beautiful – Texans Travel Life

July 30, 2018July 6, 2018

Falcon State Park

Texas is big. Colossal. Massive. Ginormous. YUGE (as President Trump would say). As a resident of North Texas, you have to get up early and ride like the wind if you want to visit South Texas – because geography. (Or go halfsies, spend the night in an airbnb RV on a rural ranchette in Llano, TX, and drive the rest of the way the next day so that you’re not all Hunchback of Notre Dame from hours on end in the car once you reach your faraway destination.)

Father’s Day weekend 2018, we went the halfsies route.

Being unfamiliar with the South Texas Plains, I took to the internet and researched the area we’d call home over the extended weekend prior to our visit. I was specifically interested in two things: 1) What slithery neighbors we might encounter of the zero-legged nature; and 2) Is human trafficking a concern (because since I first saw Taken with Liam Neeson, this has been a back-burner concern of mine, being a mom of two attractive daughters). I researched, read, and then reached out to Texas Parks and Wildlife a couple of weeks before our trip because my diligence uncovered an incident involving drugs and pirates and kidnapping and I tend to obsess about such things. I was assured repeatedly (because I repeatedly asked the same question in varying detail about the aforementioned drugs, piracy and kidnapping – don’t judge) that they have had no incidents within their boundaries. That being the case, we booked a shelter with air conditioning (because, hello, it’s June in Texas) and prayed begging prayers that the no-incidents-within-the-park streak would continue through our visit. Because we’re myopic that way.

I called Falcon State Park on the road the day we arrived because we knew we would arrive after the HQ closed and we needed to know how to get into our locked shelter after business hours. Two things happened that were complete surprises upon our arrival: 1) We were greeted by State Park Police at the gate who were checking every single car entering the park; and 2) When we arrived at Shelter #9 – our home sweet home for the weekend – we discovered that the Park Staff not only left the light on for us by the door, but they had also turned on the a/c so that it would be cool upon our arrival. <3 The FSP Staff could not have offered a better welcome to their park for us – a feeling of safety and chill.

You served us well, air conditioned shelter #9 with the locked door.

Once we unpacked the Jeep, set up our beds, and ate our Fry-day dinner (Smith family camping tradition dictates deep fried food on our first night camping, which usually falls on Friday/Fry-day.), we headed toward the beach for some fishing. We parked at the boat launch parking lot, planning to do some shoreline fishing only to discover the water level wasn’t quite up to snuff. We prepped ourselves for some hiking to actually get to the water when a Park Ranger entered the parking lot. He explained that if we just drove through those trees there, we would be able to reach the beach in our Jeep.

Me: Um, really??? We’re allowed to drive our vehicle off road?!?!

At this point, I should probably point out that there are always, always, always taboo roads or paths at Texas State Parks and while your first instinct may be to explore them, the signage clearly indicates that it would be a no-no. This is the first time we have been invited to be “naughty” and explore off road and I’ve gotta tell you, we were having it!!

We navigated the Jeep past trees and deep ruts in the combo sand/dirt path, smiling and squealing like school girls as we were tossed about the interior of the car on our first off-road adventure in the Jeep. Not too far away, we saw several extra-large pick up trucks attached to boat trailers in what appeared to be the make-shift boat launch/parking area. We parked the Jeep beside one of the behemoth trucks and just as we were beginning to feel some size-related issues, the same friendly Park Ranger drove by and suggested we go further.

Friendly Park Ranger: Keep driving until you get to the beach. You can park over there.

Me: Are you for real?

Friendly Park Ranger: Yes, ma’am.

And we did just that, dear reader. We drove further off road. We parked on the beach. Like rule breakers. Like rebellious fisher-people.

And then, giddy and completely feeling ourselves, we fished. And photographed. And explored the beach. And watched as other awesome people did the same, but with jet skiis, kayaks and boats, too! It was the magic moment during our weekend spent shelter camping on the border of Mexico. Sure, we enjoyed the bat show in the evening and the peccaries that came to see us off at 6:30am, but that off road fishing adventure? That was epic.

