Our new 2011 adventure ... Texas State Parks

Our new adventure for 2011 is to check out the Texas State Parks. We went to Enchanted Rock State Park a few weeks ago to check out this giant glob o rock with the pups. Boy was it a hike! This is the trail heading up to the rock.

Here we are starting to ascend the rock ... 

And finally the view from the top!!! Hiking of course would make my Bailey boo have to go poo poo ... and of course this is a State Park so you have to pick it up and there would of course be no trash cans at the top of the rock so ... 

Here we sit with a big steamy bag of poo in the backpack. Josh is making that face because you can smell it.

 Thanks Bailey. :P

 Daphne has spotted something that she would like to dart down the rock for ... 

 We then take off down the hill looking for new adventures ... 

 Blazing our own trails ... Josh says we should go that way!

 Daphne attack :)

And finally as we approach the end we find a neat rock to take a picture in front of. Man we are pooped. I thought my knees were gonna give out on me at the end there!

Then, last weekend, we headed up about 2 hours north of our house to a park just southeast of San Saba - Colorado Bend State Park, on the Colorado River. After an 8 mile drive down a very dusty road, we finally descended upon the park and the river. It was a beautiful park. Since we had already paid $60 for our annual pass, all we had to pay was $14 to camp overnight. Not bad! However the park had some lessons for us ... 


We set up shop at camping space #22 ... due to it's proximity to the water, the trail and it was at the end, so should be furthest away from other people.

After a bit of fishing for Josh, and a little bit of sun for me (and I do mean only a little ... of course it would be overcast on our trip), we decided to head on over to the falls. At the other end of the park there is Gorman Falls, and we could either drive the 8 mile road back over there, or take the trail. According to the Texas State Parks map, it was only about a 2.5 mile hike so we figured we could make it. DO NOT TRUST THE STATE PARK MAPS!! We learned, as you will see ... 

So we embarked on the river trail... this little 1.5 mile jaunt would take you to a fork in the road with two options. One would be to continue on the river trail, which ironically enough, jaunts away from the river and adds a little bit to your hike. Or there is a "seasonal" trail that continues along the river. We chose the "seasonal" trail, or what we thought was the seasonal trail because we thought we had already gone 1.5 miles by the time we reached the hippie campgrounds and foolishly listened to some of them who told us the trail continued past a tree that was laying in the trail's path. That should have been our first clue. Afterward, we named it the "Choose Your Own Adventure" path because that's really what it felt like. We were climbing over trees and limbs, ducking under trees and limbs, there was hardly a trail to follow at times and we were guessing... going through some thick brush and hearing "things" rustling around in it. It was a rough trail to say the least ... 

Josh actually ended up slicing his finger open trying to move a branch, so my battle wounds were small compared to his. But then come to find out as we met back up with the river trail... that was not the seasonal trail. WTH. So we still had at least another mile or more to go and we'd already been walking over an hour. It doesn't take me an HOUR to walk a MILE AND A HALF. The map lies!!!! So we finally reached the "seasonal trail" ... which actually did end up looking WAY more like a trail than our "Choose Your Own Adventure" trail. However, we did have some sketchy pathways to cross like this one here -

But! There was finally light at the end of the tunnel! We reached the end of the seasonal trail, and hit back up with the main trail and finally found a sign that we were near the falls! (And only 2+ hours into this supposed 2.5 mile hike now) That's Josh pointing to the sign for Gorman Falls ... 

So at the end of what seemed like the hike to the Texas border, we FINALLY came upon the falls. It made it worth the trek -

Interesting side note ... this pic was taken by a fellow who brought his two young children on this long hike, with their bikes, and brought no water for them. We met up with him on the seasonal trail and he was Mr. Directional Know It All. A PITA he was. But we felt really sorry for his kids, so we ended up giving them our water.

So now that we have seen the falls, it's time to head back. We decide to take a different route this time to see if it is shorter. It is not. Me wondering if we are even on the right path, we finally see a brown stick of hope!

And after what seems like another 5 miles, we find ANOTHER brown stick of hope! But still not back to the river trail (which takes us back to our campsite, and would be another hour or more hike itself) and dark is approaching. Josh thinks he is going to die. I tell him he is not, and to keep walking.  LOL.

After another 2+ hour total hike back, we finally make it back to our campsite, and before dark. Our legs are about to fall off, our feet hurt, so it's time to kick back and relax with a nice adult beverage.

Josh heads off for some late night fishin and I head into the tent for some early night snoozin. I get up with the sun in the morning, and it's a little chilly so I bundle up and kick back in my zero gravity lounger for some rest time before it's time to head home.

All in all, we had a fun trip to Colorado Bend. It was cheap too. Beautiful park and river area, it'd be nicer once the river is up though. And we learned ... DO NOT TRUST THE STATE PARK MAPS! :)


Which State Park shall we go to next?!?

Leggings Update ...

I am now the proud owner of two pairs of leggings ... pics soon to follow. Love them!

Thanks Katie for your shopping help :)