The Gates Girls: McKinney Falls

Fall is here (sort of) and we are camping a ton! This past weekend we headed out to McKinney Falls with the Kasprzak family. We had been to this park a few times, but had never actually camped here. It books up incredibly fast and we were lucky to find these two sites next to each other way back in July. Todd and I initially intended to tent camp for this trip, but the forecast showed high temperatures in the mid 90's and lows in the upper 70's. I go back to my tried and true rule: if it is warm enough to swim, it is too hot to sleep... so, another RV was in store!!

This time we tried a new type - one that has a slide out side. They are typically heavier and longer, so we wanted to see how the 'ol Armada would hold up. It was awesome!! Lots of space to spread out.

This camper gave us a great idea of what we would want if we were to get our own camper in the future. The park itself was beautiful and the sites we got could not have been more perfect. Connected by a trail and around a corner so the two camper doors faced each other. Totally rarity in RV camping and it was awesome. Sites 72 and 74 for future reference.

The Kasprzaks purchased their own camper this very day and we had a ball getting it set up and organized - my favorite thing ever... :) This was the view from the trail up to their site.

And without moving, I looked the other way down the trail and that's our site. It was fantastic.

The best thing about camping? The kids just play. They are just kids and are completely content. Love it!! Making memories with some of their best friends. So amazing.

Beth and I went on a drive to the swimming area to scope it out and see if it was clean enough to swim and figure out how many people were there. It was so pretty! We were there around noon on a Saturday, so it was pretty busy, but we decided to try and bring the kids later on.

The kids were SO EXCITED to come swimming, and frankly, so were we - it had been a HOT day.

Lia caught a baby turtle! She was so pumped. This girl - I tell you - never ceases to amaze.

Todd's big find for the day? Not exactly a turtle, but a pair of VERY thick eyeglasses at the bottom of the creek.

So of course he had to try them out and make a super silly face...

Meanwhile the kids found a little area to play and make rock towers.

Sadly, it was getting late and we were hungry for dinner. We promised the girls we'd be back the next day. The benefit to staying until Monday? Everyone leaves on Sunday so you have the place to yourself! We were all excited to come back the following day.

That evening was yummy fajitas and fire.

The next day we had a lazy morning with breakfast and mimosas. We played some string games with the kids and decided to go for a hike. I was super excited to come to McKinney Falls because there are probably 40+ letterboxes here you can find. Insane to have one park have so many. That morning it was reasonably cool so Beth and I took the girls for a hike and a letterbox search.

There were three letterboxes on this trail we were hunting for. Despite feeling like we were in the exact right place for at least one of them, we came out empty handed. Total bummer.

It was beautiful hike though. The one main trail is paved and great for strollers/bikes so we'll have to bring the bikes next time! When we got back, we hopped in the car and headed out to another section of the park were two other letterboxes were hiding. We will not be discouraged!! Until later when we came out empty-handed, again. Boo. We did plant one of our own letterboxes so hopefully other discouraged people can come away with at least one find.

There were several more near the swimming area we planned to search for later on and had our fingers crossed for success.

Beth and I planned to sneak away and look for these two letterboxes that were nearby but then all the kids decided to come along. I think they regretted their choice. It was a .5 mile walk one way and we had issues with nearly every kid running into some type of bug biting them. It was. uh. special. But... all worth it if we find the letterbox right? We were determined! After all that, NO letterboxes were found. It was utterly defeating... we were in the exact right place! Why could we not find it??? McKinney Falls was the place of a thousand letterboxes and none for us. Ugh.

The kids were happy to be back in the water when we returned and Beth and I took off to head back to camp to get dinner ready. Along the way, we had one last chance. One final letterbox clue near the exit. Part of us was so annoyed we didn't even want to try, but alas, we went for it. What the heck?

SUCCESS!!!!!

Dude, I was so happy that thing was there. We stamped up our books and called it a win. The only bummer thing is that the kids weren't there to enjoy it too. We sent the clues over to Todd and Trevor and asked them to take the kids when they were done.