Andrews Family

Somehow, a camping trip never goes quite like you’ve planned it. It all started when I told JR that I wanted to take the girls to a pumpkin patch and he said that he wanted to take them camping - since the weather was forecasted to be so beautiful for the weekend (highs in the 80s, lows in the 60s), we decided to do both. So a couple weekends ago, we packed up the truck and headed to Elgin for the Pumpkin Festival. It was very nicely done with a petting zoo (see photos & video), pony rides, a hay bale maze, a hayrack ride, and plenty o’ pumpkins. We picked a nice round one for the front porch and then headed back into town to try Southside Barbecue for lunch. We ordered a brisket plate to share and some of their famous Elgin sausage. We are used to eating at Rudy’s here in Austin, so it was odd that we didn’t get free pickles, onions & extra bread. JR also found it very strange that it was rustic authentic barbeque, but they had plastic toothpicks!

After a quick stop at the grocery store we headed to Bastrop State Park and the lost pines of Texas intending to car camp. However, there was a sign at the park entrance saying that all the campsites were full. Deciding we didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to camp, we went ahead and secured a primitive camping permit. Since we have the Texas State Parks Pass we didn’t have to pay an entrance fee and we also had a coupon for half off camping so it only cost us $5. Getting to the area where primitive camping is allowed requires a hike of about a mile (with all your gear & children), but there is plenty of space since you can set up your campsite anywhere in that area as long as you are 50 feet off the trail. In the parking lot at the trail head, JR quickly scanned the contents of the truck and loaded up the Bob jogging stroller (aka “the pack muleâ€?) with all the necessities. JR took Livy in the Kelty Kid Carrier and pushed the stroller while I took Molly in the Baby Bjorn carrying a water jug in one hand and Red’s lead in the other and we headed out into the wilderness. We were both a little concerned when the first 100 yards of trail was a 30 degree decline covered with rocks and tree roots. Would the whole trail be this challenging? The good news was that that was the worst of it and we were quickly strolling along more even ground. The bad news was that Livy was screaming at the top of her lungs because it had been so long since we had taken her in the Kelty Carrier and she thought it was some sort of torture device. We tried singing, pointing out sights along the way, watching Red and eventually, she broke and decided that maybe it was actually fun. It is a really nice park with tall scenic pines that set it apart from the rest of the Texas landscape. There is a pond on the map about a mile and a half in that looked like it might make a nice campsite. We hiked all the way to it but, the pond was not so picturesque, so we back tracked a little ways. JR & Livy found a great spot and set up camp for Molly, Red & I. (The pictures in the photo album are mapped to the exact GPS coordinates.) We had bratwurst and baked beans for supper and settled in for the evening. For a bedtime snack, we made popcorn over the camp stove and then climbed into the tent.

For those of you who read about our first camping trip with Livy, you might be wondering how the night went. It was actually pretty uneventful. It probably took about an hour for Livy to settle down and fall asleep and it took a little good cop - bad cop routine to get her to sleep. JR forced her to rock with him (she hates being rocked) and when he let her go she was mad enough that she crawled over by me to be consoled and fell asleep. Molly slept really well and except for the obvious fact that we need a bigger tent (ours is just a 2-person), we all got a decent amount of sleep. In the morning, JR made ham & eggs with OJ, and then we packed up the campsite and headed back to the truck. We tried to do a few geocaches along the way, but “muggles� were near all of them, so we dumped our stuff at the truck and went on a different trail to leave a travel bug which we’ve had for way too long. After that, everyone had their fill of hiking and we declared our camping trip a success.

On the way back home, we stopped at the other local barbecue hot-spot in Elgin - Meyers. Personally, I thought Meyers was better. I had the chopped beef sandwich and JR had the brisket plate. Livy was a HUGE fan of the pork ribs and we had to pry the bones out of her fingers when it was time to go. Livy earned the nickname “Meat” on this trip because that is pretty much all she ate and she frequently told us, “I need more meat.â€? We got home just in time to clean up for Mass. It was a packed weekend, but one we’ll always remember - our first camping trip with two girls and a dog!