Quick camping trip

We decided to do an overnight camping trip on Friday given the nice weather with mild night temps in the low 60s. I loaded up the family SUV with the tent, sleeping bags, cooler, portable grill, etc. and of course the family and headed out to a small park on the shores of Lake Travis.

I set up the camp quickly on a campsite we all agreed upon and while putting up the tent I had a little vistor scamper up the side. It was a small Texas Tree Lizard. My son loves lizards and has a terrarium in his room with a Green Anole and Bahamian Anole that he takes care of. The little Texas Tree Lizard blends in really well with oaks and is really fast on the ground but on that tent he was fairly easy to catch. We studied him a bit and then let him run off. These little guys are one major reason why Texas roadrunners run so fast.

We had hot dogs and beef fajitas for dinner and took one of the trails down to the lake to watch the sunset and skip rocks on the water. I think the best I could do was get 4 skips on the water. I'm not all that good at skipping rocks.

Once back at the camp, I lit the Coleman lantern and we went into the tent to basically just goof off and then fall asleep under the clear sky and stars.

In the morning, I made some pancakes on the iron skillet then went down to the lake to cast plastic worms in the water for a little while. Even my wife cast one of the spinning rods for a short while. I got only one bite so after a few minutes we did some exploration of the trails around the park. I did note that with all the recent rain, the lake level has risen dramatically. While it's still not full, it's now only 2 feet below the average for the month. I also noted the water was quite clear. I think I'll be out there in the kayak one of these weekends for some night fishing.

Since my oldest daughter has to ride a horse we lease several times a week, we decided to go back before noon so she could go ride. I packed everything back up into the SUV and we went back home. My kids acted like we were on our way back to the civilized world though I can tell they really enjoyed the short, camping trip. Next time, we may head to Bastrop State Park to camp there one weekend.