We woke around 7am, much better rested than the previous night. The big boys got dressed quickly and ran off with their friends. Craig, who hadn’t eaten much the day before, was pretty weak and wan and curled up in the front seat of the car and snoozed. He had some milk, and I made him eat a fruit bar, and by mid-morning he had fully recovered and was back to his sassy self.
While we packed up, a mule deer wandered timidly into the campsite, changed her mind midway across the road, did a cartoonish skid to a stop, and turned and headed right back out again. It was feet from me – pretty cool. We got the car packed up, said good-bye to Titus and Stella, and headed on the road toward Leakey. We stopped a few miles down the road to check out the newly built Fossil Exhibit. Most of the fossils were metal models of fossils, and were out for kids to climb on, so we took many posed pictures (at the boys’ request). Craig was back to his old self at this point, which was nice to see. The Prof warned him off stepping on a cactus at one point, and he said, flustered, “Why did they make this world so spiky?”
Back in the car and heading out of the park, we named some of the hills we saw. Whaleback Mountain, because it was in the shape of a giant blue whale breaching the ocean’s surface. Sleeping Dragon Mountain, Gorilla Rock – and of course, the obligatory Butt Mountain, because elementary school aged kids.
We drove about six hours to our next destination – a cabin near Leakey, Texas. The cabin had a full, if ancient, kitchen, two bedrooms and one bath. No washer/dryer, though. (FORESHADOWING.) The boys slept on three twin beds in the one bedroom, all lined up, and the Prof and I had a queen in our own room. The front room was full of Rustic Log Cabin Furniture – plenty of space for lounging – and there were board games and a small tv with some family friendly DVDs (Harry Potter, Karate Kid.) There was no cell service, but there was wifi (shhhhh, don’t tell work).
I made chicken and linguine for dinner on our first night. I set five plates, but only four got eaten – the Prof got the tummy bug right at dinnertime, and was down for the count. He settled down in the queen bed, and I put all the boys to bed and did up the dishes, then slept on the Rustic Log Cabin Couch with Ancient Dusty Cushions, using my sleeping bag as bedding. It was fine – I watched an episode of Broadchurch on my phone, and had my own pillow, and was snoozing along until 2 am, when I was startled awake by a figure looming overhead. “Mom” whispered the 8 year old. I believe he had been whispering my name for some time before I woke up. I nearly screamed in surprise at the sight of him. “Mom, I have to show you something.” I blearily woke up and said ok, following him to his room and expecting to see a bug or lizard. He pointed solemnly toward his, the middle twin bed, and I saw something more horrifying than a mouse or snake – a bed full of what was formerly linguine with chicken thighs. Heavy sigh.
I soothed the boy, smoothed back his hair and wiped his mouth, and then gathered up the linens and put them in the tub. Luckily, there were lots of extra linens in the room, so I could re-make the bed. I scrubbed up the floor, Lysoled everything, and got him tucked in with a large dutch oven pan. And then I was up every half hour thereafter emptying the pan, wiping his mouth, and washing my hands up to the elbows. I didn’t sleep any more that night, but got through a couple more episodes of Broadchurch, til eventually at 6 Liam got out of bed himself and came to snuggle with me on the couch, pot in hand.
That morning I had to rinse the linens in the tub, scoop out the mess into the trash, and then spread the sheets and comforter out on the grass in the backyard to dry. I went full pioneer woman (ok maybe only half pioneer woman, as I did have running water). I Lysoled everything again, and looked askance at my eldest, just waiting for him to go down. He and I had thus far escaped the tummy bug (knock wood, throw salt over shoulder, etc. etc.) Both of us continually put a hand to our stomach and made a quizzical face, concerned whether a tweak or twinge could be the beginning of the end, but nothing at this point.
