Camping Trip

We had a fun weekend camping down south with good friends! Friday we drove down to Lockhart State Park for a three-night adventure with Joe, Kelly, Caleb and Levi. Joe successfully set up his tent AND cooked a fantastic grilled chicken dinner before dark after our late arrival. The weather Friday was cool and overcast, so we really appreciated that unexpected blessing in late July! 

Saturday the kids rode bikes, explored, and played hard after our breakfast of pancakes. 

We hiked a trail and played on the playground... 

Caleb and Noah

This picture reminds me of this picture from two years ago!

We ate an early lunch and headed to San Marcos to tube the river. Unfortunately, it seems that lots of other people had the same great idea, so we found ourselves waiting in line for tubes for about 1.5 hours. The cold river felt really good after that! It was pretty crowded and not a very long run, but keeping the boys from shooting everyone with water guns and trying to avoid other large groups of people was wearing on the adults' nerves. At the end of the run, the options are to get out near the concessions or to go a little further and shoot the "rapids." I did this a few years ago with our family and thought I remembered it pretty well, so I held Noah's tube while Chris and Audrey got out early. As we went down the first of three small waterfalls, the mesh bag I was holding to keep Noah and me together tore out of my hand and we were separated! My tube proceeded over the second set of rapids, while Noah got caught over on the side. He was crying for me and an older boy was trying to help him. I panicked because I lost sight of him, and I jumped out of my tube to keep from going over the last waterfall. I made my way against the current over to a rock and climbed on, hoping to get Noah's attention so he would see that I was still there. About that time, the boy lost hold of Noah's tube and Noah went down the second rapid. I leaped into my tube and got Noah's attention, and we both went down the third waterfall together, but I still didn't have a grip on his tube. Noah shot out of those rapids quickly, while my tube drifted to the side, so when he saw us separate again, he absolutely lost it. I jumped out and swam to him and we got out together at the end, but he was really distraught. He finally told me he thought he was lost and would never have a mommy and daddy. It was really traumatic for both of us, despite the knowledge that my friends were also out there watching out for him and he was wearing his life jacket. That feeling of helplessness will stick with me for a long time! Caleb and Levi, on the other hand, couldn't wait to tube those rapids again, so Joe took them a couple more times while Noah and I recovered. We could have tubed the whole river again, but it was pretty late in the day and we were all pretty much over it. We headed back to camp to change into dry clothes, then into Lockhart for some of their famous BBQ. Our plan was to try Kreuz, but we pulled up and were told by others that they had run out of meat. What?! We drove over to Black's but saw a line out the door (and Chris and I had been there before), so our last stop was Chisholm Trail. It was really cheap and had lots of sides, and I really liked the sauce. No one had complaints about the food, but the place was pretty dirty and run down and we ate on styrofoam plates. Still, it was fun to do the BBQ thing when in Lockhart, Texas. Back at camp, Chris built a fire and we roasted marshmallows and ate s'mores, only Audrey couldn't wait for a roasted one so she ate about 6 marshmallows before I cut her off.

Sunday morning we had scrambled eggs for breakfast. As we were cleaning up and preparing for our worship, Joe called us over to see a snake that was headed through our campsite down to the creek behind us. 

He called it a coral snake but recalled a poem that went, "Red on yellow, friendly fellow," so we all felt more relaxed about letting it go, taking pictures up close, etc. 

Come to find out, the poem ACTUALLY goes, "Red on yellow, KILL a fellow; red on black, safe from attack"! Luckily, this lack of knowledge on our part was not to our detriment. As we were in the middle of our worship and Bible lesson, the snake was spotted going back through our campsite headed the other way. At this point, it was decided he should be killed because he wasn't very afraid of people and we were worried the kids would get too close. Joe borrowed Chris' hatchet (because Chris wouldn't go near the thing--he bravely swallowed his screams while watching) and hacked that poor snake into several pieces. The boys thought it was awesome and we had a little trouble getting them focused back on the Lord's Supper and our devotional. Come to find out, the snake was indeed highly venomous and I no longer feel regret that Joe killed it. The camping trip could have ended quite differently if Joe hadn't taken care of that! In Texas, we have both coral snakes, which are rare and dangerous, and corn snakes, which look almost identical but are virtually harmless. It's easy to confuse the two, especially if you don't accurately recall the poem!

After lunch on Sunday, Audrey was in the first stages of what turned out to be a four-hour nap, so Chris stayed with her and the rest of us went to the pool. That's right--this state park has a large diving pool! It was perfect for such a muggy day. We swam, dived, floated, and enjoyed the refreshment for three or more hours. 

Noah and his friends were diving addicts, trying all kinds of "tricks" and not even hesitating to dive into twelve feet of water. At first, I would meet Noah halfway, treading water until he swam to me and helping him catch his breath before sending him toward the ladder. I soon realized he could do it just fine without me, and it was satisfying to see the progress he has made through three summers of swimming lessons. He has plenty of confidence in his ability to swim anywhere in the pool, and all he lacks now is some honing of technique. Around the time we were ready to get back to the campsite, Audrey had woken up. Joe graciously grilled some juicy cheddar BBQ burgers for us, and after standing in that heat, he needed another swim break! We hurried back for a short swim before the pool closed, then decided to make a Dairy Queen ice cream run to settle the kids before early bedtime. The adults stayed up talking around the fire (after Chris roused me from my half-asleep state, as I was getting Audrey to settle down). 

Monday morning we made breakfast burritos with eggs and sausage, then it was time to break down camp. Chris wanted to check out some of the shoe outlets in San Marcos, so after Joe and Kelly pulled out, we each took one of our kids and all showered and cleaned up. Packing up a trailer is a sweaty and gross job, so it sure felt great to be clean for that drive home. We had a fun and eventful weekend and look forward to our next camping trip in August with family!