Monday, May 14, 2007

Caprock Canyons Weekend Adventure!

So here it is, the much anticipated (not) post on our Mother's Day camping trip.

Friday Morning:
After a quick stop at Cabela's for a new lantern (due to breakage of our old one), we were off to West Texas... namely the Red River Valley. A 4 hour car ride and we reached Caprock Canyons State Park.
Caprock Canyons State Park, 100 miles southeast of Amarillo in Briscoe County, was opened in 1982. It consists of 15,313.6 acres (including the Trailway, a 64.25 mile Rail-to-Trail conversion, acquired by donation in 1992 from a Railroad entrepreneur). This acquisition added recreational adventure, stretching from the western terminus at South Plains up on top of the caprock escarpment to the eastern terminus of Estelline in the Red River Valley. This multi-use trail (hike, bike, and equestrian), opened in 1993, stretches the park through Floyd, Briscoe, and Hall counties crossing 46 bridges and running through Clarity tunnel, one of the last active railroad tunnel in Texas. The 64.25 miles of the Trailway are open to the public from Estelline to South Plains.

This shot is from inside the park. Everywhere you looked there was a breathtaking view.

Once in the park we spent time driving around checking out the amazing vistas!



We set up our site in the Little Red River Tent Camping section, fixed lunch, and then headed off for fire wood and more sight seeing. Then it was back again to camp for dinner preparations and building a fire. While dinner was being prepared the kids took some time to enjoy the fire (while playing guitars and entertaining us with songs).

Oh, and don't for get the S'mores! Always a camping tradition.

Saturday:
Our new tradition (our third time now) is on the first morning we (Daddio) make breakfast burritos... we fry the eggs, the bacon, and toast the tortillas with cheese... throw a little salsa on there and you have the tastiest breakfast this side of the Pecos (I've always wanted to say that :-).


Then it was off for our hike! On the hike we passed over a natural bridge formation where we saw a large flock of birds flying in and out of a cave. The boys found ancient cameras (rectangular rocks), so there was lots of stopping for the boys to stop take shots of landscapes and each other just like Daddio. Oh, and while Daddio and I were taking a picture we heard the boys behind us laughing hysterically... upon arriving back at the bench where they were waiting for us, we found Bubba with his arm out laughing about the bird poo that was on it and his shirt... NICE! The only problem we seemed to have the whole time (or I should say the only problem I seemed to have) were these dang biting flies. They LOVED to attack my legs... especially my knee region... holy smokes they were annoying and the bites are super itchy (and yes, I did have bug spray on... but Daddio likes to remind me that I didn't let him help me put it on so clearly I did it wrong)! Most of the pictures in this slide show chronicle the hike and the day!



After the hike it was back to camp for lunch and naps. Once we all had a chance to relax and cool off we donned our swimsuits and headed over to Lake Theo where the kids splashed around in the water. Sorry no pictures of that ;-). Followed by a much enjoyed and needed SHOWER! By the way, they have a great facility! Clean at last, clean at last... and then back to smelling smokey because it was time to cook dinner. If you camp with us... it is steaks and potatoes, baby (and a beer for the grown ups)! Ending with the most amazing dutch oven peach cobbler... TASTY!!!!!

Sunday (Mother's Day):
After we ate breakfast bars, and torn down our campsite we went on one more short walk before loading up. This is when the boys delivered flowers to me... via picking wild flowers and adorning my camping hat with them. Awe, they were so sweet.

Then it was home again, home again!

2 comments:

Daddio said...

I'm not saying you did it wrong, but nobody else got nearly as many bites... Maybe you just taste better than us boys.

nicole said...

Glad you guys had fun and made it back safely. I love looking at the pictures. Perhaps I will have to join the digital age and use a photo service too. Our pictures just sit on our computer, with no one looking at them. :)