Camping at Pace Bend Park

I really like the fact that our kids enjoy camping. It’s fun to be able to take them outdoors and get to experience nature a bit. It was the start of Korey’s spring break weekend and I had just flown back from Vegas. I started packing up the truck when I got home, and not too long after that, Korey grabbed the kids and we were on our way. Taking the truck certainly made things easier because we could essentially bring whatever we wanted.

Pace Bend was just on the other side of Lake Travis so it only took about an hour or so to get there. Even so, we were going to have a busy evening getting the tent pitched, so we opted for Domino’s on the way out there for dinner. The park itself was huge, but there are only 20 improved camping sites which realistically were designed for RVs more so than tents. That being said, there’s no question that it was nice to have power and water.

As we were finding the perfect spot we noticed there were a few ant piles, so I took care of some of those little buggers with my propane torch. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t fun! The tent went up pretty easy so we had some time to hang out a bit after eating. It was also cool enough to justify a campfire, so we took full advantage of that. I was actually surprised in that they allow you to bring in your own fire wood.

The kids actually both slept well and stayed in their own bed which was a good thing. Weather wise, it was a just a touch muggy, but not so bad to make it uncomfortable sleeping. The kids also slept in a bit which was a nice change of pace. Korey made some sausage, cheese, and egg tacos that hit the spot for breakfast, and then we just hung out a bit. Crosby wanted to play some Uno and both kids were infatuated with collecting rolly polly’s — which for some odd reason Crosby kept calling lady bugs.

After that, we decided to go for a little hike around the park. There were a ton of hike and bike trails, but there were way more mountain bikers than there were people on foot. The map they gave was pretty vague (as in didn’t show many things to see), but as it turned out there wasn’t much to see specifically. We followed a trail that eventually turned into nothing, so we did a little bushwhacking to finally make our way back to the real trails. Not long after that, we did hike up to one of the peaks, with me carrying both of them part of the way. There wasn’t a great viewing area or outcropping, but you could look out a bit and see the lake which was neat.

After the hike, we went back to our campsite and Korey whipped up some chicken salad sandwiches for lunch. Crosby played a bit with some of the other kids that were around, and we just hung out some more.

Eventually we decided to make our way down to the lake to look around and try out fishing. I don’t think we had quite the best spot (or lures or bait for what was likely out there), and there were people swimming not too far away. As you can imagine, we didn’t have too much success, but that was ok. Everyone ended up sticking their feet in the water a bit which felt great after the hike.

The other thing that was really neat to see were all the other primitive campsites. While there were only the 20 improved sites, they supposedly allow up to 400 people to camp overnight. And at least at Pace Bend, that means camp wherever you want. There were tents in groups of trees, tents on the beach, tents in the woods. Maybe next time we go back, we’ll try that instead.

That evening, Korey made some of her homemade Mac and Cheese, and we then hustled out to watch the sunset over the lake. When we got back to the site, we again lit the campfire. It was really warm on Saturday, so this was definitely for the ambiance and not for warmth. Carlyn had a 5 minute nap while she was in the backpack, but even with that, it had been a really busy day, so everyone crashed early. I stayed out for a few minutes by the campfire and by the time I made it into the tent, the three of them were already asleep at just after 9. I stayed up a bit longer to read, but eventually called it a night myself.

Crosby ended up crawling into bed with me partway through the night, and then also proceeded to wake up pretty early the next day. With the girls still asleep, he and I decided to walk down to the lake. We explored a lot more of the shoreline and ended up finding a group that was setting up for a bass fishing tournament which he got a kick out of. We walked around a bit more, but ended up heading back as the wind was really starting to pick up.

That wind made taking down the tent a bit interesting, but we did manage to get it all down. To make things easier, we decided that we’d just eat breakfast when we got home. This trip was certainly a little different than those to Jellystone, but it was fun in its own right. Between being close, seeing all the neat spots to primitive camp, and now having a small generator, I think we’d definitely consider going back.