Camping - Lost Pines (Bastrop)

With Becca out of town, I could finally get out of the house! Just kidding. Some of our friends invited us to go camping with them and Becca was bummed that she would be in Utah (ok, maybe bummed she couldn't go camping, but not about seeing friends and family in Utah). I decided to go anyway and got over the feeling that I might be a 3rd wheel. The other two families had children around Riley's age, so I got some good tips on how we can take her along and what to bring. We plan on going camping together next month, so I guess this was somewhat of a scouting trip (scouting out logistics of camping with a toddler that isn't quite toddling).

We headed out to Bastrop State Park, which is in the Lost Pines area. It was really nice. The area is the only Pine forest in central Texas and the weather was perfect. If you closed your eyes and took a big whiff, it almost seemed like you were in the Rocky Mountains. A "cold" front moved through Friday morning, so by the evening, it was in the upper 60s and by dawn it was down to about 45 (then warmed up to the low 70s by the time we left). The humidity also dropped with the drier northern air, which made it quite pleasant. That is perfect camping weather - a little cool and crisp, but not uncomfortably so.

Since I was stagging it, my laziness, I mean my love of sleeping under the stars, prevented me from setting up my tent. Actually, ever since a scout camp when I wasa youth, I've liked sleeping out in the open, but only if it is nice weather (check) and there aren't bugs out (check - they still haven't come out in Texas). I looked brilliant this morning when I packed up my sleeping bag and tarp and the other two families were folding and drying their mansion tents.

I do admit that I miss Riley and it would've been fun to have her there (oh, and Becca too). I played with my friend's daughter while they packed up their tent (she is just a few months older than Riley) and we had great fun going down the slides and pointing at things at the playground.

When we got there (around 4 on Friday), we went for a bike ride which was fun, but the uphills seemed longer than the downhills (and steeper!). We ate dinner and we got a pretty good fire going, even with wet wood, and in the morning, we took a short mile hike through the woods.

My other hope was to practice long exposure time pictures with my camera (for dark situations). I don't know why, but I don't like using the flash that much. I like natural light and don't like the sharpness of the flash on shadows. The picture with fire turned out ok (below), but since everyone moves, it looks blurry (this was a 30" exposure). I also was planning on getting some moon pictures, but didn't see it. I checked and the moon set at 4:28 pm and rose at 5:06 am and is a new moon on April 6th (tomorrow), so it was just a small sliver anyway. I took some pictures of stars, but they just look like white dots and there was too much light from lanterns and a nearby park building to get anything more than the brightest stars. I also think I can only go up to 30 second exposures, which might not be quite enough for starlight (unless there is a moon or less light pollution).