For the last five years, Spring Break has always been a family escapade. Gone are the days when I used to spend my spring breaks intoxicating myself, and telling lies to my parents that I have stay on campus the entire break for a research project that I have to work on. SMH. I know, I know.
This year, we tried to be spontaneous, and really had nothing planned, aside from driving towards west, and camping wherever the wheels take us, and wherever we can find a field of blue bonnet. My sister has been dreaming on having a photo surrounded with that wild flower known to be found only here in Texas during these months of the year.
It is our first time camping, quite naive and did not know what to expect. When we arrived at the Colorado Bend State Park, we were informed that the campsite is full, and they advised us to book months ahead or even longer if intending to visit during peak seasons. Luckily, there was a less popular camping site nearby, The Sulphur Springs, which had some available space for camping. For some reason, we had this notion that we can just camp anywhere at the park, and that we didn’t have to reserve, and worse, pay, just to sleep on a ground. Haha.
The photo above is actually taken along Highway 290 on our way back to Houston. Unfortunately, despite driving around possible sightings of blue bonnet field, we’ve only come across very sparse field, or if not, we saw them on a fenced private property. We really didn’t want to get arrested for trespassing…so this yellow wildflower will do.
Our first time building a tent. It wasn’t half as complicated as I thought.
Yes, I brought an airbed with me. I wasn’t about to sleep on a rock-hard ground, and wake up with more back problems. My back is already not in its best condition.
So as soon as we settled on our tent, we drove back to the closest grocery store to get some food. And by closest, I meant, 50 min of driving thru hills and cactuses. And yes, we went camping with no food. Blame my sister. Haha.
Boggle. Since there wasn’t really much to do plus there was no cellular network on the area. But I guess it’s fine, so we could get off our phone, for once, and be one with nature.
Last time I’ve done this was when i was in 6th grade during our National Scout Jamboree back home in the Philippines.
On our second day, we went hiking to the Gorman Falls, the only reason why we wanted to stay at Colorado Bend State Park (although there are other activities in the park, like cave crawling tour, fishing, etc). A misleading guide made us expect a 1.2 mile hike, only to find out from the other hikers, when we were about 25 min on the trail that it would take us another 30 min to get to the falls. Despite the exhaustion, we proceeded to our trail. We’re 25 min out, what’s another 1 hr and a half walking to the falls back to our parking. Hahaha. That was my cardio for this entire week, or month. We’ll see.
So here’s what we hiked for 2 hours. Was it worth it? Hmm… I’d give it a 6/10 rating. After visiting some of the most scenic falls in Southeast Asia on my recent travel, it’s kinda hard to compare. But then again, Colorado Bend State Park has so many other things to offer. Click here to see the list.
The Wanderer 🙂
Obligatory Hiking Shot!
And of course, what’s driving around Texas without stopping by a Barbecue restaurant. We all know that not only is everything big in Texas, we have the best barbecue restaurants. We passed by Hart’s Firehouse, and boy did I devour them meat. Haha. It was scrumptious, but I still feel like Killen’s Barbecue in Pearland, TX is much better. Just my humble opinion.
After a day of camping, we all decided to drive back home. We definitely were not all about that camping life, but it was quite an experience.
Have a great day ahead, and thanks for visiting.
