Well we decided to go to Guadalupe River State Park after all....
We got a later start than we had planned so for the first time got to experience setting up camp in the dark. I must say that it actually wasn't so bad. Daughter and I got to work building a fire (well, DD held a flashlight for me MOSTLY over the pit anyway) while hubby managed to get one of the lanterns lit. We then had a quick meal of hotdogs and chips before putting the tent up. Amazingly enough we have finally gotten the hang of pitching the behemoth in a short and relatively painless amount of time. Yes, even in the dark!
The noise that the young boys at the campsite next to us were making I thought for sure they must have had a monster or two twice the size of ours but amazingly enough in the morning when I looked over at their site... well, there were just three kids asleep in sleeping bags. Hmmmm?? We never did figure out that mystery.
Next morning I decide I'm ready to hit the trails and do some fishing... Darling hubby shamefully admits that he forgot to pack the gear. I was flabbergasted!! Hmmm, what's the rule of thumb? There's always a Walmart within 20 miles? Holds true this time so away we go... Grab a couple cheap poles and some gear and back we go (I had remembered the worms so no need for bait).
Spent a few hours along the river fishing and enjoying the scenery. It was so serene and peaceful I wasn't even caring that all I caught was a couple small river cats and a little bass. I could've stayed all day. The leaves were starting to change and the river was flowing. WOW. I'd go back to this park just for that!
Darn time change forced us to head back to camp earlier than I cared but we'd had a long day so it was all good. Got the fire going again, ate some dinner, drank, talked, and just chilled. The night turned out to be beautiful.
Next day got up and made a big ole pancake bfast, played catch, hunted bugs, packed up camp, and headed back to the river for more fishing. The butterflies were out thick on our way down the little trail and with the sun shining and a bit of a breeze the morning was just perfect. Not much better luck fishing (except for the big rickfish my hubby caught. LOL!) but it's hard to complain about the beauty of nature.
All in all I would have to say that I quite enjoyed this park and will plan on returning. My main complaint would be that the sites are much closer together than I would care for as well as most being too close to the road. It was easy to see and hear your neighbors, as well as everyone that walked past. We were sure to scope out the sites so next time I do believe that we'll have a better idea which sites may give us more of the seclusion we prefer.
Thanks everyone for your suggestions!!!