Found It!

Growing up in the Pacific Northwest I'm accustomed to fall foliage. Not to be excluded, Stacie has fond memories of witnessing seasonal change in the Blue Ridge of Virginia. Heck, even in Edinburgh we found parks adorned with a canopy of red, green, yellow and brown leaves. So how do we scratch the autumnal itch here in Texas? Watching college football helps me get in the fall mood but each week I notice the scenery changing within my TV and not outside my window (in HD none-the-less thanks to Costco & Vizio!).

Stacie gets into the fall mindset with a handful of Candy Corn and a good Charlie Brown Halloween rerun but that can only get you so far. We need cool air on our faces and turning leaves but where to look? Luckily we found Lost Maples Natural Area. Stacie and I stumbled across this Texas gem thanks to extensive research skills, namely Google. We loaded up the dogs and our camping gear and hit the road at 6AM on Saturday for the 3 hour drive. Here's a few pictures from our fall camping extravaganza.

The men leading the charge

The Lost Maples area was interesting because it is surrounded by small mountain ridges that enclose a peaceful valley. We hiked up and into the ridges to camp but the valley was picturesque, we both like the long field grass (the dogs found it tasty as well).

Family picture at the campsite

I'm glad we found Lost Maples. Stacie and I both love the outdoors and hiking/camping in a scenic fall setting is unbeatable. Neither of us thought Texas could provide the landscape we witnessed this weekend. Texas, we underestimated you. However, I challenge the notion that 'everything is bigger in Texas' after hiking to the top of 2200 feet mountains. My house was almost at 2000 feet in Seattle and the Cascades and Olympics boast peaks over 10,000 feet...just saying.