This was our last day of vacation, and we didn’t want to spend the whole day lolling on the couch. The Prof and Liam spent the morning resting, and sipping Gatorade, while I scrubbed and disinfected, and then we loaded everyone in the car to go to the Frio River and bathe in the restorative cool waters. We had thought about renting tubes and tubing down the river, but given the boys’ weakened state and our resulting late start, we decided to just go splash. We headed over to Garner state park – the best state park in Texas, according to one old traffic-directing volunteer, and after our experience there I can see that being true. It is a huge park skirting the Frio River, with numerous put-ins for bathers and tubers. It was not overcrowded (it was a Friday and I think they’re still in school in Texas). We went to three separate swimming holes that day – the first was mostly shallow rapids (mild rapids, you-can-walk-in-them rapids), lots to climb around on and explore. The boys ranged around, getting braver and braver. All of the rocks underfoot were smooth river rocks, so there wasn’t really anything pointy to worry about stepping on, but various areas were mossy/slimy, so we slipped and slid a lot. There were some deeper cool spots where the adults would sit, arms out on the rocks almost like a recliner, legs bobbing around in the water. The boys seemed to prefer slipping and sliding down the rapids areas, getting banged and scraped and having a blast.
We splashed around in there for about an hour, and then headed to the “Pavilion,” where I bought myself some water shoes, the boys got small toys as souvenirs, and everyone got a lunch, which they pretty much did not eat. Jack was frustrated by his souvenir boomerang, which circled back toward him but did not land directly in his hand. “Cheap piece of JUNK!” I’m not entirely sure what he expected, but his indignant fury was a sight. Liam got a ball that skips over water like a stone, which they enjoyed chasing around the rapids once we were back in the water. Craig got a slingshot thing that slings small foam balls, and he was constantly losing the balls, which was highly annoying.
After lunch, we went to the second spot along the river – this one was deeper, with a rougher, bigger rapid feeding into a deep and cool pool. The boys slipped and slid down the rapid, and skipped the ball across the deeper, stiller parts. This spot was nice – some shaded areas, some in full sun, hardly any people. After some time there, we climbed back up to the gift shop to grab scoops of ice cream and eat them in the sun. Then we went back into the car, to head over to our third spot by a rope swing. The Prof drove around the park very slowly, partly to give everyone a half hour break in the air conditioned car, and then we parked near a low dam that penned in a large, deep part of the river. This area was a little more populated, though still not at all overcrowded. We explored below the dam, an area of shallow rapids and mangrove trees in the shade of a large cliffside towering above. Then we moved ourselves upriver a bit to try out the rope swings. All three boys swung at least two dozen times – including Craig, who forgot to let go the first time and we had to leap up and grab his legs to keep him from falling onto the rocky shore. He learned after that – he would climb up on the rock, shove his sleeves up, grab the rope above the knot, swing out, and drop right at the apex of the swing. A mom and her daughter got into line on the same rope swing, and the boys and those two took turns for at least a half hour. Jack occasionally went to a longer swing that landed in deeper water, but the other two stuck with the little kid rope, and had a great time. Craig did a lot of swimming on this trip – he was not in any type of flotation device, and really seemed to enjoy putting his face in the water and swimming like a fish. He still can’t be trusted not to drown! But he’s getting better at flotation-free swimming.
We gave the boys a “3 more swings!” warning, and after those swings were done, we waded back across the river to the other side, shook the wolf spiders off our towels (YES), and dried off. Then it was time to get in the car and head home for dinner. I had planned to make Frito chili pie, but that seemed unwise given the precarious state of many of the tummies involved (although I’ll note everybody felt and did fine through the whole day). So we stopped and got canned chicken soup, and I made soup and grilled cheese, which everyone was able to eat, in between rotating through nice warm showers. We put on a Harry Potter movie, and everyone flopped lazily, after a long day in the sun and water. For the first night in a while, no one was sick! We slept well, and woke up in the morning ready to pack ourselves out of the cabin and head home.
All that Saturday we drove home. It was a long day, but thank God we did it that day, because on Sunday morning at about 3 am . . . I got the bug. Hoo boy was it the worst. I slept almost 30 hours straight, punctuated by getting up to be sick. It was not great, Bob.
Despite my illness, the Prof got all of the camping gear put away and the kids managed to get through the day with minimal visits to my sick bed. Then it was back in the swing – back to camp and work. I worked from home Monday and though I billed 9 hours, I did it from my bedroom, with occasional moments to lie prostrate on the bed and bemoan my miserable state. The next day I was fully recovered, and life went on.
Jack never did get it, lucky brat.