Bastrop State Park

Change in plans! When I saw the weather forecast, I saw rain for tomorrow, and the bottom dropping out Wednesday - highs in the upper 30's! Since we are out of here next Tuesday, I decided we better get a hike in today. I'm glad we had scouted out a couple parks, I got things together and we headed to B State Park about an hour's drive from the campsite. The trail loop I've chosen is well over 7 miles, about the limit for this old man and old dog.

Here you can see the day hiking fanny pack I bought, I like it, two half liter bottles, a couple snacks, compass. The trail we hiked is the long loop on the right of the map, we parked at the trailhead about top center, took the north part of the loop first, and used the red cutoff to return. The toad on the map is endangered, I didn't see anything but a lizard and birds.

Typical Texas State Park, great big trailhead parking with a stone gazebo and a lookout, with work going on. This park is nice, and being made even nicer.

This is a hiking only trail. It is very well maintained.

There were some pretty woods here, but mostly pine. Most of the trail is packed earth with pine needle covering, great to hike on. And, wide.

Here is the intersection with the Edison Cutoff, both trails are sand for a very short bit before the intersection. Not a lot of sandy parts on the trails, though, and the sand is not too bad.

Typical wide, well maintained, pretty trail. Several places I saw recently cut trees to keep the trail wide and safe. No campfires are permitted.

Emo is showing you the pines. It smells very good back in these woods.

The trail has lots of signs. This one says mile 6. Hard to get a good focus with a dog tugging a leash, sorry.

We are almost back to the trailhead. Note Emo dragging tail.

I didn't take any pictures of the overlook. We got some more water, put on the air conditioner, stopped for gas, and got back to home. Ibuprofen for me and Tramadol for Emo. Good hike, we enjoyed it! Now, for those lazy days I had planned, with a few chores and lots of reading.

Lazy

Just been reading, playing on the internet, etc. Meeting last night in Weimar was the anniversary meeting, had birthdays of 1, 6, and 25 years. We had a decent rain here a bit ago, I can detect no leaks at all. I had caulked the front driver's side side window and a seam over the slideout by the dinette. So far, so good. I expect this RV could last as long as me, with proper maintenance.

Sis wanted another deer picture, and I thought I'd post another picture of the campsite. Thanks for the comments, keep 'em coming!

USS Lexington Museum on the Bay

My dad was on this aircraft carrier in WWII. I went to Corpus Christi Wednesday to see it, and take pictures. It sits in about 16 feet of sand, anchored in the bay. The museum is well done, and more work was underway. As always, click on any picture to see a bigger version.

It is huge. Big as 3 football fields.

You can see how big it is here, this is the walkway to the ship.

This is the hanger deck where planes were stored, as a museum it has several exhibits, a snack shop, gift shop, restrooms, etc.

I went below to see things. This is one of many stairs I climbed, narrow and steep.

One of many portals I passed through, I didn't bump me head even once!

Enlisted sailor's quarters, 3 bunks high. I'm glad I was in the Army.

Barber shop on board. Also in the museum self-guided tour was a large dental area, sick bay, machine shop, and food preparation areas. It really is a small city.

Junior Officers got a little better quarters, but not much better. At least I hear the Navy food was the best of all the services.

There were these array of gages for each side of the ship.

Lots of beautiful brass fittings, probably more covered over in paint.

Huge is all I can say about the engine room. Twin turbines and double reduction gear drives for the two propellers.

Power cables, instrumentation cables, what a huge cable bus!

The bridge.

In addition to being a ship, they had to control all the aircraft. The Lexington was used as a trainer for new pilots up into the 80's.

I have a map like this at home, it was my father's. The Lex was reported sunk by Japanese radio about 4 times.

I enjoyed the trip to Corpus Christi, about a 3 hour drive each way. I had a great lunch at Pier 99. Emo spent the day and night in a local kennel, I picked him up Thursday. Not much else to report, just day to day stuff. Meeting last night. Rain predicted for the next few days, so no long hikes, but we will walk in the preserve and I have some clean-up and such to do, washing the rig and truck, etc.

I changed my reservation, I'm going to Medina Lake TT next. I also see I am over my free days, and am being charged $5/day on my Medina reservation, it will be an additional $3/day if I get a 50 amp site. Still a bargain. Well, thanks for reading, I'll post more after a few days, I don't expect anything exciting to happen until later next week. We are out of here Feb. 8.

