Guadalupe River State Park (Again)!

After three days at the Pedernales Falls state park, we were on the road for the short trip to our next Texas State Park--Guadalupe River.

We camped at this state park when we started our full-time journey four years ago. In fact, if you look at a blog entry in 2015, you will find an almost identical picture taken beside the Guadalupe River.

We were wearing jackets four years ago when we visited Guadalupe River in January. But that year was different because we hiked all the trails here. Because of all the rain in the area this year, all the trails are closed now. For a couple of wanderers that enjoy a good hike, it was tough to be limited to a walk by the river.

So that's one of the reasons we jumped at the chance to go on the special weekend hike that was led by a volunteer naturalist in the Honey Creek Nature Area adjacent to the state park.

Our hike took us along the beautifully clear spring-fed Honey Creek. This nature area is only open with a chaperone, and we enjoyed the information from our guide.

We have hiked among rocks covered with lichen, but today our guide told us we were hiking among plants covered with lichen. This combination of algae and fungi makes a very interesting plant.

It was a beautiful place to be on a beautiful day. So we are glad to get to wander God's wonders even if the trail was muddy.

The reason we are making a return trip to Guadalupe River state park is because it is just few miles away from Mark's brother and sister-in-law's home.  We got to celebrate Lizzie's birthday while we were here. After Mark helped with assembling it, we warmed up beside Lizzie's birthday present--a gas powered fire pit table.

We were lucky that their son and family were also celebrating with them this weekend. So we took a family picture right before we all left for church on Sunday.

We enjoy spending time with all our great nieces and nephews, and we see that some of them act like Uncle Mark. These two little boys were climbing trees just like Great Uncle Mark (with a little help from Uncle Mark to get to that first tall branch).

After three days camped at the Guadalupe River, we were glad to get another dose of family time. But it's time to wander down the road for more South Texas adventures.