Camping... Third Time's a Charm

We hoped to go camping in the DFW area this weekend, but after calls to several state parks, we found that the trails were still closed because of all of the rain. Travis mentioned a park he had seen on the internet. I called Colorado Bend State Park and found out that their trails were open, but all of their camping spots were booked for the next two weekends. I asked if there were other camping options in the area and was referred to Barefoot Fishing Camp, but after seeing a review of a father and his son(http://www.jacobguide.com/tx/burnet/sulphursprings.html) we decided to go to Sulpher Springs Camp. We really didn't have much info to go on, so I warned Travis not to hold it against me if it wasn't too good.
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After driving for about 3 hours, we were all excited to see this as we were going into the camp.

The office was an addition to the owner's house. Travis noticed the "We Don't Tow" sign outside the office. We had no clue what we were in store for. Let's just say we couldn't have gotten to many of the campsites if we had taken my car.

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The sign at the top of this part of the road said "Primative Road" and somebody wrote on it "4 wheel drive and half a brain." It really doesn't look as steep in the video as it feels when riding in the truck. The first time down the road was nerve racking, but the next few times it felt familar and not scary at all.

The sun was going down as we decided on a campsite, so while Travis put the tent up (flashlight in teeth), and I cooked by the light of the truck's headlights. We heard what we thought were frogs chirping all night, but after we returned and got on the internet, we discovered that it was sound of an Eastern Screech Owl. We heard what sounded like a horse as the sun was coming up, but it was a differnt call of this same owl. It was a chilly evening but got COLD overnight. It was supposed to get down to 42 deg F early Saturday morning. Brrrrhh! We stayed pretty warm in the tent, but going outside in the morning was another story. I had a long sleeve shirt on and a jacket. Bailey asked for his mittens!

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We ate breakfast, took a couple trips to get water from the creek (where the truck crossed), saw a deer, and then ate lunch before heading to see the Sulpher Spring. It stunk, but it was crazy seeing all of that water coming out of nowhere.

While we were near the entry of the camp (a 15 - 20 minute drive from our campsite), we stopped by the office to see where we could go to get some coffee. I opened the door to find the smell of coffee, but the owner's said it was burnt and made us a fresh pot. We bought marshmellows for the campfire in evening and talked to the owner about where we were camping and that we went to the creek north of out campsite to get water. She told us to check out Bear Spring, which was south of our campsite.
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Here it is! It was a little difficult to get down to, but it was worth it. The creek was pretty clean (came out clear after filtered), but Bear Spring was pristine!

The water is so clear you can hardly tell that Bailey is standing on a rock that is surrounded by water.


Travis cleaned up the campsite and built a new fire pit while Bailey and I went hiking. Here's Bailey in a tree! I told him to smile for his Grandmas.


He's throwing a rock in the picture. This is the view to the east of our campsite, looking toward the Colorado River and the rock wall that lines it. We were basically bordered by water on three sides!


This is the view to the south, toward Colorado Bend State Park, which is adjacent to Sulphur Springs Camp. Bailey loved seeing the fish jumping out of the river.
These next four shots are at the creek area. The next time we go I'd like to follow this creek back into the woods to find the spring. Bailey is at the road level here.

Down the creek.... and making funny faces.


Down the creek more. Bailey took this picture of me!

Bailey sitting on a rock shelf.

Here's a picture of our camp set up. Yes, we were all crammed in that little tent! To the left is our water filter/washing station. Travis is TRYING to start a fire... He finally got it lit, but Bailey really didn't want to have much to do with it or the toasted marshmellows. Strange kid!

After it was dark we heard something rusting in the grass and spotted an armadillo. Then Travis spotted some little green eyes in the grass with his LED flashlight. They were the eyes of a 1/4" spider. Bailey kept saying "spider... eyes" (with a pause inbetween).

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Bailey woke up Sunday morning and said "Done." Travis asked, "Done what?" Bailey replied "Camping." He likes being in the boonies, but I think the tent did him in!

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It was alot warmer Sunday morning than the day before. It was HOT in the tent and we had to put on short sleeve shirts first thing. Sunday morning we packed it up (with turkeys gobbling in the distance) and headed to Colorado Bend State Park. The park ranger recommended a hike for us, but it ended up a little too long for a toddler. It was almost 5 miles total and the last two miles were spent on a gravel road to take us back to the truck!

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Besides that, this hike was gorgeous. We had to cross the creek several times and I was very glad that I wore my waterproof hiking boots. These three pictures are taken a half mile into the hike, but at the beginning of the creek area. Travis is trying to get Bailey to smile...

Bailey and me.

The pool area at the beginning of the creek. We need to go back when it's warmer and take a swim! See the area to the left where the sun is reflecting off? That is the creek crossing. You WILL get wet on this hike.

This was a dead end for us. Sometimes it's hard to tell where the path goes. We followed the side of the creek until we couldn't go any further. It turns out we were supposed to cross to the other side and end up at the upper right side of this picture.

I didn't get any pictures of the grueling part of the hike, 2 miles of the gravel road. We left Bend, TX, population of 12 people and headed to Lampasas to find some food (and cell phone service).
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Almost home! Here's Bailey with his camping buddy, Mickey.

We learned a lot of lessons from this camping adventure. The next time, we'll have to take his potty, unless he learns how to go to the bathroom outside. I'll spare you potty stories, but we did have a funny incident. We were very happy with Sulphur Springs Camp. They don't have "No Gathering Firewood" signs like the state parks do. They have "No Cutting Firewood" signs... much better.

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Another lesson (especially when a little boy had been asking to go camping for the past month), is don't give up. If all of the parks are closed and no camping site are available, it's not the end of the world. Sure we had to drive a distance but we finally got to go camping. We didn't let a little bit of water get in our way! We hope to go camping a lot more in the future.