Thursday, March 29, 2018

Spring Break 2018 - Pedernales State Park

Boogs and I had a lovely Spring Break. We had time to visit with friends, play outside, and enjoy the beautiful weather. My friend, C, asked Boogs and I to join her family and explore a couple of state parks. C and I met several decades ago on our first day of kindergarten. I'm happy we are still able to meet up and hang out when she comes to town to visit her mom.

Boogs and I met up with C and her family at Pedernales State Park, about 1.5 hours from my house. It was a bit chilly when we first arrived. The sky looked amazing. It was blanketed with clouds.
 I grew up going to Pedernales State Park with my family. We camped and swam there many times. I enjoyed being able to share it with Boogs.
 The lookout point shows a great view of the limestone formations over Boogs shoulder.
 The kids loved exploring all of the different areas of the park. We spent a couple of hours at the upper falls. At some times of the year, water rushes and cascades swiftly down the limestones rocks. The water was very low this day.
 Boogs had a blast being able to roam free in so much wide open space.
 Most of us ended up with soggy shoes because we "had" to cross over to other side and climb around in the rocks and trees on the other side.
 There were small fish and a few frogs in the water.
 I went with Boogs and G to explore a couple of small caves on the other side of the water.
 I was in the cave with G when I heard Boogs' voice. I asked where he was and he yelled back, "Look up!" He had climbed up the side of the cave and was looking down at us.
The caves we saw were pretty small and snake free. I was very happy not to meet any snakes that day.
 Boogs declared this spot as his fort.
 What do you think? Wet shoes or dry shoes after this leap?
 There were so many places to run, jump, and hide.
We went back to the car, put on cooler clothes, grabbed our lunches, and then headed down the trail to explore another area of the park.
 It was warm enough by this point in the day for the kids to splash around in the water.
 We spent almost three hours in this one spot.
 Boogs found a partially built rock structure and decided to keep adding stones to it.
 It was the perfect spot to relax and enjoy the sunshine.
 It is hard to see, but there are goats all over these rocks.
We had a full day of outdoor activity.
 Before we left the park, we drove to another trail to see The Twin Falls. Unfortunately, there was not enough water to see the falls. We only saw the twin trickle.
By four o'clock in the afternoon, we were ready to leave the park. We were very fortunate to be able to spend the entire day at the park. Because it is such a popular place, there are times when the park is full and you can't enter.
C is a wonderful photographer. These next two pictures are ones that she took at Pedernales.
 I love the way she captured the reflection in the water. Looking at her photos, you can see how truly beautiful this area is.
We left Pedernales and drove to the city of Llano. We rented a small house for the night so that we could go to another state park early the next day.

This post is linked to

Country Kids


9 comments:

  1. That looks a fantastic place for kids to play. Those caves look like a lot of fun x #CountryKids

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    1. It is a fantastic place to play. Soooo much space to be free to play.

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  2. This looks a beautiful place and isn't it great to be able to take kids back to places you visited as a kid?! Sometimes its worth getting wet shoes to go exploring! #CountryKids

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    1. I am thankful that places I visited as a child are preserved and still exist for the next generation to enjoy.

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  3. What a fantastic place to visit and great to catch up with old friends .I'm trying to work out where you live in America? I reckon it was wet feet in Boogs' pool-jumping photo?! #CountryKids

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    1. Yes, his feet did get wet. I told him to grab a second pair of shoes before we left home because I knew he'd get wet. He did not bring a second pair and was a bit miserable and prune-y for awhile.

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  4. What a lovely way to spend your spring break. It sounds perfect for you to meet up with your friend and for Boogs too. All that space and freedom looks great fun and the caves to explore. My kids favourite beach has caves just like this, I've never thought about snakes in there, I shall check in future!

    Thank you for sharing with me on #CountryKids

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    1. It worked out that she waited as long as I did to start her family. Her oldest child and Boogs are only 3 months apart in age. They get on well together. Boogs will be 12 next week and I am not ready for it. I don't think you have as many snakes as we have to worry about.

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