Autumn Road Trip

I'm sure you've made plans for a day with your family and along with it had high expectations for a great outing! We've all been there....and then to just have the day spiral completely out of control and nothing goes accoring to plan. Saturday was like that. I can laugh about it now but at the time, as my friend Bill would say, The MAD FAMILY takes a trip!

What a day! I had the day worked out in my head that we'd all get up early and head to Lost Maples Park to see fall colors, take some family photos and head home, arriving in time for Heather to attend a youth event. Do you see yet where I'm headed with this? We didn't leave the house until 2 HOURS after I'd planned to be gone, leaving us much less time to accomplish all I wanted. Remind me not to make plans for my family to get up early on a Saturday morning for a while....And of course we couldn't just hit the road and get to our destination. I had to stop to buy sunglasses because I've broken YET ANOTHER PAIR, and who can be out in the bright sunlight without shades?? Not me! Then of course we had to stop for snacks because I was starving and hadn't eaten breakfast. Then, what was supposed to be a 2 hour trip turned into THREE hours and then a one hour wait before we could even pull off the highway onto the park road. Traffic was so backed up.











It seems the fall colors are abundant in the Hill Country this year and EVERYONE was out to see them at Lost Maples and this weekend was the peak weekend to see all the colors. After we made our way to a parking space we waited in line for what seemed another eternity, and probably was close to another hour, to even buy our permits to enter the park. By this time we knew there was no way we'd have Heather back home in time for her youth event...and we had no cell service to even call anyone to let them know she wouldn't be there. (Having no cell service was enough to put Heather in a fowl mood--no more texting her friends--let alone the fact that she'd miss her fun evening plans)






I had high expectations of seeing fabulous fall colors everywhere after hearing all the excited conversations going on around me while I waited in line to buy permits. Everyone was talking about how the colors have never been as vibrant or abundant as they are this year and how if there are colorful leaves at all, it only happens about every 3 years. I also heard someone say the lines have never been like they were Saturday. Imagine that! So, even if we'd decided to leave and wait until next weekend to return the chances are likely that the leaves will have already fallen by then. So, we stayed.






Even though I know Texas fall colors are never like the fall colors I'm familiar with from growing up in the Missouri Ozarks, after hearing all the buzz about this year's colors all around me, my expectations grew for what we'd see in the park. Although what I did see I'm sure is spectacular for all these Texans, this girl; who is accustomed to seeing rolling hill after rolling hill covered in so many spectacular, vivid colors; was disappointed. Yes, I saw a great park with wonderful views, etc. Yes, I saw many trees dressed in reds, oranges, and yellows. But, nothing like what an autumn day in Missouri can be. Despite that, I did get some shots of pretty fall colors, even in Texas! Who'd a thunk it??!!