Busy day

We did a lot today. I went into Columbus to pick up my mail. I put a forwarding on it from Dayton to my Livingston mail forwarding service, and had Livingston send it to General Delivery in Columbus, Texas. Across from the Post Office in Columbus is the second largest live oak tree in Texas.

We also checked out a kennel, Emo will be boarded for one day and night tomorrow while I go to Corpus Christi to see the USS Lexington. It is an aircraft carrier that my Dad was on in WWII, turned into a museum. Look here for pictures later this week.

We also went to Bastrop and Bischer State Parks, and got maps. We hiked a small trail about a mile. The maps show two good day hikes, 6.8 and 7.7 miles. I am re-thinking my opinion on user fees for state parks. Ohio had a minor revolt when fees were proposed, but the parks here in Texas are an order of magnitude nicer than Ohio parks. Not that Ohio parks are bad, I love them, but it's the difference between spotless toilet facilities with hot and cold running water, and pit latrines. Campsites are nicer, trails are wide and well maintained, none of this crashing through sticker bushes. I see lots of maintenance activity, and the roads are well maintained. It is not too painful to buy a yearly ($60 in Texas) pass and present it when entering.

On the way back, I once more dropped the vegetarian routine and stopped at the oft-suggested Peter's BBQ for lunch. It was great, and prices are low. I also spoke with an older lady who was sitting at my table, we had a nice chat. Quite an enjoyable lunch.

So, big trip tomorrow (3 hours each way) to see the Blue Ghost (the Lex). I've got the dishes done and plan a salad for the President's address tonight, I'm skipping AA for him. Political theater at its finest. Ya'll take care, and thanks for the comments.

Doing well

Yesterday the depression tried to get me, but I won. I got to Wal-Mart and bought some caulk, other odds and ends, and a $10 chair that was on sale. I got the two leaks sealed, I hope. One is atop the top window above the driver's door, the other looks like the original build's bead stopped short at the edge of the dinette slideout, allowing water into the overhead storage. I may get a test of my work tomorrow.

On the way back, I stopped at a boat ramp and let stupid swim, if you call it that. He wades around getting the bottom half wet. We drove around the campground a little. I cleaned the big windshield glass on the RV and the inside glass on the truck, then I set up outside.

This campsite has a cement patio, since the weather is in the 60's I decided to set up out there. I have a rug for Emo to lay on, I can go out in stocking feet. The cheap chair actually is comfortable, I take my coffee and Sony Reader out with me. I'm reading Whitman's poems, and just bought Hemingway's short stories. I need to find something lighter to round it out, maybe some more baseball.

I always dissed outside radios on RVs, but I hooked up my Ipod to the outdoor unit on the Winnie and put on some pop stuff from the 60's and 70's, it worked out great. No music today, it just seemed better without. I did manage to find Thursday's meeting, saw a 3 legged deer in the parking lot there, and found out where tonight's (Sat.) meeting is. Only down side is I also found a good donut shop...

Here's a picture of the outdoor life, we're roughing it.

Two days at Colorado River, and pictures

We've been here two days, it's OK. AA is a bit sparse, I went to a meeting the day we arrived, Tuesday, and no local meeting on Wed., Fri., Sun., or Mon. I'll try to find the meeting tonight, Thursday, it is out in the sticks and I only have sketchy directions. It was a good little discussion Tuesday, a bit unwieldy, but OK.

There are a few dirt roads here that are little traveled, enough walking in the park to keep us in shape. I do want to get to the state parks near here, but for now I'm trying to stay in the campground as much as I can. I have a couple leaks to caulk, some reading to do, day to day activities, and such. We are stocked up on groceries and have everything we need.

Click on any picture to see a larger version. Moving day also means cleanup, as everything needs to be put away and secured for travel, so it was a good time to get picture inside the rig.

There are a ton of tame deer in the park, I just know Emo would love to herd them.

Kitchen

Living area. The chair on the right is a recliner, and it is comfortable. It can be moved around.

The sofa has a footrest I use as a table. It also reclines, to full flat to make a bed. The picture is older than the others, this is how I usually have it set up.

Here you can see the dinette where I do computer stuff.

There is another TV in the bedroom with a small table.

The mirror you see is a huge closet. Additional storage to the right of it. Tons of room in here.

Another closet with two big drawers underneath. Here is where I have my clothes, I am not even using the other huge closet. There are also overhead storage compartments over the head of the bed, where I keep t-shirts and hats.

Shower is huge. 10 gallon water heater.

