Typically when I think of camping I have fond memories of when I was a kid camping in the forest, hiking nature trails, boating or fishing on a lake, and finding endless number of creatures and insects. This year was the first of our probably annual camping trips where we meet up with our friends who abandoned us for Tuscon. When looking for a midway point between Houston and Tuscon, there really aren't many options. It was a little late when we tried booking a campsite at Big Bend National park, which we've heard all glowing reviews about. Apparently, you have to book like 7-8 months in advance if you want a reservation there, especially during Spring Break. Some frantic searching around and we found one site left at Balmorhea State Park. From the website it was hard to really get an idea of what the campgrounds looked like and there didn't seem to be much to do other than its shining attraction, a natural spring pool that stays 72-75 degrees year round. We just planned on doing a lot of swimming.
Usually I'm super good at being prepared and well packed for trips but it seemed like I was still recovering from our Mardi Gras trip and I had trouble pulling everything back together. It was pretty overwhelming packing for a camping trip 9 hours away and with two small kids. We wound up staying up til about midnight the night before we left getting the last few things in order, including installing a new stereo/dvd system for the van, one that was more flexible for playing videos. That proved to be a good idea, we avoided many meltdowns with a strategically played movie or show.
So bright and early Saturday morning we roll out of our comfy home and make the 9 hour trip to Balmorhea. Overall the trip went pretty well, the kids basically refused to nap in the car until the last hour. I knew they wouldn't, mine must be the only children that absolutely fight sleeping in the car. We drove through every level of rain possible, so it was pretty slow going. I was hoping we would get to the campsite by 3:30 at the latest so I would have enough time to start dinner and have it ready by 5. We were making good time until we decided to stop at Dairy Queen in Junction, which we learned was the black hole of Texas. There was absolutely no cell service, I couldn't send or receive any texts. It took 35 minutes to get our food. It was so miserable. I was absolutely getting sick just sitting there watching the estimated arrival time on the gps get later and later and not being able to communicate with anyone. Once we finally got out of there we learned that DQ screwed up our order on 3 accounts. By that point we just wanted to get the heck out there, and we did. We've sworn off Junction.
Shortly after that stop the rain quit and Brandon put the pedal to the metal. We learned the rattle point of the van is 110 mph. I tried to just keep him at 100, but when the speed limit is 80 mph, it seems like how fast you go doesn't really matter anyway. The closer we got to our destination the fewer and fewer trees and shrubs we saw. By the time we rolled into camp at 3:30 (miraculously), I kinda felt an "oh crap" moment that even though there is a spring here...there are no trees, this is the desert and as desert as it gets. Never been camping in the desert...and certainly not with young children, this will be interesting for sure.
Setting up camp went pretty well and dinner was cooking away right on time by the time all our friends arrived and we got our tents up. Tangent: how many people does it take to set up a tent? Answer: 2 men, or one Melanie. Amusingly the Marquardson and McKinney tents were identical in structure. While Brandon and Marshall debated how to put one tent together I had the other staked down, poles in and ready to be raised in less than half the time it took them to figure out one tent. I still don't get why there was so much conversation on where the door was and where it was supposed to be. Maybe I missed some crucial conversation point while I was tending to dinner. It started to get pretty chilly by the time we went to bed. I knew it was supposed to get near freezing that first night and we brought TONS of blankets, but I don't think we were perfectly prepared for the 25 degrees it actually got...or that's what it was when we woke up in the morning and piled the kids into the van to defrost and eat breakfast. My toes have never gotten so close to feeling completely dead. They were numb and stinging for hours. Of course I hardly slept because I was so worried about my kids being cold, but they actually slept pretty great. I piled all the blankets on them and covered their heads to make a cocoon of warmth. The things a mother does to ensure the safety and comfort of her children.
As if the night wasn't uncomfortable enough I think it was about 9 am when things seemed to start getting pretty windy. After the tents had been laying flat from the sheer force of the winds for a while, we looked up the weather and found that the winds would be sustained at 20-30 MPH until late that evening. The McKinneys decided to take off to Walmart (45 minutes away) to get some tarps. It was all a little more bearable once the guys rigged the tarps around our covered pavilion to block the wind and sun from the side. By the end of the day we had 2 snapped tent poles, one torn rain fly, one broken stake ring, and a whole lot of everything covered with a layer of dust. Fabulous. To prevent any more damage to two of the tents, they were moved behind the tarp barrier. Of course, after that was done, the wind calmed down immensely.
By this point, many people would have decided to turn around and go home, nope, not us. Not even when we figured out those warning signs posted on the bathroom doors about Swimmers Itch was due to a Golden Algae growing in the spring that would make you itch like crazy and was worse in the shallow water. There goes our one thing to do in this wasteland.
Thankfully, the weather got pretty pleasant after that. Cold in the morning but nice and sunny during the day and cool in the evening. No more freezing, and no more crazy wind. With a few internet enabled phones we found a couple things to do, like visiting a Rock Shop and watching some Geodes being cut open. Going on a nature walk at a botanical garden. Visiting a podunk thrift store where Brandon bought a Roomba for $15. Playing on the "playground" at the park, watching the fish in the spring, taking walks around the campsite. Ian got pretty used to that, we affectionately called it "walking the Ian." Sometimes little boys just need to be walked....like dogs. Zoey got the pleasure of peeing behind a big rock on our way home from the Nature Center she announced she had to go pee right now. Luckily it was at the point in the trip where there were a few picnic spots. After she pees she's like "Why am I peeing on those rocks?" It was pretty funny her puzzlement yet acceptance that the rocks needed to be peed on.
Playing at the playground, which consisted of a couple swings and a metal slide.
Despite Zoey's expression, she really did have fun playing with her friends.
Wish I had stopped to actually read the sign on this plant, it's pretty cool lookin' We did buy a few cacti from the plant sale that the Nature Center was having. I still haven't figured out the best place to put them yet so they're living on the counter for now.
A few family snapshots at the end of our nature walk.
S'mores an obligatory treat for camping. Taste just as great in the desert as they do in the forest. The area was still under burn ban though so we barely had enough flame going to roast them.
The whole crew. We survived!
The girls, 'cause we're BFFs.
The guys, because they're married to BFFs they pretend to love each other just as much. I feel the love.
Wednesday morning we packed up camp pretty quick and headed back to semi civilization in Fort Stockton where we took some much desired showers and a long dip in their pool and hot tub. We spent a fun evening at Walmart playing with the toys and stuff and said our goodbyes to the Marquardsons until probably next year.
Headed out Thursday morning about 9 am and made it home without too much fuss, Ian was more grumpy on the way home than he was the way there. We all survived and all in all, I'd do it again. I still love camping. With all that dirt and dust, there was quite a mountain of laundry to do when we got back. Took me two and a half days to get it all done.
