Camping in Tyler, Texas

Sunday, July 12, 2009

This weekend we went to Tyler. It's about two hours East in the 'piney woods.' It's one of my favorite places to camp (though we upgraded to the shelters when the ratio of girls to guys camping switched as the boys started dropping out of the family camp outs). I love the swimming area at Tyler, and this is where we spent most of the weekend....floating.

I did have one adventure outside the water. Oops. I'm so routine, I drop my keys into my purse as soon as I click lock. UNFORTUNATELY, I decided my car was the safest place for my purse in the wilderness. So, for the first time...ever-I locked my keys in the car. Fortunately, I had my cell phone (what girl roughs it without a cell?). I ran through my list of options, and decided to start with a call to the park rangers. Guess what? They had a box of tools for unlocking cars. I had to sign off that I wouldn't be upset if they damaged anything, and they went to work. After working at it for awhile they got my car opened. I snagged a picture with my cell. By the way, Rangers are coming in much cuter, and younger than in years past.....it was definitely not a negative experience.

A little added bonus to this trip-Holly and I were so excited to find the fudge/ice cream shop opened that we love (attached to a gas station right outside the park entrance). They have fabulous treats. Holly loves ice cream, and I like everything sugar.

I also broke in a new gift. My brother got me this pink pole awhile ago so I could share in the family fishing fun. So far I have added a pink, and purple tackle box to the mix, and Jason also bought me some smiley face bobbers, (I was looking for pink...maybe with rhinestones, no luck...yet!). OK, so I didn't do MUCH fishing with my new pole, I only wanted to catch cute fish I could throw back, OR HUGE fish that would make Jason jealous. Jason didn't feel very well, so he abandoned me at the lake the one time I joined him, and I didn't want to accidentally catch something without him there to take it off the pole. I did catch some water plants, and an old frog lure, maybe next time I'll catch something blog worthy.

We also brought along Jason's little stinker, Peanut. He's not the most macho camping dog, but he was well behaved, and if we ever run out of fishing bait....we've got back up. He was in mid-yawn in this picture, but he looks like he has much more exciting stories to tell.

This is an oldie, but a goodie. We used to make "Dump Cake" in girl scouts. You can make it in the oven, and people love it just the same, but it's also really yummy on a campout. You take two large cans of pie filling (apples for us, but I've done cherries, and heard of peaches, blueberries etc). You dump the apples into the bottom of a Dutch Oven. Then sprinkle one box of dry yellow cake mix over the cake. Last take one stick of unmelted butter, chunk it, and drop it all over the cake mix. Place it on the coals, or as close to the coals as possible, and then stick about 10 coals on top of the pan, and it bakes for about an hour. (If you bake it in the oven, just watch it until the crust looks done). It's fabulous.

2 comments

Jo said...

Well, that just looked like tons of fun. And that beach area is a lot bigger and greener than our nearest state park. As for the bobber, as a teacher and craftist, you must have the right clue and rhinestones to do the job, right? At least I know what to make you if I need to give you something wonderful.

Christy said...

This definitely sounds like a craft I can get into....maybe this is the side business I've been looking for, there doesn't seem to be a market for 'cute' fishing stuff! I will definitely have to at least grab some stick on rhinestones sometime and jazz up a bobber. I think I'll wait until my brother is going to be around, it's fun to watch him cringe for all mankind when I look for additional ways to girly up some outdoor activities.