With all that we’ve had going on in December, E and I needed a weekend away. The weather has been so nice for camping that we took a little trip over to Smithville, Texas and stayed at Buecher State Park. As always, E planned the perfect little getaway for us.

Friday, we left immediately after work. This meant we had to set up in the dark, but we are so familiar with our tent, that that wasn’t much of a challenge for us. The wonderful weather and a night under the stars was so refreshing.

Saturday, we explored the quaint little town of Smithville. They have two main claims to fame: Hope Floats was filmed there and they were the first town to receive the “filming friendly” designation in Texas. They also hold the Guinness record for the largest Gingerbread man. It’s a friendly town. We did some expLng—for those who like old stuff, there were several antique stores in the downtown area—and visited their train museum. For the afternoon, I read a book and took some photos (see AYW’s Project 365) while E napped. (Did I mention the point was to rest and relax?)

Saturday evening, we drove to La Grange—we didn’t find the Chicken Ranch or Miss Mona—and then back to another nearby town for dinner. Winchester has a population of less than 50, but the capacity of this restaurant was easily 100 or more. We had fabulous steaks, yummy sides, amazing salads (really!), and their secret-recipe beans. We waddled back to the car full and quite happy. That night, we slept through a cold front moving in. The wind and freezing rain kept us in our sleeping bags, so we must have resembled our Umpa Lumpa.

We took our time coming home and expLng a bit. It was a great little weekend getaway. Should any of you need such an excursion, I strongly recommend you hire E to be your travel planner!