Ranch Trip (& Garner State Park)

August 16 - 19 we spent a long weekend at my parents' ranch as a celebration of Kat & Glen's anniversary and of Chris finishing his last pre-requisite class.  We got there late Thursday night and turned in after chatting a bit.  Friday we had a lazy, relaxing morning and enjoyed hanging out at the house together before heading down to Garner State Park.  Dad had some work come up last minute that he had to get done, but fortunately he was able to drive down and meet us not too long after we got there.  We swam in the Frio River and loved all the rope swings! The water was cool and refreshing even though it was hot outside!  We swam and played until Dad got there and then we had some lunch and then set off on our hike up to the top of the peak overlooking the state park and the river.  

 

It was a bit more challenging than we anticipated, but we made it to the top and the view was awesome!  

The river looked so inviting when we finished our descent, very hot sweaty and tired.  Then Glen showed us his favorite part of the Frio River which was just on the other side of the dam where the current was stronger.  There are several shallow spots where you can lie in the river and the water washes over you.  It was the perfect way to cool off and relax after the hike.  

I enjoyed relaxing with my dad and Kat while mom & Kaden walked up the river to play near the dam and Chris & Glen walked down river to jump off boulders in the deeper water.  All too soon it was time to dry off and head out, but we all decided that it is definitely worth another trip! 

 

We hurried home to eat a quick dinner and then went into town to catch the tour to Devil's Sinkhole.  We learned a bit about local history and rode a bus out to see the sinkhole and the nightly exodus of the native bat population.  It was really cool to watch them fly - spiraling higher and higher to get out of the cave.  

 We also enjoyed watching the owl that had a nice feast as the bats flew by! :-)  We got home late but still talked for a bit before heading to bed.

 

Saturday morning Chris, Dad, Glen and I all got up early to hunt hogs.  Chris and I sat together in a stand which was fun (except he said I made too much noise). :-)  Maybe it was true though because we didn't see any hogs.  We did see several wild turkey and then on our way to pick up my dad we saw a whitetail doe.  Not quite the hog hunt we were hoping for, but it did get me excited for hunting season to start! Once we got back to the house, we had some breakfast and then got to work.  First, Dad, Chris and Glen moved the deer cleaning station away from the water well while Mom, Kat, Kaden and I went to check game cameras.  As we were heading off down the road next to the house, we saw this baby stretched across the road.  Anyone know what it is??

Yup...rattlesnake.  Luckily, we recognized what it was before running over it, stopped far enough away not to spook it, and then called Glen who came running with his pistol loaded with snake-shot.  Two shots finished him off and then they burried the head and saved the rattle.  A little too close to the house for my taste, but at least it makes for a cool story! :-)  After that excitement we set to work again taking turns using the sledge hammer to knock down the chimney from the old house and then Chris and Glen pushed it over.  It was awesome!  

 

While we were there we all worked together to fixed the screen door in the front, clean out the mud room and cut down a couple more dead trees.  Chris grilled us some delicious burgers and we enjoyed lunch together before mom & dad had to leave.  The rest of us went up and put legs on one of the hunting stands and then did some shooting before we went back to the house to shower (finally) and have dinner.  We had a relaxing evening (i.e. we were too tired to do anything) chatting and watching "spOILed" and then heading to bed. 

 

Sunday we went to church out in Uvalde and then headed back to the ranch where we packed up, cleaned up and headed for home.  It was a really fun weekend and I'm glad we got to go to the ranch again before Chris starts school and life gets even crazier.