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7 June 2013
We drove to Buescher State Park today. The drive wasn’t very far at all, and we made it here in about an hour. This is a much smaller park than the last few we’ve been at and more off the beaten path it seems. The park consists of the “Lost Pines”, a large growth of Loblolly Pines, the westernmost range of these trees in the US. They are separated from the other pines of this type by over one hundred miles. Hence the name “Lost Pines”. There is a 25 acre lake here that my friend Bob advised me had trout, so I’m going to have to give them a try. The weather has been hot, in the 90’s during the day. If you stay in the shade it is bearable. The nights cool down nicely to the upper 60’s or low 70’s. Gypsy is settling in, and is not trying to run away any longer. She’s been getting her naps in more often, so that helps I think. We had some fantastic Texas steaks off the grill last night. Might as well have them while the getting to good, right?
I have noticed during this trip, that the parks we have gone to have consisted mostly of local Texans, hardly any out of state people. Kim thinks it’s because we’re off the main highways or easy access from the major interstates. Along with this we haven’t seen motorcycle touring hardly at all. Maybe more motorcycles, the further west we go. Our last trip took in many of the largest National Parks and most popular scenic routes and that probably attracted more motorcycle cruisers. We both like this part of Texas with rolling hills, plenty of small rivers and creeks but yet still large expanses of farming of hay, corn and pastures. Another thing we noticed is that everyone waves as a greeting as you pass by, a very nice gesture and friendly. That is something not often seen in Florida.
8 June 2013 Buescher State Park, Texas
9 June 2013 Inks Lake, Texas
A long drive time-wise because of the hilly and twisty roads in the hill country got us to our destination of Inks Lake. It’s almost like a resort type park with a concession, small restaurant, and kayak and canoe rentals. There are many coves with campsites around them, about 200 if I recall. The coves were small enough to protect from a long fetch of wind, so many were out paddling around, swimming and boating. We woke up, and it was already going to be a hot day. We went swimming; the water was cool, clean and clear. We even took Gypsy in for a bit. Most of the time I held her, and her little doggie feet kept paddling, but she wasn’t swimming, just going through the motions. I did let her swim all the way back to shore, and she was very proud of herself. She shook herself off friskily, lifted her head and tail high, and looked around expectantly awaiting applause for her heroic deeds. The poor thing can’t hear even if they did, so she issued a low growl to a dog 10 times her size a good 50 yards away. I told her she was acting ridiculous. She reminded me that if she wasn’t such a strong swimmer then how did I stay out there so long, and couldn’t I remember being pulled to shore at the end of her leash just now?
The day ended with an absolutely beautiful afternoon and evening. Kim and I walked across the grass and I fished a little. Kim and Gypsy enjoyed the breeze and sunset. I caught a small white bass. They are aggressive little things, attacking lures fully half their size. They look just like largemouth bass, without the dark bands on their sides. One of the many places I wish we could stay a bit longer, but with having to make reservations at some of the best parks in Texas, we had to move on. Heck, there is always the trip back.
We’re of the mind to always discover new and beautiful places, but we always hold out that it sure would be nice to return to some. In that way we can take more advantage of the things we really like to do and appreciate about a specific park.
10-11 June 2013 Inks Lake, Texas
12-13 June 2013 Guadalupe State Park, Texas
This park is listed as one of the top ten parks in Texas. We heartily agree. It is located in our favorite part of Texas so far, the hill country, and is a natural wild river without a dam upstream of the park. The river is subject to flash flooding. The geology is fantastic with abundant limestone layers that percolate the groundwater down to aquifers used by the cities of Texas. We took a walk down the river and walked along a river trail until we came to a spot with two large tabletop rocks poking above the water. The water was cool and clear so we went in. Sitting there, cooling off and looking at the beauty of the cliffs and trees we both decided this was one of our favorites. After a little while a family came floating/wading down the river and we all talked of how nice life was with things like this to be doing.
