Tyler State Park

No, death did not overcome me; the blog is still alive. I have been VERY busy trying to unpack all of our stuff. From a certain point of view unpacking is more difficult than packing because you want it to be over as soon as possible but it seems never-ending. Also, familiarizing with the new house may be an interesting adventure. Getting to know all the quirks, the walls, the tricks and traps of the building can be pretty overwhelming. In addition, having to take care of the yard may be an adventure of its own. I may post something about it later on.

Last weekend my family and I left town to go to Tyler State Park, in Texas. We camped out from Friday 25th to Monday 28th (Memorial day). 

The park is pretty big, more than 950 acres and, as the name suggests, is pretty close to the city of Tyler, TX. The park has several hiking trails and a decent-sized lake. Available activities are plenty. What we did the most was hiking, swimming and, of course, cooking. Pedal boats are also available for $10 for one hour or $20 for three hours. The park's dimensions allows it be pretty quiet and, with the exclusion of the main swimming area, is not overcrowded. 

We hiked three trails. The first we did was the beautiful B trail (about 3.5mi). Under trees and in the woods it is very inspiring. Tall trees cover the area and nature can be enjoyed at its best. We all loved this trail, although it was pretty long for our 5 year old kid (always bring plenty of water). One huge mistake was not to bring snacks for the hike.

The second trail was the Lake view trail. Disappointing, the contact with nature is minimal. It's pretty short (1.5 mi) and some parts are on the road or on RVs parkings. 

The third trail was the Whispering Pines trail. Very short (0.75mi) but also very interesting. It is an interpretative trail so many signposts provide the necessary information to better understand the environment.

The nights were very beautiful. Of course we made some fire (they sell firewood; $1 for 3 sticks), and we cooked hamburgers, hot dogs and s'mores on it with the help of a rack. 

The restrooms were a bugs nest. I mean, I was kinda scared of pulling it out. A couple of scorpions, several flying bugs and spiders were common voyeurs there. However, nothing really attacked us.

Voyeuristic Scorpion

We were able to spot squirrels, an armadillo and a racoon visited our campsite a couple of times (he was in search for food; unlucky for him, we ate it all!).

In the end, the long weekend was very beautiful, the kids had a lot of fun and now they want to go to a weeklong camping!