Spring Break Camping Trip

     When I was a kid, my mom often took us to the different parks at Lake Georgetown. I remember Russell Park vividly, but the others I only remember as having ... trees and grills. On one of those camping trips, we had to make two Walmart runs for extra supplies. My mom was frustrated, but I thought it was hilarious. Nothing significant happened on any of the trips. I remember them anyways. We were carefree while we were there. I was carefree, anyways; who knows what it was like for my mom to bring four kids without help. Knowing her though, she had just as much fun as I did. 

    After the infamous Texas snow storm, something gave me a strong impulse to go on a camping trip over Spring Break. Maybe it was cooking on a grill during the storm; maybe it was doing a puzzle by lantern-light; maybe I just wanted to enjoy Mother Nature instead of wondering why she wants me dead. I have no idea what it was, but aright after the storm, I started looking through campsites and booked the only one I could get. Apparently everyone goes to Lake Georgetown over Spring Break. I remembered Russell Park being a little more primitive than the other campgrounds (no water spigots, no electricity), which is ironic because it's also the only park that has a swimming beach. Anyways, the snowstorm trashed the place, so the park had to close for repairs. My luck turned though because when I looked again, some other campsites had opened up at Jim Hogg. I booked one up and started planning.

    When I say I started planning, I mean I spaced out once or twice a day at work for weeks and thought about what I might want to do or eat while camping. There was also some indiscriminate Amazon window-shopping and wish-listing. It was probably the only thing that got me through the sinus infection from hell and the side effects from my covid vaccination. I am so grateful for having something to look forward to during those times. It was fun writing out a menu and a packing list, writing the reservation info, and doodling all over the paper. Then when it was time to pack, that list kept me from over-packing out of anxiety. Little things help the most with my anxious mind. I won't dwell on the negative, but the covid shot kicked my ass, and I forgot some of the most important items in my sick-fog. I'm not gonna lie, that part of it sucked a lot. 

    So, camping: We loaded up. We drove out. We set up camp. Madison didn't take a single nap the whole time. We hiked. We biked. We played a lot of Yahtzee. I told my favorite stories from the Levar Burton Reads podcast while we sat around the fire. We had that thing blazing the whole time. We slept in a tent in sleeping bags on air mattresses (no pillows thanks to the sick-fog-brain), and on the first night we kept the roof open and slept under the stars. It was like 41 degrees that first night, but it was perfect the second night. It was glorious. The pictures tell it better though.

She was so excited!

She's always such a good helper.

Sometimes you don't want to walk all the way to the camp bathroom. Besides, the woods are cleaner than a public restroom, especially when the public restroom has a sign that says "Bathrooms are not sanitized. Use at your own risk."

It was even prettier at night.

She enjoyed her air mattress even though I totally heard her roll off of it the second night. I forgot to pack pillows, but my mom, the OG frontier woman, told me to roll up our beach towels. Genius.

Burgers are so much better on a cast-iron skillet. (Thanks mom.)

My $2.99 headlamp came in handy since March sunsets are pretty early.

Next time, we're buying firewood at HEB.

I forgot literally all the breakfast food at home, so we had s'mores one morning and toast the next. 

There's not a beach at Jim Hogg, but you can still hang out at the water between the fishing piers. 

Yes she really did get in the water, in the morning, in March. She liked it too. (This is the same child who came out of her bedroom wearing only a swim suit during the snowstorm.)

    If you're at all interested in a review of Jim Hogg, here's my best attempt at one. This is the park on the north side of the lake (the only one on that side, I believe.) There's a lot of little stuff to say! We had fun just hanging out in the woods. There's wildlife, but we never saw more than a couple deer. Madison left a cheeseburger out overnight, and it was gone by morning. That's the only reason we even knew animals came around the camp. It's a family friendly campground as long as your kids are trained to be aware of traffic at all times. Lots of trucks go in and out on the main road to access the boat docks and fishing piers. We also watched an RV crash into a gate post. As long as your kids know to pay attention near roadways, they'll be fine. There aren't many partiers. People stayed up late and had a good time though. The campsites are very close together, so you don't get privacy or quiet, but I wouldn't say it's loud either. It's just a very public-feeling campground. All the campsites have water and electricity, but this is mostly an RV campground. The fire rings are supposed to have a grill to cook on, but not all do. There are actual charcoal grills though. They're actually pretty nice too: they have lids and are a little bigger, unlike the grills at the other parks. Since it was March, there weren't many bugs yet. We didn't even light the citronella candles or bother with bug spray. Hmm, what else... people stayed up kinda late, so you might want to bring some ear plugs or a box fan to drown it out if you go to sleep early. The most common activity that we saw was bike riding and hiking, but I'll be honest... Most people just chill in camp chairs while their kids run around. I'd guess it's the kind of campsite where middle-aged parents go to crack a beer and let mother nature babysit for a couple days. Goodwater Loop, the trail that goes all the way around the lake, crosses the road right at the entrance to Jim Hogg. The side of the trail that goes away from the campsite is rough. The side of the trail that goes towards the campsites is easier. It's really nice in the spring before the humidity gets unbearable trapped in all those trees. As far as amenities, there are the fire ring, grill, covered picnic table with a lantern hook, water and electricity I mentioned before, and bathrooms with warm-water showers. There's a Randall's a couple miles from the entrance and an HEB, Starbucks, CVS, and McDonald's a few miles out from that. I saw a Walgreen's near the entrance too. There are lots of neighborhoods near the park, so it's not really rural like I imagine it was in the 80's when the lake was formed. Alright, that's all I can think of for now. If you want to let your kids run around while you relax, go here. If you want to sit on a lake beach, don't go here. That's the bottom line. I hope you enjoyed the pics! Sorry not sorry for giving you the camping bug. You should totally go after reading this. Walmart's camping stuff, Ozark Trail, is really good quality for the price. Don't forget your pillows!