Spring Break has ended and I do not remember a better more crazy week in my life.
Let’s start at the beginning…
I was supposed to work a baseball game on Monday, but Mother Nature decided to unleash her wrath upon the fine people of Houston. That just meant Sweetness and I were able to get out of town FOUR hours early for our big trip!!
We left in the morning and took a leisurely drive to Kerrville-Schriener Park. We made a quick stop in Gonzales to look around at the museum, which unfortunately was not open. There was a cute little Children’s Garden out back, and I think they planted radishes, but don’t quote me…
We finally made it to the campsite and set everything up.
Neither of us yelled once.
It was amazing!
After everything was set up we went into town for a bite and to find firewood. It was a great night and the clouds moved out for a while so I could see stars.
When we woke on Tuesday Sweetness made coffee, while I figured out how to fix chorizo and egg breakfast burritos on the fire. There will be no going back after eating tortillas cooked on the fire! After a fulfilling breakfast and packing up we hopped down to Garner State Park. It was so pretty and amazing to go from Hill Country to South Texas geography.
Garner offered a variety of hiking trails and we chose the most vertical first. I made the comment that I saw some people in way worse shape than I was at the top, so onward and upward. At one point we stopped going up and traversed across, leaping over a “Danger” sign, to find the Icebox Cave.
Very cool…temperature and otherwise…
We couldn’t fit with our packs on our shoulders it was so tiny. But we made it past the rocks that looked like dinosaurs and back out without any issue. It was really a nice reprieve from the hot hiking air.
From there we went UP. The topo-map we had was pretty crappy, but I think the highest point was somewhere around 1900 or 2000 ft. It was more like an Idaho hill, but it was still a lot of work going up and down. The other stops during the day were the Painted Rock and Krystal Cave. Krystal cave was full of quartz crystals and we decided the burritos from the morning had been used and sat for lunch.
Bear Grylls would have been proud…
Beef stew, mashed potatoes, and marble pound cake were on the menu from the handy MRE Sweetness packed.
It was really good!!!
A little foreshadow for the week, we blazed our own trail down the hill from one spot. Way more fun, btw…
We walked along the Frio river for a bit and decided it was time to go back to camp and get dinner cooked.
I made grilled chicken tenders over the fire and we continued to eat the tres leches for dessert.
Wednesday morning was about the same, except we were smart enough to fill up the air mattress before falling asleep and weren’t stuck in the middle!
Breakfast burritos and coffee and off to another State Park. We wanted to try Enchanted Rock. When we got there I REALLY wanted to climb, but there was about an hour-long wait outside the park to get in. We made a choice to abandon Enchanted and roll up to another park. We ended up at Inks Lake.
I swear Inks Lake is a hidden gem! There were about 5 miles of hiking trails and Devil’s Water Hole. We opted for lunch over the water hole, but it is a place where young and old can jump from a 30 foot high rock down into the water.
Um, a little too chilly in March for jumping into water…just sayin’
Back to the car and back to Fredericksburg. Sweetness decided we needed some yummy fish for dinner and bought snapper and steamed shrimp.
**Go to HEB and ask them to steam your shrimp. They will right there on the spot!**
Again, Bear Grylls style, dinner was prepared over the fire. This time we added grilled corn and I cooked cinnamon rolls in oranges! I will post the cinnamon roll recipe below…
Thursday morning was leaving day. We decided to hit Pedernales Falls on the way home. This was my favorite day!!!
First thing was hiking/climbing over river rocks on the falls portion of the park. We ended up jumping over a small portion of the river to climb a rock on the other side.
Some little 16-year old punk tried to call me out and make me jump 10 feet down to the beach…
Um, hale to the NO!
I am old enough that my legs don’t leave the ground and I was not about to tear my ACL on the last day!!!
So we went back the way we came and nothing was broken or torn.
Lunch was delicious leftover shrimp and granola bars, and off to another portion of the park. This time we chose to walk along the river and then hit a crossing to hike around. Problem…there was no crossing. We kept walking…and walking…and walking. We ran OUT of trial!!!
Sweetness asked “what happens if we turn right?”
I answered with a not-so-sure “um, we hit the primitive campground?”
Yep, we became trail blazers! Up the hill we went with our packs and walking sticks. We got to the rock bluff section and had to climb, like for real climb, a 10-foot section of rock bluff.
Both of us handled it well and we ended up where I thought…the primitive camping area. Yay, real road!
Not really…
From here we still had TWO miles left to hike out and then another mile back to the car!
Of course we are superior athletic specimens, so it was all ok and we made it with no trouble…
The rest of the day turned into night and we made it back to Houston. There was a moment when we thought seriously about turning around and going back. He had things to get to and I had appointments on Friday, so we decided responsibility was our better option.
I had the best time. I do not remember a Spring Break of so much activity and enjoyment!
There is more to tell, but I think you have done enough reading of my silly crazy life today.
Be well dear friends. I will try to write more soon!
Inspiration Song…Mi Vida Loca by Pam Tillis
Here is the website for the cinnamon rolls.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/46429967@N00/5751058272/
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