Hi, kids!
We had a great time camping at Garner State Park. It was a bit of a drive to get there -- my dad told me it was 170 miles from our house. But what a beautiful drive. And once we got off the highway it was like being in the middle of nowhere, with no cities or much traffic. As we approached the park it was first all flat, and then we started seeing the Hill Country canyons!
We set our tent up at dark, so we couldn't really see what the park looked like. When we woke up in the morning, we began to discover the extent of the hills, river and canyons around us. We started the day exploring the Frio river. Here my brother and me are leaving camp for the river:
We went fishing below the dam. Even though we didn't catch anything, we sure had fun casting and jumping around the rocks. Here you can see how pretty the walk along the river was:
There were some good fishing holes, even if the fish weren't biting! We also tried fishing above the dam, and though we didn't have any better luck, it was a great site!
After fishing we went for a great hike to explore the hills on top of us. They had a couple of caves and some long trails that took us all the way to the top of the canyon overlooking the Frio river valley. It was a misty morning, and that felt good as we climbed the mountain. It even threatened to rain, but thankfully the rain held off and we were able to keep going!
Our campsite is at the bottom of the valley, just behind my right shoulder.
We finished up the hike and returned to our campsite in time for the sun to break free of the clouds. It was a beautiful afternoon to cool off in the fresh Frio river. Mom had a great idea to rent us a paddle board! We had never tried that before and here was the perfect chance. It was so much fun -- if you haven't tried it yet, ask your parents to take you to a river where you can rent one. The paddle board has a lot of balance to it, so even though I had never tried it before, I was able to get the hang of it right away. I never fell off once.
Then it was soon suppertime! And I was in charge. Guess what we were having? I think I mentioned it last time: one of my favorites, steak! My dad picked up a very special treat for us to grill, some beef tenderloin steaks. Look at how huge they were!
We also had corn on the cob to get ready, and mom made some biscuits on the Dutch Oven. So I got the charcoal and wood good and hot, then put on the steaks:
I kept a close eye on the grill, to make sure the steaks didn't get overcooked and dried out:
I couldn't quite tell the temperature, and also because the steaks were so thick (about 2 inches almost), I kept the meat on the grill for almost twenty minutes. I flipped the steaks about halfway:
Then the steaks were ready! How do they look to you?
Here we are at our campsite picnic table. Come and Take It!
We had a great time camping at Garner State Park. It was a bit of a drive to get there -- my dad told me it was 170 miles from our house. But what a beautiful drive. And once we got off the highway it was like being in the middle of nowhere, with no cities or much traffic. As we approached the park it was first all flat, and then we started seeing the Hill Country canyons!
We set our tent up at dark, so we couldn't really see what the park looked like. When we woke up in the morning, we began to discover the extent of the hills, river and canyons around us. We started the day exploring the Frio river. Here my brother and me are leaving camp for the river:
We went fishing below the dam. Even though we didn't catch anything, we sure had fun casting and jumping around the rocks. Here you can see how pretty the walk along the river was:
There were some good fishing holes, even if the fish weren't biting! We also tried fishing above the dam, and though we didn't have any better luck, it was a great site!
After fishing we went for a great hike to explore the hills on top of us. They had a couple of caves and some long trails that took us all the way to the top of the canyon overlooking the Frio river valley. It was a misty morning, and that felt good as we climbed the mountain. It even threatened to rain, but thankfully the rain held off and we were able to keep going!
Our campsite is at the bottom of the valley, just behind my right shoulder.
We finished up the hike and returned to our campsite in time for the sun to break free of the clouds. It was a beautiful afternoon to cool off in the fresh Frio river. Mom had a great idea to rent us a paddle board! We had never tried that before and here was the perfect chance. It was so much fun -- if you haven't tried it yet, ask your parents to take you to a river where you can rent one. The paddle board has a lot of balance to it, so even though I had never tried it before, I was able to get the hang of it right away. I never fell off once.
Then it was soon suppertime! And I was in charge. Guess what we were having? I think I mentioned it last time: one of my favorites, steak! My dad picked up a very special treat for us to grill, some beef tenderloin steaks. Look at how huge they were!
We also had corn on the cob to get ready, and mom made some biscuits on the Dutch Oven. So I got the charcoal and wood good and hot, then put on the steaks:
I kept a close eye on the grill, to make sure the steaks didn't get overcooked and dried out:
I couldn't quite tell the temperature, and also because the steaks were so thick (about 2 inches almost), I kept the meat on the grill for almost twenty minutes. I flipped the steaks about halfway:
Then the steaks were ready! How do they look to you?
Here we are at our campsite picnic table. Come and Take It!
Hi James,
ReplyDeleteThat was a great blog update! I really enjoyed reading it and seeing the pictures. We wish we could have been there with you!
Bye for now,
Uncle Alan