Spring Break Camping Trips

Before the world went nuts with the COVID-19 pandemic, we made plans for two Spring Break camping trips. The first was planned by a church friend way back in the fall. Five families from our church got together at Mineral Wells State Park for some fun. The kids all had friends for their entertainment, and the adults had great conversation, down time, exercise, yummy food, and more.

This was one of our colder Spring Break camping trips!

The boys learned a new game called Bang!

Saturday morning, some of us took a group of kids to the Penitentiary Hollow area where the state park permits rock climbers to climb and rappel. We explored for a little while, scrambling over small rocks and enjoying the outdoors.

 

Aliyah, almost 2

 

 

 

One of the best things we did was to “reserve” some spots on a Wild Way ranger-led hike on Saturday afternoon. It was a longer, more challenging hike than our littlest campers could handle, so most of the moms stayed behind with napping toddlers while the dads, older kids and I headed off to explore. 

The hike was a two-hour tour of some off-trail areas in the state park. We saw lots of boulders and rocks that are off-limits to climbers. We braved “the squeeze,” a super tight route between two rock faces. We literally army-crawled beneath huge boulders. We scrambled over fallen rocks. We even watched as the ranger gently persuaded a black vulture to vacate her nest so that we could pass without fear of retribution! Ha!

Noah and his BFF Levi

 

Explaining the rules for "The Squeeze"

 

 

 

I army-crawled headfirst, downwards, into a cave for this photo.

 

Sunday was cold and threatened rain, so after a worship service around the campfire, most of our group packed up. 

 

Audrey and the younger kids are entertained for hours by taking turns swinging each other violently in the hammock.

Playing "Bang!" with Ryan in our camper Sunday morning

Chris and I had planned for an extra night but the Monday morning forecast showed solid rain. Instead, we hung around with our friends Joe and Kelly and their four boys for some more rock scrambling and a hike by the lake before heading home late in the day.

Noah and his friends were attempting to climb up without any ropes or other safety equipment, not to mention the required state park permit for rock climbing. Chris and I told Noah to stop climbing but his friends continued, so you'll see the infamous Noah Pout in the next few photos.

He eventually got over it when he realized we would let him climb on other boulders in other areas that weren't specifically designated for the rock climbers.

One of my favorite people--we are so similar, we wear the same shirt without even planning it!

On Thursday, the kids and I hitched a ride with Drew and Jamie out to Copper Breaks State Park, near Quanah, Texas. Back when we planned this trip, there was a good chance Chris would be in Switzerland for work, so the kids and I were just going to bunk with my parents or in-laws. Due to current events, understandably, Chris' plans were put on hold so he joined us after work on Thursday, but we left our camper at home.

Jamie & Drew's home away from home

My parents' set-up

Copper Breaks is pretty different from Mineral Wells, though really not that far away! It's more of an arid landscape, with lots of sandstone and scrubby vegetation. 

We went for a pre-dinner hike and made a wrong turn early on, but still enjoyed the landscape and scenery and managed to find our way back to civilization.

Noah, Audrey and Papa found lots of interesting rocks!

It's a designated Dark Sky park, so we brought telescopes and a tripod in hopes of viewing the stars, but we never caught a break from the clouds at night.

Friday was pretty rainy and chilly so we drove to some overlooks and mostly took it easy.

Saturday's weather was more of the same so we went into Quanah to have a look around that morning.

Lots of history there, and lots of abandoned buildings.

Fancy ceiling and trim inside an old car dealership!

 

A kid made this from rattlesnake rattles...

Famous old hat collection in a little shop--cowboys would throw their old hats up there when they bought a new one!

Back at the campground, we played catch and frisbee...

...then we joined a group to feed and pet some longhorns that are part of the Texas State Herd!

Meet "Red"

Here's Moe

My Dad, the whole time: "Watch those horns! Watch out for those horns!"

The kids dared me to give Moe a kiss (as demonstrated by the park ranger), so I obliged.

Here's Milky Way--he is shy

She was very unhappy that she was unsuccessful. I think she was so brave!

Anyway, we cooked popcorn and s'mores and had lots of fun out at Copper Breaks. We headed home Sunday, avoiding eating at restaurants because we heard about all the coronavirus insanity. Now I am itching to get back out to a campground just to get away from all of this!