14-15-16 June 2013 Lost Maples State Park, Texas A long and twisty road with more and steeper hills took us south to Lost Maples State Park. During the last ice-age, even though Texas wasn’t covered by the glaciers, the climate was quite different and allowed the growth of maple trees. As the glaciers retreated, the weather and mountains in this small part of Texas allowed many maple trees to survive and continue to flourish. It was quite overcast when we arrived, and rained in the evening. The park is small with only 30 campsites, but with many hiking trails and tree covered rugged terrain. It almost resembles parts of the Smoky Mountains. The weather is actually cool. The nearest town is 20 miles away and the park is surrounded by horse, goat and pig ranches.
The terrain is too rocky and the correct vegetation too sparse to support large herds of cattle. There is no cell phone or internet service here, no sounds of overhead aircraft passing or motorists on the highway. When we were checking into the park, at the headquarters, I was asking about the local area and its history. A man behind me spoke up and said I was in luck today because he had just written a book about the history of every state park and historical site in Texas. He was here to distribute his book and a magazine he and his wife had just written. I bought the book and he offered to sign it and said it would add about 5 cents to the value of it. His name is Allan C. Kimball and has written more than a few books about Texas including: Texas Redneck Roadtrips, Big Bend, The Legend of Fort Leaton, Texas Museums, Texas Walks and Who is Mother Neff and Why is she a State Park.
We got all set for hiking, and headed up to some small ponds that formed from the river, which now was a creek. The water was exceptionally clean and clear. About a mile in we came to a ridge with a pool at the base and surrounded by huge maple trees. It was deep and dropped off quickly. Someone was just floating on their back and a couple of backpackers had packed in their tents. It was like in a story book. The water was clear but black from being in the shade, deep and at the base of the cliff. There are Guadalupe bass here; a subspecies of largemouth bass. We saw a couple swimming close in, but they were in
no mood to take anything I offered. Luckily I had brought along some night crawlers I had purchased at Inks Lake, and I landed bluegill one after another. A couple hours later we hiked back home for dinner. Today Kim wanted to hike the Lost Maples trail. The weather was a little cooler than yesterday, and made for perfect hiking weather. The trail took us through a valley covered with maple trees and huge rocks from the cliffs above and those that had rolled down during flash floods. Small clear pools of crystal clear water where everywhere and the trail criss-crossed a creek through its entire length. The prior day I had met a photographer who was a birder and was seeking a few very rare species that still live here, so we were on the lookout for them. We had good luck in that we came across a bird feeder and one of the rare birds happened to be there. I forget the name, but its body was bright yellow, wings dark almost black and its head was capped in black. We also had a chance to see an Indigo Bunting and Gold Cheeked warblers and a few hummingbirds. Also high up on the wall face of the cliff, was a huge Red-tailed hawk nest with two very grown up fledglings in it. Not bad for a couple of amateurs. We had a successful hike. After dinner we walked down to one of the pools of the creek and had a cool and refreshing dip to end another great day. Tomorrow we head off to Granger State Park. This trip is getting better by the day.
15 June 2013K-Bob’s right this is a nice little park. There is lots of scenery and wild life. I really like the Hill Country part of Texas the best. It can be 91 and cool in the shade, the hills are covered in green trees and bushes but you feel like you are in the desert. Gypsy enjoyed sitting in the shade of our campsite just smelling the air.
June 17, 18, 19
K-We had a short drive south to Garner State Park today. The Frio River is here and it’s one of the most popular places to be. This park has over 500 camping sites just to give you an idea of how large it is. I had to take a number just to check in. Family’s have been coming here for there vacations for years. One camper had a flag that said that they had been coming to the park since 1961.
The CCC, back in the 1930’s constructed an outdoor stone dance pavilion and invited local girls to the dance. The tradition continues today and we saw some cowboys and cowgirls all dressed up sizing each other up. Bob gets a kick out of the girls wearing their shorts and their cowboy boots. We walked around and enjoyed the nice evening. We started talking to a man who gave us a lot of information about the area. I’ll let Bob tell you more about him. I’m looking forward to getting in the river tomorrow.