Why We Love Falcon State Park

Air Conditioned Shelters. No need to let the Texas summer heat keep you from enjoying camping. Staying in an air conditioned shelter was a new experience for us and we loved it! The a/c worked so well in our beloved Shelter #9 that we felt like we needed more blankets. Awesome problem to have when it’s 100* outside! (Note: The outlets are very high on the walls, so bring an extension cord for electronics.)
Off-roading. The fact that you can drive onto the beach is priceless! Seriously awesome! (Just make sure you have a vehicle that can take the beating of the uneven, deeply rutted sand/dirt paths.)
Water. Fishing, kayaking, boating, jet skiing, swimming, wading…Falcon State Park offers it all!!
Wildlife. Fish. Butterflies. Bats. Scorpions. Peccary. We had some pretty amazing encounters, and all of them ended positively. Awesome!
Safe. Initially I was afraid, but this park takes safety seriously. Not only do they have Park Rangers, but they also have State Park Police and Border Patrol. Oh, and those bolted locks on the screened shelters are a nice addition.

Must Do’s

Camp. FSP’s peak season is winter when all the northerners head south for a milder winter. Take advantage of that during the summer months. We felt like we had the whole park to ourselves and we loved that! And with the Shelters with A/C, there’s no reason not to enjoy all that Falcon State Park has to offer, year-round.
Beach. Look for shells. Build a sand castle. Go off-roading (in an appropriate vehicle). Swim. Kayak. Jet ski. Fish. Boat. The water is where it’s at in the summertime in Texas, but FSP takes it one further and has a genuine beach! Felt like we were at the Gulf of Mexico for a fraction of the cost of vacationing there! You’re welcome.
Photograph. It’s too beautiful not to point out – the beach at sunset was gorgeous. The lighting, divine. The scenery, dreamy.
Explore. There are almost 3 miles of trails to explore, but there is a lot of beach, as well! The park has geocaching, which is one of my favorite ways to explore because it’s exercise with a purpose!

As The Man walked back to the car from the garbage, Kinder Frau pointed out the locals coming to say good bye.

We’d love to hear about your experiences at Falcon State Park! Please share your thoughts on this awesome border beauty in the comments.

*In all natural areas, you are a guest. Educate yourself on what lives in the areas before your visits, always talk to the Park Rangers upon arrival and take precautions so that your experiences end as positively as ours.

July 23, 2018July 6, 2018

Enchanted Rock State Natural Area

I feel like Enchanted Rock State Natural Area is so phenomenal that I should just post pics and let it speak for itself.

Only, I won’t because we had such an incredible time there mid-June 2018 that I need to get out all my feels about it, so here goes. But first…

Enchanted Rock is full of boulders and rocks to climb and these three have that carpe diem thing down. This was shortly after sunrise, the best time to enjoy the park in the summer as far as I’m concerned.

Enchanted Rock was a place The Manling and I had originally planned to explore in early June on our first State Park road trip. Because of storms the night before that stubbornly lingered into the morning, we ended up postponing our visit because who wants to trudge through muddy trails or scale thoroughly wet granite, right?

Second time around, we scheduled an early morning visit over Father’s Day weekend with The Man and Kinder Frau in tow. When I say early, I mean really early. As in, I am usually the only one that sees this part of the day in our family – which is why when our iPhone alarms did their jobs at 5am, no one was feeling it but me. I had called ERSNA earlier in the week to see what time the gates opened (which, in many cases, is before the HQ opens) and was thrilled to learn we could enter the park as early as 6:30am, which is pretty close to sunrise in June in the Texas Hill Country. Since the HQ would still be closed at that hour, the friendly Park Staff spent time with me during my phone call to help me plan an excellent route for an early morning hike at her park.

