The weather was probably close to as warm as we could get the kids to tolerate with lows around 70 at 6 am. I had reserved the campsite in advance through the Texas SP website. What I hadn't done was CHOOSE the site so when we arrived July 3rd at check in time there were only two site options with views of the water. Yeah, views across other campsites....
Day 1
We sat in the driveway after loading up going through checklists and running back in for half a dozen items like the portable kid potty. Check in was 2pm so we stopped at In-and-Out for lunch on the way down. Checking in we lucked out and ended up next to another site bought out by some big family across the street who needed the parking spots for boats and did not use the campsite. We didn't have much of a choice of sites which meant we didn't have a site where our tent was shaded in the daytime. This made any nap in the tent between 8am and 9pm worse than shade in the open breeze. So the girls didn't nap while we were there.
We setup camp and unloaded the gear. We took the afternoon to cruise the park which spreads a good ways up the east side of Joe Pool Lake. Stopping to walk by the lake was a high point of the day. There were very few crowds away from the swimming beach on the 3rd. Dinner was grilled BBQ chicken and asparagus. Yum. We started to roast marshmallows, but the girls didn't want the cooked ones.
Our neighbors arrived soon after to setup and the father of the family came over and humbly asked me where to start with pitching his tent. They had all the poles together in the tent when I got there without a single stake in the ground. I enjoyed guiding them through this rite of passage.
Returning to our site I was quite proud of the calmness we were managing with our adventure. We took our time with everything giving Calvin medicines and breathing treatments in between other events. Calvin was the first to sleep. In some ways he is so easy. A little walk around our campground area ended the night. I should say it ended the first day. The night was just beginning.
We started the bedtime process late around 9pm. Ella was winding down easily enough and passed out in her sleeping bag very excited to be camping. Ava was doing laps in the tent and jumping on the air mattress every lap. We brought the portable crib for her, but she wasn't having that. Ava played and chatted with us until near 11pm. I had decided to just let her wind down on her own rather than upset her. Cassi was more determined to get her down and therefore more frustrated when she kept popping in our faces with that grin to say 'Hi' for the 31,000th time. She slept with us.
She woke up regularly for a couple hours with coughing fits related to allergies. Finally, around 1am she coughed and gagged and threw up. Another sleepy smile and she was out for most of the night. A couple waking moments to care for Calvin and the night passed otherwise without incident.
Day 2 - July 4th
Early sunrise woke me first. Either that or the ants on the inside of the tent wall a couple inches from my face. My arm had been up against this tent wall so I brushed a couple off and extradited myself from the bed. There is a little window just above the tub floor level in the tent for ventilation that these brilliant little suckers had penetrated somehow. I still have no idea how. The visitors were thankfully only on the tent wall and hadn't made it anywhere else inside our residence. I was relieved to not need to wake anyone.
We cruised up the road to scout sites for the day's activities with the friends we were expecting. Crowds had swarmed every day use picnic area with a grill by 10am. There was a line at the entrance gate which would be there until sunset. We decided to have friends eat lunch with us at our campsite and then setup a spot on the beach. Two other couples with kids joined us for a hot dog lunch. We then migrated to the gravel beach. This area was very busy with hundreds of Independence Day celebrations going on. Tons of folks having a good time and one shameless group who setup DJ speakers in the back of a pickup bed rocking Tejano and Country across the masses. I loved it. Others rolled eyes.
Our friends retreated mid afternoon to let their kids nap. We took the opportunity to change the swimsuits out for clothes, but still looked and smelled like the lake. We had a few desired objects to acquire from a store so we headed up to the Target we passed at the exit off highway 67. One of the realized needs was dinner as the steak package in our cooler had not been sealed. We rationalized a dining out experience by noting we had used up our charcoal and wood already. We spent a calm evening at the campsite after hunting ICE in and outside the park. There were some fireworks far across the lake visible from our picnic table and some closer ones we could walk a ways to see. Unfortunately anybody less than five feet above ground couldn't see them over the campsites and trees. We opted to not worry about the big close ones and enjoy the far show which was far less likely to devastate infants and toddlers.
The second night we we prepared with some bug defense measures. Ava was very tired again and so I opted to drive her around the park watching a DVD of her choice until she passed out. I made it to the south boat ramp and she was out. I watched the lengthy line of trucks and trailers lined up to pull the matching line of boats out of the dark water. The wardens were busy managing a record day at the lake. We cruised back to the site and all was quiet until sunrise.
Day 3
We woke up after sunrise and leisurely packed camp away. I had to work at noon so we had to head out. The troops were rewarded with hot Krispy Kremes on the way home.
Many memories were made and I've suffered some real award winning bites either from the infamous ants or chiggers. Probably both. All the work was worth doing multiple times over to enjoy some great family moments we have rarely had this past year. One highlight was Ella telling everybody good night and that she loves camping because the whole family is together.
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