The Frio River is similar to the Guadalupe, but is a bit deeper and wider. All along the banks are huge cypress trees and many swing ropes that hang over the water to swing on and plunge into it. Some places are deep. It seems, for Texans this is the place to be for a long vacation. Rafts, tubes, floating coolers, floating boom boxes and people are all out on the river together. Kyaks and paddle boats going everywhere. We went to the river and basically would get to where the water was sufficient depth to be completely covered, and walk the length of the river just watching, cooling down and enjoying the
atmosphere.
Each night they hold a dance at the pavilion. Many of the families set up around the perimeter of the dance area, the music plays and the Texas two-step becomes the order of the night. The girls tend to sit off by themselves just wainting for a cowboy to ask them to dance, which usually happens. I think the cowgirls are cute, they try to get that Cristy Brinkley look going on, you know, the one with the Daisy dukes and cowgirl boots. You’ll even see little girls with their swimming suits on and wearing cowboy boots. They love them to death. It is fascinating to be right in the middle of this culture. Its fun, clean and definitely part of their history.
We met Constable McCullough who was moonlighting as security at the dance. He is 71 years old and has some great stories. His grandfather was a Texas Ranger, and his father was a Federal River Rider. I can’t really impugn his reputation by writing a few of the stories he told, but rest assured, it definitely was a ride-em cowboy shoot-em-up country back when them honchos were around. The weather has been great, cool in the morning, warm during the day, and cool again in the evening. The bugs haven’t been bad at all.
We took a drive south of here, recommended by Constable McCullough, and drove down to Cancon for lunch to a famous place that has been run by the same family since the 1920’s. We headed further south to a ranch road the cut off and traveled it for a good 15 miles. It meandered through hills and crossed and recrossed streams. One of the former governor’s homes is located on this stretch along with a few homes and the rest ranches. It is a beautiful and remote area, but no phone service at all. Many of the ranches are high fence ranches where they raise deer and exotic African animals for hunters and has become a huge business and money maker in this part of Texas.
20 June 2013 N Llano RV Park, Texas
This only our second commercial RV park on this trip so far. We couldn’t get reservations for Llano River State Park until tomorrow. We had to do some shopping and laundry, so it has worked out well. The park is located just off Interstate 10 and Hwy 83 in Junction, Texas. It is located right on the Llano river and right off of I-10, so it is an ideal and convenient stop for all east-west bound RV traffic. As with most commercial RV parks, there seem to be mostly large RV’s and fifthwheels. This part of the river isn’t good for swimming, but they have a laundry and a pool and internet, so it will do perfectly for us. We went to dinner in town and took care of the grocery shopping. Now its time to relax. Kim is going to get reservations for some future parks.
21 June 2013
We went to Brady Lake. It doesn’t deserve to be written about. But, if it saves someone from wasting their fuel and time, I’ll mention that it is not worth a darn. It is ill-kept, and unsightly. It was more like a heavily used overlooked reststop on the side of a highway. If we knew better how it was to be, we would have bypassed it. I’m surprised we didn’t get a flat tire just driving through the campground. We headed out immediately the next morning.
22 June 2013
Lake Brownwood, Texas. We actually didn’t even stop to see how bad this place was. We were so disappointed by the previous stop, that our minds changed just being in the vicinity. Somehow it had the same type aura as the previous night. We slowed down enough to say we wouldn’t like it, and kept on the road to our intended next stop, Abilene State Park.
Abilene State Park I’m glad we came this far today. Even though it was full and we had to set up in and overflow area, it is a nice park, which is typical of most Texas state parks. The regular camp sites are very nice and shaded in heavily wooded areas of mesquite and acacia trees. The park is situated close to the city of Abilene, so there are many local campers. The weather has been excellent; hot in the sun, but in the shade it is nice because of the wind. We are entering the area where one will see many wind turbines generating electricity because of the constant wind.
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