Hiking fail/win?

My little sister let me borrow two books on local hikes.  Sweet!  I thumbed through the smaller of the two books and found a hike to the Painted Rock in Carrizo Plains.  I had never been to the Painted Rock but I had driven through Carrizo Plains and been to Soda Lake.  I thought it would be great to go back and hike to the Painted Rock and check out Soda Lake again.  The last time I was out that way was well over 10 years ago, for some reason it seemed like it was a shorter drive there than I anticipated.  Let's just say that total drive time was 4 hours to get there and back home; at least that's what Google Maps says. I think it was much longer since part of the road was not paved and I had to go really slow on Soda Lake Road.

And the real bummer is that I didn't even get to hike out to the Painted Rock.  The guidebook I have says it is dog friendly and that there are no fees or appointments required.  I probably should have double checked that online but I didn't.  So before even heading out I was already failing I just didn't know it yet.  We get out to the Goodwin Education Center and it's closed because it was a federal holiday.  So I call an 800 number in hopes that they will give me the magic gate code to let me into the area where the Painted Rock is.  They tell me that I have to reserve it a day in advance online/over the phone or get the code from the education center, which is closed.  Why couldn't the woman on the line just give me the damn number over the phone?!  What was so hard about gathering my info and giving me the code.  I should have told her I was going tomorrow and gotten a code for then to try out the day I was there.  Whatever!