Lake Brownwood State Park

The week of July 4th, but before the crazy weekend rush, we spent a few days camping at Lake Brownwood State Park.  Neither of us had been there before, so it was fun to explore a new lake.

If it hadn't been for a large family, we would have nearly had the whole campground to ourselves.  These neighbors were quite interesting and I was fascinated by their "camping" gear.  There were about 16 people in 6 tents with 5 dogs.  Their gear consisted of 2 full-size refrigerators, a small chest freezer, a dorm refrigerator, several coolers, 2 kiddie pools- one with a slide, a play pin for their kid, a play pin area for the dogs, a large gazebo with 3 tables inside, a motorized wheelchair, plus several chairs, umbrellas, and other shade tents.  It was the craziest set up I've ever seen at a campground.  I think they could have stayed for months!   

Anyway, our first day was crazy windy so we just hung out at the campsite and played in the water.  The 2nd day we did some hiking and got the canoe out in the morning.  We explored the Brownwood area in the afternoon and even got in a little nap before dinner.  The 3rd day we hiked some more trails while trying to avoid poison ivy and then packed up camp.

We brought along Titus' tent so he could escape from the ants and flies.  He did not like to be zipped up inside, so he made sure to lie down in a way that would prevent the door from being closed :)  Of course he slept in our tent at night.

At the bottom of the grand staircase.  This one botanizes...

... while this one swims.  If he sees water, he must take a dip.

Me and Titus on the grand staircase.  There were stairs all the way down this hillside, but the pictures don't show it well.

As soon as we launched the canoe, we found ourselves around a bunch of jumping fish.  Josh caught one with nearly every cast.  They were hybrid striped bass.

Titus checking out the bass.

Titus has such a rough life.

Titus enjoying the ride.  This is his favorite spot.

The grand staircase from the water.

We stopped at McCartney Island for a little canoe break.  Again, Josh looked at plants while Titus swam.

Ready...

JUMP!!

Titus is not always so graceful.  Here's one of his worst entries :)

Campsite 65 was nice- just a quick walk to the water.

Josh and I would like to visit all of the Texas State Parks.  We have a long way to go, but we can check one more off our list now.