SMU Outdoor Adventures hit the road at around 8 am on Saturday morning. With 6 hours in the trip van ahead of them, many of the participants grabbed some shut eye while the two trip leaders navigated their way down to southern Texas’ city of Port Lavaca. Base camp was set up at the Lighthouse RV Park, mid afternoon, followed by a group outing to Walmart. Following the Walmart outing, participants were shown the ropes on basic cooking skills and outdoor etiquette. Fry-baked quesadillas served as the evenings meal then it was movie time  (Forrest Gump) and off to bed—a good nights rest was certainly needed for the trek ahead.

Departing base camp Sunday morning was exciting because it was now time for the real deal—the paddle out to Matagorda Island. The group arrived at the Port O’Connor put-in point just before 11 am and were on the water before noon. The weather held for most of the paddle out to Matagorda up until around the half-way mark when the skies opened up. The group made the call to take refuge in the abandoned Coast Guard tower for about 2 hours until the storm had passed. The skies cleared up and the journey continued—pulling up to Matagorda Island in the mid to late afternoon. The group pulled their boats ashore and rushed to the Gulf side of Sunday Beach to take a look at their accomplishment—we’d finally made it to the island. Following the view, camp was set and dinner was had—tomorrow was leisure day!

The next day the group surfed the gulf in kayaks, had a beach volleyball tournament, soaked up some rays, and enjoyed the natural beauty of Matagorda Island. The last evening on the island was spent building and exploring group dynamics and ended with a night walk along the beach.

Tuesday Morning was a slow start, but the group made it on the water with the tides going out and the wind at its back. Making the paddle back to Port O’Connor in under two hours was extremely impressive—the fastest this feat has ever been completed in the program.After getting the boats back on the trailer and the participants into clean clothes—it was back on the road to SMU. Great trip

Hunter D. Higgins, SMU OA Trip Leader