This weekend we went to Dinosaur Valley State Park for our first family camping trip. We didn't know how popular this park was. Lucky our friend Jenny and Bennett booked the two camping site the minute it opened for reservation. And all sites were gone when they checked again 20 minutes later.
We arrived on 2pm Saturday when they opened check in process. Since we were only staying for one night, we wanted to make the most of it. Other families will have Columbus day off so they are going to stay Sunday night as well.
Packing was painful since we haven't done this for a long while. It took both of us about 2.5-3 hours Friday night to pack everything except food. And took me about 3 hours to prepare the two items I signed up for. We had a big group -- 8 adults and 8 kids. Prepare that many people's breakfast was a task I have never tried before.
While Will and Norah setup the tent, I took Jackson for a walk to check out the grounds. (We were camp site 28, 30) We came upon Paluxy river after we hiked pass amphitheater. Kids were wading in the shallow water. It was irresistible for Jackson. We were able to cross the river and track downriver until we reached between camp site 17 and 18.
All of us headed to the park shop to get some fresh bait and go fishing in Blue Hole. Kids loved climbing the rock formation to get to the fishing spot. And I loved seeing the dinosaur footprints while fishing. We didn't get any fish though, neither anyone near us.
The other families arrived around 4:30pm when we were out fishing. We had dinner in an organized chaos and managed to get ready for bed around 9pm. We had a good night sleep despite both kids woke up and had to use the bathroom a few hundred yards away. It was perfect camping weather. A little chilly to have the camp feel but not too cold. Night temperature was around low fifties.
Moving together as a 16 person group was extra difficult the next morning. Our family got up around 7:20. We had breakfast burrito which was prepared by me on Saturday but we still managed to only start hiking around 10:30am. We went to the overlook trail through the main track site. It has a beautiful view of the Paluxy river and the forests down below. Norah claimed it was her favorite hike in the whole wide world.
8 kids were playing really well together by this time. Will took down the tent after lunch and we reluctantly said goodbye. We will be back!
Reminder next time:
Pack a hammer for the tent stake.
Beach matte for tent entrance.
Marker & Soccer ball & kids camping chair (for group camping)
We arrived on 2pm Saturday when they opened check in process. Since we were only staying for one night, we wanted to make the most of it. Other families will have Columbus day off so they are going to stay Sunday night as well.
Packing was painful since we haven't done this for a long while. It took both of us about 2.5-3 hours Friday night to pack everything except food. And took me about 3 hours to prepare the two items I signed up for. We had a big group -- 8 adults and 8 kids. Prepare that many people's breakfast was a task I have never tried before.
While Will and Norah setup the tent, I took Jackson for a walk to check out the grounds. (We were camp site 28, 30) We came upon Paluxy river after we hiked pass amphitheater. Kids were wading in the shallow water. It was irresistible for Jackson. We were able to cross the river and track downriver until we reached between camp site 17 and 18.
All of us headed to the park shop to get some fresh bait and go fishing in Blue Hole. Kids loved climbing the rock formation to get to the fishing spot. And I loved seeing the dinosaur footprints while fishing. We didn't get any fish though, neither anyone near us.
The other families arrived around 4:30pm when we were out fishing. We had dinner in an organized chaos and managed to get ready for bed around 9pm. We had a good night sleep despite both kids woke up and had to use the bathroom a few hundred yards away. It was perfect camping weather. A little chilly to have the camp feel but not too cold. Night temperature was around low fifties.
Moving together as a 16 person group was extra difficult the next morning. Our family got up around 7:20. We had breakfast burrito which was prepared by me on Saturday but we still managed to only start hiking around 10:30am. We went to the overlook trail through the main track site. It has a beautiful view of the Paluxy river and the forests down below. Norah claimed it was her favorite hike in the whole wide world.
8 kids were playing really well together by this time. Will took down the tent after lunch and we reluctantly said goodbye. We will be back!
Reminder next time:
Pack a hammer for the tent stake.
Beach matte for tent entrance.
Marker & Soccer ball & kids camping chair (for group camping)
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