Last weekend we were in the truck for hours at a time with our 4 and a half year old, climbing the walls I tell ya!!!. By he time we finally got home he was ready to bust from being cooped up in that truck. I think he did 3 laps around our pasture before slowing down! Gonna buy a portable dvd player this week to have for future trips.........

BROKEN BOW oklahoma, much closer than the colorado trip. great fishing, clear water, cool nights, excellent scenery.

I've never been to Lake City, but I would sure take Creede on any day.
Now, for the reality.I know it is summer and the humidity is high anywhere in East Texas. That is a given.
During numerous visits,I have noticed there tends to be a southern breeze blowing most of time at Tyler State Park.That comes across the lake. There is a campground on the northwest side of the lake with lakeside locations and plenty of trees.
I have not camped there, but have fished there in the heat of the day and with the breeze coming across the lake and the natural shade, it was very pleasant. I would think it would be the same at night, but again I do not speak from experience.
The park is very crowded on week ends but even during the summer, it is not too crowded during mid week. Only problem is I don't know that you can get a choice of campsites, but the distance and the possibility of 'decent' fishing make it something to consider.
Good luck.

It was 90 degrees in Halifax last weekend (Canada) so I'd say Alaska.

But seriously be very carefull with young children as they typically don't show the signs of dehydration as quickly as adults and often it goes undetected until it is serious. Unless they are veteran campers or you have AC they can be in during the heat of the day I'd recomment waiting until the fall - if not take plenty of fans (some come with water misters on them that you can hook a hose to) and plenty of water and sun screen as the majority of long term skin damage is done when your young.

From Creede, just keep on over the mountain via Slumgullion Pass.

My second trip to Lake City was on a Triumph 650, Spent July 4th 1976(The Bicentennial) there. Have pictures going up Engineer pass, NONE going down the other side to Ouray, it was a controlled (barely) freefall. I agree about Monarch pass. We stopped and bought a newspaper and some bread sacks to insulate our hands. Boy, them were the days,,,,(have more sense now)

We were staying in Pagosa Springs a couple of years ago and went over Wolf Creek Pass and up to Creede. We spent several hours in Creede but did not have time to go any further.
One of these days, though...

The Branson Missouri area is nice and has lots to do. My wife and I stayed at a state park in Missouri called Roaring River. Great fishing and a nice park but not much for the kids to do. Very close to Eureka Springs. Be careful if you go to Beavers Bend. It can be very crowded this time of year.

Branson can be very hot this time of the year. We have camped there in the summer and the humidity was horrible.

In fact, our boys went tubing in Table Rock with some folks we met in the campground we were at and the lake temperature was so warm that one of them ended up in the ER with a bad ear infection due to the warm water and the bacteria that he picked up from it. He was very sick for several days.

Branson is a wonderful place to go but if you are looking for cooler, I don't know that this time of the year is the time to venture up there.