This year’s Youth Leades spring break trip took us to the land of tall pines and fresh water... all the way to East Texas... Daingerfield State Park to be specific!
Day one we arrived late in the afternoon to our campsites. On the way to East Texas we played games, listened to music, ate Wingstop, and just had a grand old time! We were so tired upon our arrival that we decided to set up camp and go straight to bed!
Day Two In a Canoe With the Youth Leaders
We rose around 8:30 am the following day. The Youth Leaders made breakfast tacos to fuel us through the morning and prepped our lettuce wraps for lunch. (We all voted to try them out!) When we were all cleaned up the Youth Leaders decided they wanted to play a friendly game of volleyball and check out the water! It was so cold! But half of the kids got in anyways!
Daingerfield Starte Park also has an area where you can play a jute box for free and dance around. Leave it to the teenagers to find this out...so you can imagine how that went! They had a blast and listening to oldies, which was great. We even had a short two stepping lesson taught by yours truly. After lunch we decided to grab the canoes and head over to Caddo State Park. They have massive paddling trails and beautiful trees that grow up out of the water. We spent about three hours canoeing around and taking in the scenery. By the end of the day, the kids were so tired that upon arriving back to the campsite we made Chicken Alfredo and called it a night!
Day Three Was Busy
Day three was a different adventure from the previous day. We woke up and made cinnamon toast and played some games. Around noon we headed out to Pittsburg Texas where my family has a great restaurant. The story goes back to WWII when my great great grandfather bought a recipe off a German man and came back to Texas, consequently, Pittsburg Hotlinks has been passed down in the family for generations. The rest is history! My cousin Travis told the teens the story of how Pittsburg Hotlinks came to be showed some of the history that was on the walls. After finishing up, we headed out to check out the antique shops and train museum.
Upon arriving back to the campsite, we decided to make dinner, but also, a dump cake! The Youth Leaders helped me create a cherry chocolate lava cake for dessert! It was amazing! After some campfire time, we all headed to bed.
Day Four Was Never a Bore
Day four was jam packed with activities! The lovely people over to Sky Ranch allowed us to go on a trail ride, jump on the jumping pillow, play gaga ball, run through the human maze, went on a tour of the camp, and were introduced to a game called 9-square. The kids had such a great time! It was a huge hit!
That night we made roasted hot dogs, bacon wrapped asparagus, and grilled cinnamon sugar apples! We decided to take down as much of camp as possible that night to make the following morning easier on all of us.
Our Take-Aways From Spring Break
The Youth Leaders learned so much about teamwork, time management, and more about one another. We left Daingerfield State Park with memories and closer friendships. Camps like these are so important for our youth and we are so honored to have been apart of this memory making adventure!
