We started out by packing a cooler full of food to last us for the trip. The food in west Texas is usually terrible and grocery stores are far and in between out there. We only had to eat out once on the whole trip, and that was mainly because the kids just needed a break on the long drive home!
We rented a room at a place called Indian Lodge. The only picture I took of it was this one (you can see it in the distance), but basically it's an adobe building that was built by the CCC in the 1930s. It has lots of character, was very clean and quiet, and is right inside the state park!
After we got settled into our room and took a nap, I peeked outside our window to check out the view and noticed that there was a javelina right near our car! We grabbed the girls (who were in the tub) and ran them outside to see the javelina. We figured this would be a once-in-a-lifetime-chance to see a javelina.Javelina walking on the white curb
Little did we know the javelinas in the park are about as common as birds--we saw them everywhere!!Javelina crossing!
Watching javelinas eat dinner
The girls' favorite part of the trip was probably the near-camping experience they had one evening. We set up shop in a campsite and grilled dinner/smores while the girls ran around playing. Willa collected every rock in a one mile radius and built a home for raccoons, while Larkin chose to build a home for cockroaches. They were upset the following morning because they really wanted to go back to the campsite to check on their new residents. The weather on our trip was great--never a cloud in the sky and highs in the 60's and lows in the upper 30's and 40's.
We did a little hiking, and Joel did some skateboarding. Not to worry--there were NEVER any cars. We laughed a lot while driving on some of the highways out there because often we would go 20 minutes before even seeing another car!
It's hard to tell from this picture below, but Larkin is leading the way on our hike and there's a huge dropoff just a few feet to the right of her. She had no fear though and always wanted to be the leader!
Willa and Joel watching teeny tiny cars far away
The air was super dry so the static electricity was quite impressive
Larkin's fussy face
The main reason we wanted to go to the Davis Mountains was to check out the McDonald Observatory. It's run by the University of Texas and is one of the top observatories in the US. The area is a great place for an observatory because there's hardly any people (and light pollution) out there, and it's on top of a mountain so you're above 1/3 of the atmosphere--which makes even more stars visible.Here's a pic of us touring one of the telescopes during the daytime. Larkin and Willa both got to push a button and aim this telescope in different directions.
They have "star parties" on weekend nights where you go up on top of the Davis Mountains and a guide points out all the stars, constellations, nebula, etc. in the sky with a high powered laser pointer. Our guide was able to aim a laser into the sky and point out everything. Then they set up a bunch of different telescopes for visitors to look through and they explain what you see. It was by far the darkest, most star filled sky Joel and I have EVER seen. Unfortunately the girls were not all that impressed (well, mainly Larkin--she kept complaining about the cold--even though it was around 50 degrees with no wind, and she was bundled up like crazy) so I had to leave a bit early with them...but Joel stayed and learned all about Jupiter and even saw a shooting star!
We'll definitely be back again once the kids are a bit older and can fully appreciate the observatory!
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