Mother Neff State Park

The second half of Spring Break was reserved for one of our favorite family activities: camping!

We tried somewhere we had never camped, the oldest state park in Texas. Mother Neff State Park is southwest of Waco, established in 1934 by the governor of Texas who named it after his mother, Isabella Neff. She donated her land to be used for public recreation, and she is honored by the name. The park has a brand-new campsite loop, very small and really nice. 

We were in campsite #6. Unfortunately, the camping loop is close to a highway and you can hear traffic noise.

We arrived on Thursday, expecting possible rain but instead experiencing humidity and warm sunshine. It felt more like May! We were followed by Drew and Jamie, and my parents arrived later.

We grilled hamburgers for dinner and as the sun set and temperatures dropped, we enjoyed a big fire and roasted marshmallows.

Friday morning we woke up to cloudy skies and some misty, foggy conditions but no rain and not too cold. Mom and Dad headed into Austin to take care of a few things they planned to do while down here, and the rest of us decided to do some biking and hiking. We rode bikes to the beginning of the cave hiking trail, not sure what to expect.

A short and easy hike led us to the base of some bluffs, reminiscent of those on my grandparents' property in Arkansas.

It wasn't our definition of a cave, but it was a cool overhang with lots of fun terrain to climb around.

We took our time exploring, being silly, and searching for snails.

The cave hike whetted our appetites for more exploring!

Noah spent the majority of his free time on his bicycle. He is a great rider!

Audrey's comment as I hauled her around in the trailer: "This is so relaxing!"

Heading back toward the camping loop, we pulled over at a trail head labeled "Washpond." Curious, we hiked down another short trail to what was my favorite feature of the park.

the Washpond

The final stop on our little bicycle expedition was the playground.

Naps and reading filled our afternoon, and when Mom and Dad returned, we filled them in on our adventures and decided to hike to the Rock Tower. 

As we hiked, we appreciated the benches built as Eagle Scout projects.

We also came upon a bird blind that was another Eagle Scout project. Impressive!

Not far beyond the bird blind is the signature structure of the park, the "rock tower."

This water tower was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.

A spiral staircase was added to provide a high vantage point to the park.

Of course, the kids thought this was really great!

We meandered back to camp along the trail, stopping to pose for pictures, of course!

We grilled hot dogs for dinner and ate inside our camper because a cold front was blowing in right at dinner time and the wind was powerful and brisk! Still, we enjoyed a fire Friday night before bed.

Saturday was beautiful and clear but WINDY! After pancakes for breakfast, we braved the wind for a park ranger talk at 10:30, which turned out to be just our family with a knowledgeable botanist. 

We took the Prairie Loop trail to observe and learn about wildflowers and other plant life in the park.

Lucky for us, the bluebonnets are in bloom and we saw plenty of varieties of Texas wildflowers.

Buckwheat

Bluebonnets and my favorite, Indian paintbrushes, of which we saw many varieties

The trail took us to another pond, which some of us had already visited (and in which Roxy had swum) on Friday. A trail led to this pond from Drew & Jamie's site, #13.

Twelve-year-old Roxy was pretty spoiled on this trip.

Lunch was followed by afternoon naps, reading, bike riding and whittling. 

Chris whittled some kind of face or totem from a piece of cedar

When Audrey got up from her nap, she and Noah came to Nana and Pandy's campsite to learn that a rabbit had been spotted... and left something behind! An early Easter surprise!

Dinner Saturday night was a feast: steaks cooked over an open flame, grilled asparagus, salad, loaded baked potatoes and Hawaiian rolls. Dessert, of course: s'mores! (Drew wants to invent a diet s'more and call it a sm'less.)

Sunday morning, Chris and I woke up early and packed up quickly before a short worship service with everyone. We loaded the kids and headed back in time for Chris to get Noah to hockey. 

Back to reality!