We made the necessary investments in quality camping gear in April, and had previously practiced setting up our tent in our apartment. It took us about 20 minutes, which was pretty good considering the time we spent trying to interpret the instructions.

We have lived boarding the Texas Hill Country for a little over 26 years, yet haven’t taken the time to enjoy what it offers as much as we would have liked. With our departure from Texas looming and experience in camping lacking, it was the perfect place for a weekend trial run – convenient, beautiful and included locations that we have wanted to explore.

Our 355 mile Hill Country trek looped from Austin through San Antonio, past the notorious Snake Farm, which has since been re-branded the “Snake Farm Zoo” and seemed to be thriving, perhaps as a result of the Ray Wiley Hubbard song. From San Antonio we headed west to Uvalde County, then north to the small but quaint river city of Concan, which is the nearest city to Garner State Park.

Leaving the park we choose the less traveled route east to Utopia, crossing the dry Sabinal River several times and through what felt like the heart of the Hill Country, with 360 views of steep valleys and rolling hills.

After a brief stop at Lost Maples State Natural Area, we headed northeast meeting up with, and then following, the Guadalupe River through Hunt and Kerrville. We continued northeast to Fredericksburg, a place we had visited several times, so not stopping, but acknowledging the mast-like home of Admiral Chester Nimitz and honoring his historical significance through our thoughts and conversation as we passed.

Like the drive from Austin to San Antonio, the drive from Fredericksburg was a familiar one, but proved to be a fitting send-off gift to us from the Hill Country. Sans bluebonnets and paintbrushes, the wildflowers were very much still in bloom and provided waves of yellow, red, orange, purple and white on each side of Highway 290 through the waning rolling hills toward Austin.

Garner State Park was not as lush as we had expected, and although well aware of the drought, we were both taken back by how little water was in the Frio and surrounding creeks.

After setting up camp and checking out the river, we biked through the park and found it alive with people, food and fun times. We cooked our dinner over the open flame of the fire Trey built — orange honey habanero chicken breast we’d picked up at Central Market on our way out of town, and the leftover beans and jalapeno cornbread I had prepared earlier in the week – a great meal to christen our new camping cooking and dinner ware.

We were told of the traditional Saturday night dance hosted at Garner State Park’s pavilion. So, with the sun setting, we mounted our bikes, turned on our head and seat lights, and headed to the pavilion for the dance. A footpath we found leading from the road led us to the pavilion’s flagstone patio that was serving as the dance floor and Garth Brooks was crooning about Friends in Low Places.

The final big test, at least for me, were the public showers. There was no avoiding them — we were dirty, dusty and sweaty. The important lesson I learned about outdoor showers is to first do a careful 360° examination for shower companions – this should probably actually be done twice as a particular caution. If I had thought to do so, I would have avoided taking a shower with a Texas giant centipede!

Once, safely out of the shower and bathroom, I could joke as I told Trey of my experience. We both laughed and agreed that we are, after all, embarking on these travels for new adventures!

Test camping trip:  Success