Cub Scout Camping Trip

After a Spring and Summer full of rain, we finally got to go camping last weekend -- well at least Collin and I did. This was the first of hopefully several Cub Scout camping trips.

Did I forget to mention here that Collin was a Cub Scout now? I was a Cub Scout for about 6 months when I was a boy, but my den was boring and I didn't have many friends that were in it. Collin has a great den with several of his friends participating. He is learning a lot, and frankly so am I.

This campout was a Rocket Academy at Sid Richardson Scout Ranch on Lake Bridgeport about an hour and a half away. The kids all got to make a rocket and shoot it off on a neat launch pad. Collin also got a bull's-eye with a BB gun and got to shoot a bow and arrow for the first time. We went on a long hike through the trees and brush and climbed the rocks along the bank of the lake. On our hike we saw a snake, several cool spiders, frogs, and neat rock formations. It wouldn't be a proper campout if we didn't have a campfire and look at the stars. The weather was perfect -- warm enough for shorts and T-shirts during the day (high of 71) but cold enough for needing to snuggle into your sleeping bag at night (low of 39).

Collin's favorite part was being with his friends and archery. My favorite part was the Council Campfire and especially the flag retirement ceremony led by the Boy Scouts. The Council Campfire is always on the last night of the campout and all of the boys and leaders are there. Packs can sign-up to lead a song or perform a skit and awards are given out for the various activities. There is generally a Boy Scout Troop that helps coordinate the camp as a service project. The Boy Scouts that helped us was Troop 32 and they did an excellent job.

Camping at The Vinyards in Grapevine

The Vinyards is a relatively new facility on the south side of Grapevine lake. The city of Grapevine took a park that was in that location, shut it down for awhile, and converted it into the campground. The facilities are new, in great shape, and some of the areas still have good trees. It doesn’t have the boat checkout/rental or swimming areas that you would expect from a campground on a lake. In addition, since it’s an urban area you don’t get to see the stars like I normally like to see camping but it’s advantage is that is close to town with no long drive and close stores if you forget something.

I wanted to take the kids somewhere while Heather was elsewhere and we had lots to do the rest of the weekend. The Vineyards was perfect for this scenario – very short drive but still a good camping experience. We were in site #45 which only had one big tree but was right on the edge of a big field perfect for running around and playing.

Whenever we go camping somewhere, I normally take a few minutes to drive around and note the good campsites. By documenting the good sites, I can use that information next time we go camping somewhere, pass that information on to my friends, and now that you’re reading this . . . you can benefit from this information. I consider good camping sites that are by trees, pretty level site area, space for the kids to run around, playgrounds fairly close is a bonus, and with points for sites that are relatively close to the bathrooms. Good sites that I scouted at Vineyards are 15, 16, 18, 25, 26 (great), 27 that are close to the playground area and 43, 44 (great), 45, and 46.

Camping at Tyler State Park

We had a lot of fun at Tyler State Park this last weekend. This was the first time that we went as a whole family and it sure was awesome to all be together! We made smores, looked at stars (and Jupiter), went on a nature hike down a great trail, went swimming, sang songs, and had a great time. As is our custom, the boys selected something from our Family Coat of Arms (I'll have to blog about this soon) to focus on during our trip. They selected the lion so we talked about courage, strength, and leadership.

We stayed in campsite #8. For my future benefit and the benefit of others, here are the good sites that we marked.
Cedar Point: The best sites are 6, 7, 8, and 9 (with 7 probably the best overall). 8 and 9 are slightly sloping which is good for rain to run-off but bad for soccer balls to run-off! Sites 15 and 19 are okay campsites but back-up to a drop-off, where there was an old creek and currently a difficult trail, so we wouldn't want that with our young kids. Several of the other sites either have no shade or are very narrow (by the drop-off) -- 4, 5, 10, and 20 have little shade; 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, and 18 are narrow; 1, 2, 3, and 10 have very few trees and are close to the main road.
Lakeview: This area is right next to the lake (hence the name) and we wonder if the mosquitoes are worse because of it. Also, there are more campsites that share a bathroom in this section. Due to our young kids, we would really prefer not to have a site where they can walk right into the lake. Site 32 looked like the best site right next to the lake (for when the kids get older maybe). Sites that were across the road from the lake are 24, 25, and 27 with 21 being nice but close to the road.

We really like the lake in the park which is a great activity for the hot part of the day. It has a nice sandy play area on the "beach" with nice restrooms. In the water is a large shallow sandbar where little kids can play easily.

Beside a campfire, under the stars

11:00 p.m. June 2nd, Ray Roberts State Park/Johnson branch, site #26, sitting beside a good campfire and under a crescent moon with lots of stars . . .

This is awesome, one of the many reasons that I love camping! Kids are crashed and I'm up in a great prayer and thought time. Caris didn't make it past 9:30 and actually said "daddy i seepy" so I put her to bed. At 10:30, the boys also declared their readiness after some great campfire discussion. No one uttered a peep after I put them down in the tent.

Being an only child, I love my alone time and this is the very best kind -- looking at the stars and watching a fire burn outside! Fires are awesome wonders, beautiful and dangerous at the same time. The dance and licking of the flames followed by the iridescent glowing of embers when the fire is on its downward spiral. Occasionally sparking up or flaming up again when a light breeze gives the embers a breath of oxygen. Nothing like the fire light dancing on faces when sitting under the stars and listening to the crickets and frogs sing their songs.

I had and idea for parks that I like -- so I made note of good campsites at Ray Roberts/Johnson branch. This will serve as personal documentation for us when we go back but others who may camp there may also find this useful. I tend to look for sites with a good amount of trees/shade, a good spot for a tent (since we tent camp), and a site that's kid-friendly. Here are the sites that I thought looked good: 8, 14-19, 21, 24, 25, 26 (our site), 33, 36, 45, 51, 52, 57, 59, 63, 69, 73, 86, 97, 100, 102.

Campin' with the Kids

Me and my kiddos are going camping tonight and we are all excited! H has a lot of ladies coming over tonight to doing some planning for the Church MOPS group (Mothers Of Pre-Schoolers). So, me and the kids are vacating for the night to Ray Roberts State Park/Johnson unit which is on a lake just north of Denton about an hour drive from us. The neat thing about this trip is that it's my baby girl's first camp-out so we'll see how she does.

This will be our third official camping trip (not including Church camp-outs). We went to Tyler State Park (our favorite so far, campsite #9) and spent 3 nights in August of 2005. We did an overnight at Cedar Hill State Park in November of 2005 (campsite #45) and we learned about tracking animals the next day from a Ranger.

We love being outside away from the TV and other distractions and enjoying some time around a campfire and hanging out as a family. It's great fun and not too costly.