Camping at Inks Lake State Park -- 3/31/07 - 4/1/07. I promised a separate blog entry on this trip and here it is. This was SUCH a great time! I hadn't been camping in probably 25-30 years and I think I'd forgotten what I was missing. Luckily, Lisa is an old pro at this stuff so we didn't appear nearly as green as the couple that had the campsite next to us!

We got to Inks Lake a little after 2:00 PM, which was check-in time. Lisa had made a reservation for us, so we stopped at the park headquarters and got our campsite assignment, then headed over to set up. We picked a site that was a VERY short walk to the restrooms (which had showers in them, by the way! How cool!). It didn't take too long to set up the camp. We put down a stake and hooked the dogs up to two 30-foot cables so they could roam around a bit. Then, we pitched our tent and the "dining tent" that covered our picnic table and was supposed to keep bugs out. Note to self: That only works when you keep the tent flaps CLOSED!

Here's a picture of our campsite:

As you can see, the boys and I are really enjoying the "porch" on the tent. It's funny, Lisa and I did not realize how big the tent really was when we got it. We knew it said that it sleeps 5-6 people, but, it's really HUGE! We had plenty of space. If only the dogs hadn't slept on our legs all night! Next time, they get a slumber ball to sleep on.

So, anyway . . . after we set up, we discovered that Reese and AJ had somehow gotten into and completely devoured our hot dog buns and danishes, so we had no buns for dinner and no breakfast for the next morning.

That was odd, because they were behind the doggy gate in the back of the van. Best we can figure, they managed to get a snout on the box and dump it to the floor. We decided to load 'em up and head back into Burnet to HEB and replace the "lost" items. We weren't too happy with the boys for this, but, as you can see, they weren't too concerned about it.

After we got back from the store, we took the boys on a little hike to the Devil's Watering Hole. We couldn't let them swim because they weren't allowed off the leash, but here are a few pictures of the walk:

The bluebonnets were looking SPECTACULAR after all the rain we've had.

So, anyway, after the walk, it was time to roast hot dogs. Lisa did an expert job getting a fire started in our grill. After the coals got white hot, we slapped the dogs (not Reese and AJ!!) on the grill and had AWESOME grilled hot dogs and potato salad. After it got dark, Lisa made a fire in the fire pit and we made s'mores for dessert Yummy! Then, we sat in the tent and Lisa taught me how to play poker and we did a crossword puzzle, and finally just got tired and went to sleep.

Unfortunately, sleep didn't go well. AJ got sick during the night, probably because of eating the hotdog buns and danishes (as well as a LOT of grass). We managed to get him positioned over the dog blanket, so clean-up was easy. Also, the ground was pretty darn rocky and sloped downward a bit, and BOTH dogs just kept wanting to lie on our legs all night. I finally got up around 7:30 or 8:00 the next morning and started getting some things together for breakfast.

There were some ducks that invaded our campsite, too. Lisa got a couple of pictures of Reese observing one of the ducks. Here's the best one:

After breakfast, got ourselves cleaned up a bit at the nearby restrooms/showers. Our neighbors, a young couple from Dallas, were having trouble starting a fire, so Lisa scooped out a bunch of our coals (we'd already started a fire a bit earlier -- it was COLD), and gave them to them. Apparently, it worked, because they had a nice fire going after a few minutes of stoking the coals we gave them. After we'd cleaned up and finished off all the breakfast stuff, we packed up the tents and all the camp gear and then took the boys out on another hike -- this time on one of the hiking trails at the other end of the park.

Here are some pictures of the second hike. In case you're wondering, yes, I wore the same shirt that day because I only had one clean one, and I wanted to be able to change into it after gettin' all sweaty on the hike! Here are the pics:

It was a FABULOUS trip. I can't wait to do it again!