After our first horribly hot trip in Miss Lippy to Inks Lake, we were anxious to take her out when the weather had become more mild. This trip was much more enjoyable and yet another learning experience. Lesson learned: you really don't need to go far to find an absolutely beautiful park and escape for a short time. Mother Neff was (I believe) the first state park in Texas. It sits along a river and has had a history of flooding, which would make it impossible to access. However, the parks department has recently expanded the camping area and built a new visitors center, which are both well above the flood zone. There are several hiking trails, a play ground, each site has water, electric, AND sewer; and, each site has a nice picnic table, fire pit, and graveled parking. The sites are very level and wooded so they have privacy. There are an assortment of trails that criss cross over streams, pass small ponds, have wooden bridges, may or may not lead to the stone water tower or the cave. It was beautiful in the fall but we were there when most of the leaves had already fallen. I'd like to go back again earlier in the year so we might catch some fall leaves. There is also a junior ranger program (not great) and a few geo caches to occupy the grands.
The playground isn't very big but the grands loved it. There is a bench that is in a shaded area and nearby is a hiking trail. We walked to the playground, spent some time playing, then finished up the hike. None of the trails are difficult and the girls handled them with ease. When we weren't hiking, we played board games.
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| Sophie Lyn |
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| Maggie Lyn |
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| Boomer |
The twins joined us for an overnight. I'm so thankful Jamie takes the girls out often. They are so fair and I worried about sun burn; but, they make applying sun screen part of their normal routine. The girls loved spending time together.
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| The girls at the water tower. |
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| One of the trails |
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| another trial |
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| Finding a geo cache... not sure that's spelled correctly. |
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We finally figured out that Boomer is so much happier in the lead.
He would tug, and tug, and tug to get in front! |
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| The girls hanging out in the cave. |
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| Taking a break by the pond. |
The second lesson learned was the need for bunks! I think at this point, Scott had started the remodel on the bunk room; but, it wasn't finished. Sleeping arrangements were a bit of a challenge; especially with Tico when a storm moved through! He went home with Poppy the next night!!!
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| "Whine! Whine! Whine! There is a storm out there!!" |
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| Only room for one over the cab. That became a bit of a worry when they all tried to sleep up there! |
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| All in all, the girls were "super" on the camp out. Hence, their super hero pose! Love these girls. |
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