So, we are all set. I've finished reading Crazy '08 about the 1908 baseball season, and Bustin' 'Em by Ty Cobb, and I started William James' Varieties of Religious Experiences. The James' book might take a while, I have some other stuff I also want to dig into. Some lighter stuff. And, I have to keep Emo on a leash with all these deer around. Later.

We're here

Arrived safely at the Thousand Trails Colorado River Preserve. Got satellite Radio and TV going, internet obviously, water, electric, and sewer. Emo enjoys moving day. Now to stock up some groceries, we'll be set. I'm in one of the new sites, it's level with extra gravel, nice wood border, and a cement slab with a picnic table. Folks next door have a few flowers out to look at. Well, gotta go. Leave a comment if you want, I do read them, thanks, Tom, I hope you marched yesterday.

Reservations made

I reserved campsites until my return to Ohio. All Thousand Trails preserves.

Jan. 18 - Feb. 8 - Colorado River TT

Feb. 8 - March 1 - Lake Texoma TT

March 1 - March 17 - Natchez Trace TT

That's a long drive March 1st, 634 miles, but it's almost all interstate highway. I'll find a place to set up for a month in Ohio, until the Wilmington TT opens March 15th.

Plans, and Mission Tejas State Park

It was a grey, chilly, drizzly day today. I took Emo for a short walk in the campground, and decided I needed to get out for a hike. We were going to hike in the forest, but the combination of weather and some ambiguity about the trailhead lead me to change plans on the fly.

We had already done a good deal of driving, stopped about 3 times to mess around. I found a forest road route to a state park I hadn't seen yet, so away we went. Glad I did, for two reasons.

I detoured to look at a campground which was just a bunch of places to pull into the woods, pitch a tent, and build a fire, no facilities at all. Hunter camps. But, while heading there I got an idea. I have thought about being able to go places you can't go in a 38 foot Class A, that maybe having a camper shell or something would be great. Well, with my little truck and tonneau cover, I think what I will do when I get back to Ohio is put all my camping gear (or enough of it) in the bed of the truck. I think I will still have room for the motorcycle hitch carrier when it is removed. When we want to go to do some serious car camping back in a forest, all I'll have to do is stock provisions, store the RV for a week, and away we go! Best of both worlds!

The park we finally got to surprised me, in a good way. I got more than I knew with my Texas Parks Pass, the "State Historical Parks" are, well, parks. I thought they might just be a building or something, but this park has campsites, trails, etc. We went down a short trail that led to the only part of the El Camino Real footpath that allows public access. Not a long one, but uphill on the way back. The old man did get a little exercise.

Click on any picture to make it bigger. First is a shelter built by the CCC.

Description of the CCC work done in the 30's.

There is a nice, wide trail leading to the El Camino Real.

Here's the original footpath traveled by Boone, Crockett, Houston, and many others.

This will probably be my last post until next Tuesday or Wednesday, after we get set-up at Colorado River Thousand Trails. I've enjoyed my stay here at Lake Conroe, I plan to make it a regular stop.

Some rig pictures

Here are a few pictures of the 2004 Winnebago Adventurer 38G I traded for. Click on one to make it bigger. I love the rig, me 'n' Emo are livin' large!

In the back row with a couple other Class A motorhomes:

View from the side window, here's where I sit at the computer. That's an XM radio at the bottom.

View out the front. There are shades for night time.

View out the door. Note the little plastic bags on the picnic table. We scoop.

Park Pictures

Here are some pictures of the Thousand Trails Preserve Lake Conroe. We will finish our 3 week stay next Tuesday. I've enjoyed the area, and the preserve has all the things we need, plus a lot we didn't use. Thousand Trails Preserves are gated, there is usually a Ranger in the little shack through the day, and they give campers a gate code for after hours.

Click on any picture to see a bigger version.

Below is one of two small fishing ponds, catfish pond. The preserve also has a storage area for boats and a boat ramp, a small store open seasonally, like a marina.

A view of some of the campsites. They have a decent amount of distance between them.

There is an activity center with a big TV, a small store, and laundry facilities. Also, gym equipment, an adult activity room with a pool table, and a large covered area with picnic tables. Basketball, horseshoes, tennis, and miniature golf. Everything is well maintained.

Here you can see one of two large areas used as dog runs. It is about a quarter mile by maybe 500 feet, a nice long walk off leash. We used it several times.

Last, here's the view from my door. I parked by the field for Emo's night time excursions.