good fire in another blog.

Showers taken, we settled into our beds totally exhausted and feeling rather proud of our achievements of the evening.  Thank goodness, this site had electricity and I remembered to bring a fan.  

The next day we did some hiking before the temperature soared to triple digits.  We had to take turns carrying Daisy.  She hadn't got her hiking mode going yet.  The trail we took was pretty primitive and I started getting an uncomfortable feeling, so we only went around a half mile before turning back.  We were almost to our campsite when one of the park hosts stopped us to let us know that she had just seen a bobcat on the trail we were on.  That's when I decided that hanging out at the campsite would suite me just fine.  Daisy totally agreed.

Elisha had such a good time and was a great camper on his first adventure.  He couldn't stop talking about it for days, so I found another park and reserved another weekend.  We were all hooked on the smell of burning wood, the sound of crickets and coyotes at night and the great owl calling out through the trees before dawn.  Yep, there's no doubt.....girls can camp, too!

GETTING STARTED.....OR WHAT IN THE WORLD AM I DOING?

First of all, thank you for taking a peek at my blog.  I hope you will not only be entertained, but learn a few things as well.  So, sit back....grab a snack (healthy, of course) and let's get this going!

Many years ago camping was nearly an every weekend happening during the warm months.  We would load the truck down with firewood, tarps, tents and ice chests  and head out on Friday afternoon and live the primitive life until Sunday afternoon.  What a great time we had cooking over an open fire, fishing and just sitting and watching the stars.

Life has a way of spinning us in different directions and it can take awhile to figure out what paths our moccasins should be trodding down.  Quite often it is a path that leads to many surprises and blessings.  My journey happened to intersect with my youngest daughter and her infant son.  We are now a three generational family and my grandson is now nearly nine years old.

So, what does this have to do with camping?  It has everything to do with it.  Last spring my grandson, Elisha, developed an interest and curiosity in nature and camping.  I had been wanting to take it up again, but didn't want to invest in gear and have him hate it.  We talked about it together for awhile and he understood the basics of sleeping in a tent and co-existing with nature.  We were ready.

First, we did an inventory of what we had already and what we would need to buy.  Then off to Walmart we went to pick out a tent, tarps, a large water jug and other necessities.  Let me interject here concerning the tent.  A six man tent will in no way sleep six normal earthling men.  You can figure on maybe three, if they don't mind a little togetherness.  Our six man (or two gals and a little man) tent holds two twin air mattresses on each side and a sleeping bag and a lot of padding in the middle....and a Shih Tzu.

Always figure that you will probably only use one third of what you pack.  We did okay with clothes, but we always take too much food and other gear.  I'm working on that.  Maybe in six months I'll have that figured out.

Also, you will always forget things.  We have forgotten sandals to wear in camp or to showers, chairs, matches, coffee (gasp!) and last time we somehow left the air mattresses at home.  We managed, even when the temperature dropped to 45 degrees, to stay fairly warm.  I was out of there at the crack of daylight making a fire, though.  I swear it felt like I was sleeping on granite.

Now that you have an idea about prepping for camping, next time you will hear about Elisha's very first time sleeping in a tent.

Thanks for stopping by.  See ya later!