Life in the Bowden Household: Garner State Park and Andy's River Road Cabin

We went on a Great adventure this past weekend. We planned to go to Garner State Park with the Tuels. I have wanted to go to Garner for a while. I had heard so many great things about it so I was really looking forward to it. We set off last Friday afternoon with 2 cars, 4 adults, 4 kids, 2 dogs, and a pickup load of stuff (as Jeremy likes to say - I take the whole house including the kitchen sink when we travel). About 3 hours down the road we decided to stop and eat in Junction. - Not a lot to choose from so we stopped in at Issac's. A word to the wise - order one of the specials when traveling or it might take an hour just to make a grilled cheese. Well, we were on our way again in no time but we were suddenly at a stand still again. About 30 miles from the campsite Jeremy's truck broke down. Something about the emissions valve or some craziness. The truck just automatically shut down - no power - no nothing. Of course we are down in the hill country so there was - no cell service - either. The Tuels were ahead of us and we couldn't get a hold of them to let them know we might need help. They were almost to the campsite when we finally talked to them. They were gonna go on and unload and then Houston would come back and pick us up. In the mean time, we passed the time watching Old Yeller on Jeremy's laptop while we waited on the tow truck. Well by the time we got that little problem solved Julie ran into another problem at the campsite. They would not let us keep our dogs near the cabins. (We had brought the kennels for them to stay in and had asked before reserving the site if dogs were allowed.) But when we got to the campsite it was another story. They agreed to let us stay 1 night but made sure we were on our way the next morning. After all that drama we were ready to "hit the hay"but little did we know it would not be a very restful night - hence Triston dragging chairs across the floor to make a bed closer to ours and Ty needing to go potty, a drink, etc, etc, etc. Sounds like it just keeps going down hill doesn't it? Well, the trip actually turned out GREAT! We found another little cabin just up the road - the owner informed us that the only thing wrong with it was that the flat screen TV was being repaired - Ha! It was very nice with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 4 beds, and a large kitchen/living area. Terrific! We settled in, the little kids took a long nap, and then we headed out to check out more of the river. We finished the night with a big juicy steak! Yum! Oh, and I can't forget the yummy smores we cooked over the grill b/c there was a burn ban in effect. What an Adventure!

Over looking the River

The dogs had blast swimming in the river.
Ruger loved chasing Jackson.

Since we had to send Jeremy's truck in on the tow truck and didn't get it back till the next afternoon he was left making a pretty snazzy fashion statement. His tennis shoes and sandals were left in the truck. :( He didn't seem to mind but I sure did!