Camping at Purtis Creek Sate Park

Well, I took the kids (Barrett & Maddie) camping this past weekend by myself. At first, I thought it was going to be an adventure, the wheel on the wagon fell off 20 yards into a half mile hike. So we had to leave the cooler behind. Along the way other things would fall because the cooler was my anchor. I had 3 piles along the trail I had to go back and pick up. Barrett and Maddie were troopers and helped out. Camp finally got setup up and we roasted hot dogs over the fire. We were all tired and went to bed. We woke up as the sun rose to the sounds of Canadian Geese. A couple lfew right by the campsite, that was neat. We cooked some sausage and made toast for breakfast. It was then time for a little fishing. After about 20 minutes Maddie hooked up with a 2lb Bass. We decided to go to the pier and try our luck, nothing. Then we went to the playground so Barrett could get some play time in. Now it was time to go to the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center in Athens. We had a good time seeing all the fish there. While there you can fish for free in a pond that has Catfish, Bluegill and Rainbow Trout. I saw a few nice Bass cruising around too. Barrett landed a few Trout, while Maddie struggled at first. Maddie then started landing some Catfish. We headed back to camp for a Critter show for the Kids. They played Bingo with animals and fish on the boards and talked about the different kinds of animals in the park. The park ranger had hides from beavers, raccoons and oppossums for the kids to touch and feel. Maddie and Barrett also got to make Plaster of Paris molds from animal tracks. maddie chose a Bobcat while Barrett picked out a raccoon. Barrett had started to destroy his before it started drying. One more night of camping and then we started packing up the next morning. We were tired, but relly enjoyed the weekend.