Once we arrived and registered our vehicle at the self-pay station, we headed left toward the trail head for The Loop, located near the playground and tent camping sites. The Loop trail, which was blissfully wide (as the Park Ranger had promised), consisted of crushed rock and, for the most part, was a gentle ascent. The Loop trail soon made us forget our 5am woes with its breathtaking beauty bathed in the early morning sunshine. We chatted. We laughed. We photographed. We passed a few who were heading down, having slept in more primitive spots in the higher elevation. In short, we (ahem, “I”) was so diverted by the scenic views and sparkling conversation that I barely gave a thought to what slithery critters might be lurking in the crevices of the park…

…until we switched to the Echo Canyon Trail at Moss Lake, a narrower trail, but still do-able by my city standards. As we progressed on that trail and passed the lake, the trail seemed to morph into a narrower path that would occasionally open onto wide granite flats before narrowing further still.

Switching from the w i d e Loop Trail to the slightly narrower Echo Canyon Trail

At this point, is this even still considered a proper trail?

We passed some areas where rock climbing was permitted (all rock climbers must check in at the HQ), which proved a great inducement for us to want to return to Enchanted Rock since we love rock climbing!

Eventually we made our way to the Summit Trail at which point The Man and The Manling took off, leaving Kinder Frau and yours truly to catch our breath and enjoy the scenery before following the menfolk.

I’m not sure in degrees how steep the Summit Trail actually is, but it is the great equalizer in a race to the top. Once Kinder Frau and I began hiking it, we soon caught up to the menfolk and began an almost choreographed ascent as Kinder Frau, The Man and I took turns as 2nd, 3rd and last while The Manling left us coughing in his dust.

After several “false summits” –

You know, when you look up and think you are surely about to crest the thing you’re climbing only to see that you were oh-so-wrong and you’d better just look down and focus on putting one foot in front of the other because if you undergo even one more disappointed hope that you’ve finally made it to the top, you may suffer a fainting spell like in ye days of ol’, which would be very, very bad because of math & science – ie. the aforementioned steep angle of the Summit Trail “times” the physics that would guarantee your speedy descent should you faint “equals” disaster –

we finally – nay, GLORIOUSLY! – reached the Summit of Enchanted Rock!

The 360 degree views of this land called the Texas Hill Country that I am, in fact, falling head-over-heels in love with…oh, seeing them as the mid-morning sun’s rays brilliantly broke through the fluffy clouds made my heart feel full and a smile spread across my lips. It was the kind of brilliant feeling that makes you want to hug your loved ones and feast your eyes on the spectacle before you – like when the Griswold’s are on the front lawn awaiting Clark’s Christmas lights, arms enter-twined, on National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. It produced exactly those kinds of warm and fuzzy feels.

Why We Love Enchanted Rock State Natural Area

Hiking. ERSNA has almost 11 miles of beautiful trails. Talking with the Park Staff helped us choose which trails we would enjoy the most. (Basically The Loop on the left side of the map is more scenic; on the right side of the map is more shaded. Since we were there in the coolest part of the day, we opted for scenic and were not disappointed. From The Loop Trail, we connected to Echo Canyon Trail on the back side of the park to cut through the middle and connect to the Summit Trail to the top of Enchanted Rock on our visit. Our Park Staff could not have planned a better route for us!)
The Summit. Not too many places in Texas are high. This is a huge selling point for The Summit. The views are gorgeous and the birds fly “beneath” you while you’re atop Enchanted Rock. Pretty cool.
Rock Climbing. We love parks that offer rock climbers a place to do their thing “in the wild.” Huge kudos for offering several spots to climb. Just make sure you check in at the HQ before you begin.

