Get outside to explore some place new and bring some friends along!
For the past year, people have had to become creative when it comes to celebrating birthdays or any special occasion. It’s to find something to do outdoors and to not do it with a lot of people in order to try and stay safe (without spreading the virus around). Since lockdown began, Bryce and I discovered that one of the best ways to spend our time has been to explore different state and local parks.
One park I had been dying to check out was Chalk Ridge Falls Park in Belton, Texas. I had been seeing the pictures of the infamous suspension bridge and waterfall all over Instagram, and I knew the park was only an hour and half drive from College Station. So I asked a couple of my friends if they wanted to go see the park to celebrate my birthday, and boom the plans were in motion.
We went to Chalk Ridge Falls the day after my birthday (when everyone was off work and moved back to College Station). I packed us a picnic, which of course included the signature ham and cheese sandwiches, and we hit the road. Car rides are always a fun time to listen to new music together and just catch up on life. I hadn’t talked with Izzy or James since we left for winter break, so we had a lot to catch up on! And a quick hour and half later, the three of us were at the park in Belton and ready to take on an adventure together.
I have so many stories of stopping at a spot to get a picture or climbing down the side of a hill to go explore, when there was a better spot just a few more feet down the trail to make it so much easier. Safe to say that this definitely happened as soon we started down the trail. I wanted to go down towards the water so we scaled our way down the hill. Little did we know, some Girl Scouts had put stairs in the side of the hill just a few more yards down haha.
After hitting ourselves on the head for making things harder on us, we continued down the trail. I told Izzy there was going to be a cool suspension bridge we would cross, so literally every bridge we came across she asked “is that it?” (And no, it wasn’t it.) Like most Texas waterfalls, Chalk Ridge Falls was just a few feet high, but listening to the water flow down to the river was just as soothing and peaceful as any other waterfall. We took a few minutes to explore the area around the waterfall, including some cute pictures and videos of all of us. From there, we finally made it to the right bridge and crossed over to see the rest of the park. Not going to lie, it was a little scary walking across the suspension bridge, but there was no way to fall over (and if I did, it would be into two feet of water haha).
While the Chalk Ridge Falls Trail may only be a few miles long, there were so many side trails for us to veer off to and see what they had to offer. We saw some little caves, taught Izzy how to skip rocks across the water, scaled a tree hanging over the water, and climbed some big boulders to see across everything! We also found the best picnicking spot; it is only about a quarter mile past the suspension bridge and has five benches set up around each other for hikers to take a break and refuel with some food (it is very important to bring some snack with you to keep your energy up!!) and water.
The trail is an out and back nature trail, so after an hour and half of hiking and stopping, we made our way to the parking lot. The park was just a 20-minute drive from my grandparents house, so I wanted to surprise them with a quick visit. We found out the my grandpa had just gotten his COVID-19 vaccine, and my grandma was scheduled to get hers the next week, so slowly but surely this vaccine is getting distributed haha. After the visit, it was a two hour drive back to College Station, and Izzy may or may not have taken a nap (she definitely took a nap haha).
Going on this adventure with two of my best friends was a blast and one of the best ways I could think of to celebrate turning 22 years old. Spending time outdoors or just hanging out with a couple of your closest friends is a great way to celebrate anything these days. Do you guys know how much fun going on a picnic is?
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