Must Do’s

Arrive Early. This is a super popular park and because of that, they periodically have to close the park to more guests. Check the website before your visit and plan to arrive early – as in before they open early to have the best chance at getting in.
The Loop. Half of it is shaded; the other half is scenic. Seems like a win-win whatever the time of day. Make sure you carry enough water with you because it is over 4 miles in length.
The Summit Trail. It rocks! (Get it?) It is steep, it is full of false summits, but it is absolutely worth it. Your heart will love it, even if your calves complain. And consider trekking poles like these that I borrowed from a friend. I heard more than one fellow hiker complain that he didn’t have trekking poles when I passed by with these bad boys.
Echo Canyon. Unlike the part of The Loop we hiked, it is actually pretty lush in a lot of spots and completely seems like a different park. Plus, it’s where the rock climbing spots are located.
Moss Lake. While you cannot swim there and the park website doesn’t list fishing as a park activity, Moss Lake is really pretty and peaceful. Definitely makes for great photos.
Photograph. It’s beautiful at Enchanted Rock. Take lots and lots of photos. And then take some more. In my opinion, filter-free. It’s that gorgeous…naturally.

We’d love to hear about your experiences at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area! Please share your thoughts on this enchanting place in the comments.

*In all natural areas, you are a guest. Educate yourself on what lives in the areas before your visits, always talk to the Park Rangers upon arrival and take precautions so that your experiences end as positively as ours.

July 19, 2018June 25, 2018

Fort Parker State Park

Waking in the wee hours of a Saturday morning in mid-June 2018, the final four of our fam set out on a day trip to Fort Parker State Park in Mexia, Texas, with our family mascot, Rosie. The park promised a little something for everyone: hiking for The Man, fishing for The Manling, photo ops for Kinder Frau, frolicking for the Awesome Aussie, and history for The Mom.

Introducing our Awesome Aussie, Rosie. She loves swimming, running, barking, wallowing in dirt, peanut butter, and her family. She is up to an adventure anytime, anywhere.

We arrived about an hour after the HQ opened, one group out of a few checking in at that time. When our turn for some face time with the Park Staff came, we were made to feel surprisingly unhurried. No “treat ’em and street ’em” mindset at FPSP. Each guest is made to feel like a V.I.P. and that definitely deserves a shout out, in my opinion.

Once we were squared away with our registration, our Park Staffer helped us plan our day enjoying this new-to-us State Park. And that’s saying a lot because all four of us had different ideas of how that would be best accomplished. First off, he said, I would hike while it’s still cool. If you park by the Recreation Hall here on the map, you can easily get to the pontoon bridge here (circling it on our map) and then you’ll be on the Springfield Trail which will take you past the cemetery (a San Jacinto survivor is actually buried there!), Group Camping, Springfield Lake, the Dam – oh, and if you listen for the spring about here (pointing to the map), you can follow the sound to see the spring! – and then past the historical marker where…” All that to say, Mr. Park Staffer hooked us up with an excellent adventure that checked all of our boxes!

An example of some of the great trails at FPSP.

Following the Park Staff advice, we followed the Springfield Trail to all of those wonderful spots, which happen to contain signage along the way to educate adventuresome hikers like us on the unique history of FPSP. With our morning hike behind us, The Manling settled in for some fishing at one of the three spots that Mr. Park Staff highlighted on our map while The Man played fetch in the water with our Awesome Aussie (She’s quite ferrel when it comes to getting her country on.), Kinder Frau updated her online presence, and I got some reading done.

Shoreline fishing at “The Point,” which is just past the Recreation Hall. Nada. (A nearby fisherman told us he hadn’t caught either and was going to try the river near the boat launch.)

Rosie is a country dog at heart. She LOVES getting wet followed by a good wallow in the dirt and a nap.

Finding spot #1 a dud, we moved to spot #2, which looked to have a small Boy Scout troop getting ready for a canoe trip upriver. We cast in the full sun. We cast from a tree that had fallen into the water. We cast from the shade. We were using lures, corn and worms. Nothing. Because catching is more fun than fishing, I was about ready to throw in the towel and read while the guys continued their quest. I cast one last time in a shaded spot to the left of the boat launch and BAM! My bobber disappeared! I yanked and reeled her in only to find that my worm had disappeared, too! The Manling hooked me up with another worm and I dropped a line in the same spot. Within seconds, my bobber was underwater AGAIN. I yanked and reeled her in a second time to find my worm was MIA again. I asked The Manling what I was doing wrong. “Is my hook too large for this fish’s mouth, maybe?” No, it’s fine. You’ve just got to…(insert man-spanation here because – teenager). This song-and-dance continued for several more casts before I managed to hook something – the tree that was providing the shade over the water. While The Man helped me disengage my hook from the tree (via the snapped line method) and then repair my reel, The Manling thought he would drop his line in where I was getting the only action on the river. And BAM! The Manling quickly landed the thing that had been stealing my worms! Super happy for him, I offered him a heartfelt congratulations and asked him how he did it. Smaller hook, he replied sheepishly. Really, man? (In his defense, he truly felt guilty for catching “my” fish. I spent quite a while assuring him that I was just glad the little booger was caught and even more glad that he was the one that got to catch it. I think he was maybe feeling guilt about the mansplaining about how I was somehow fishing incorrectly when it ended up being the very thing I had asked him about, but I’m his Mama and I could exact my revenge when I wrote about it later. Patience is a virtue the old possess.)

This is another spot near the boat launch on the river that we fished.

I spy The Man, who found the shade of the trees to the right of the boat launch the best place to drop a line. (That tree in the foreground? That is all I caught that day.)

THE catch of the day was this little guy caught by The Manling in the shaded water under the tree I caught.

Why We Love Fort Parker State Park

Park Staff. Truly some of the finest people on the planet! Ours hooked us up! Our hike even did double-duty, checking off the physical with the historical!
Beautiful. One of the Boy Scout leaders that The Manling had early on in his scouting career said you should always take into consideration what you’re going to be looking at when you camp. Beauty is important. FPSP has beauty in spades and around every corner. It’s just gorgeous greenery against the backdrop of the water and the bluest skies. Every location is picture perfect.
Fishing. The Park Staff can direct you to where the fish have been biting lately, but we found the river to be our luckiest spot on our visit. FPSP also loans fishing gear for use during your visit. AND…they have worms you can buy at the HQ. They go out of their way to help turn your fishing into catching.
Rentals. You can rent canoes and kayaks at FPSP and really enjoy the water on hot summer days.
Hikes. Their trails are (mostly) wide with the shade of the tree canopy overhead. Plus hiking the Springfield Trail gives you a historical tour of the place at the same time. Win-win.
Trees. There are tall trees everywhere at FPSP and because of that, most of the picnic tables and camping spots are gloriously shaded.

Must Do’s

Springfield Trail. Did I mention how much The Man loves hiking and I love exploring the history of the area? This trail combines the two and throws in beauty, shade and water features. It might just be the perfect hike, so don’t rush. Linger. Explore. Enjoy.
Fish. Start at the river. Drop a line in the shade on the right side of the boat launch using worms that you just bought at the HQ. Trust me.
Camp. They have some EXCELLENT spots! We recommend #43 and #49 in the primitive area because they are really big; spots #13-16 at the end of the camping loop are equally spacious sites and provide privacy and shade in spades.

FPSP has some of the most beautiful views. They were literally everywhere, like this view of the lake from the Springfield Trail.

Pier fishing mid-afternoon proved hot and fruitless this trip. But a group of three buzzards came hopping around the fish cleaning station and then went under the pier for some shade. They reminded us of the buzzards in The Jungle Book – remember them?

We’d love to hear about your experiences at Fort Parker State Park! Please share your thoughts on this precious piece of paradise in the comments.

*In all natural areas, you are a guest. Educate yourself on what lives in the areas before your visits, always talk to the Park Rangers upon arrival and take precautions so that your experiences end as positively as ours.