When we knew we would be spending a chunk of time in Texas and, specifically, at several different state parks, we also learned that buying the annual state park pass would save a $5.00 per person per day fee every time we camped. The cost of the pass soon pays for itself with just one week-long visit by two people, obviously, since seven days would cost an extra $70 which is the cost of the pass. Plus it comes with handy pre-loaded coupons. I promptly asked to buy one as soon as we arrived at Palo Duro Canyon, our first Texas State Park. The ranger lady asked for my phone number, a question I was sure I got right, then she asked, “Who’s Katherine?” Being unprepared for that question, I blurted, “The Duchess of York?” “Well, yes,” she said, “But someone named Katherine already has a pass with that phone number.” Say what? We confirmed the number, but to no avail. Katherine, Duchess or not, was assigned a pass using my phone number. We were able to get our pass using TBG’s phone number, but what will become of Katherine when she gives her real phone number and discovers there is no pass issued using that one? Poor Katherine.
Since I last left you, my faithful hitchhikers, in the Texas panhandle, we made some stops in Texas Hill Country. The first a single-night stay in Menard at a weird county park where we did little else but start to chip away at the mountain of laundry we’d accumulated. We didn’t even walk around, not that there was anywhere to walk to, but that is highly unusual for us no matter where we are. We had no cell service or OATV, but the park’s wifi was screaming fast. Go figure.
After that, we made our way to Boerne (say Bernie) where we plunked down the big bucks to stay at an RV resort. The term “resort” in this sense means that you will get full hookups and the place will have laundry facilities (that are not included in the high price), shower facilities (that are included but are unnecessary since you have full hookups and your own shower), a pool (which will be closed for the season even if it’s still hot out), a small selection of essentials for sale (that will be outrageously overpriced), free wifi (which won’t be fast and won’t be needed since there will be great cell reception), free cable TV (that requires a cable), and sardine-style parking amongst many long-term residents. If it sounds like I’m complaining, I am but just a little. We knew all of this would be true, having availed ourselves of such “resorts” in the past, but we needed to finish that laundry, some of which I couldn’t do in our little machine, we needed the cell reception to get caught up on everything, and we had an appointment at an RV repair shop to have one of our slides adjusted. This is not to say that we didn’t manage to have a little fun in between wash cycles.
Guadalupe River State Park
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| Getting our money’s worth from the Texas State Parks Pass. |
Two nearby areas with much better hiking were inaccessible due to the recent flooding, so we had to go where we could. This park doesn’t offer a lot in the way of distance, but we took advantage of what it did have, traversing about five miles.
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| Much of the trail was through grassy areas. |
When we got back to the car, I told TBG I’d noticed the map indicated there was a bird blind down the road and I wanted to check it out. What a fortuitous decision that turned out to be! Not because there were lots of spectacular birds at the blind (there were none of any sort) but because we found the park’s raison d’être.
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| The river, of course! |
It was a wonderful treat for our hot feet, and while it wasn’t warm, what a difference from the glacial temperature of the river we were used to at Old-Home. Too bad we didn’t have our swimmy suits, as there were several people here enjoying more of a dip. Lesson learned!
Downtown Boerne
Boerne is on the outskirts of San
Antonio, and although several people thought we ought to be touring the
city, we thought otherwise. I had seen the Alamo and the Riverwalk many
years ago when I was in basic training at Lackland AFB, neither of which
I found all that impressive. Cities are also good places to spend
waste a lot of money unless you window shop, and I would rather sit in a
chair and stare at a blank wall than window shop. One friend suggested
the biking trails that skirted all the beautiful missions, and we would
have seriously considered that but TBG’s bike was out of commission
awaiting a part. So downtown Boerne it was!
The Cibolo has a Riverwalk of its own, and it was another picture-perfect day.
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| A Coy-floaty. Hair-raising! |
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| An expired snake. Spine-tingling! |
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| Maybe he was just tired of politics. Blood-curdling! |
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| Ice cream for lunch? Chilling! |
Cibolo Nature Center
While the RV was in the shop, we had the day to fill, and we did some real shopping, then headed over to check out the city park and nature center.
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| In the cypress grove. |
Garner State Park
We had a reservation, but arrived after the office was closed, which meant we got to drive around and choose a spot rather than be assigned one. That turned out to be a good thing because the parks tend to line campers up next to each other, but we were able to take a spot at the back of a loop, well away from anyone else. There wasn’t much time to do anything other than take a short walk around the camp loop. Once again, we were without cell service or OATV, though that made me happy because we got to dive back into season 2 of “Downton Abbey.”
Humidity had returned, keeping the overnight temperatures warm enough that we luxuriated in having our little side windows by the bed open all night. Oh, how I have missed warm nights the past 20+ years in the PNW.
This park was actually our second choice in the area, but our first choice was one that needed to be booked almost a year in advance because it is so popular for leaf-peeping. The weather was predicted to turn, and we decided to visit that park before really exploring the one where we were to try to stay ahead of the rain which makes soggy unappealing leaves.
Before we headed there, though, we stopped by Garner’s butterfly garden where there were still many butterflies to enjoy.
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| Pipevine Swallowtail |
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| Pink-edged Sulphur |
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| Queen |
Then we had to go pick up our General Delivery of TBG’s bike part.
General Delivery is one of the coolest things ever, especially at the little post offices that are often the only thing distinguishing an area as a town. After taking the route Napoleon to get to it because of water still covering some roadways, we made our way to
Lost Maples SNA
The sun was out by the time we arrived, but the trees, according to the employees, were just beginning their turning for the season. Part of the park was closed because of, you guessed it, recent flooding, but there was still plenty of ground to cover.
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| TBG chooses the East Trail. |
It began with some easy walking.
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| One of many Sabinal River crossings. |
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| Face off! |
Monkey Rock at Smith Rock SP, Oregon vs. Monkey Rock at Lost Maples SNA, Texas. I declare the winner to be the Lost Maples monkey because it appears to be laughing and it has an ear.
After about a mile, the climb began.
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| Yay, climbing! |
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| What that’ll get ya. |
Bigleaf Maple of Old-Home vs. Uvalde Maples of Texas.
And they say everything is bigger in Texas. Ha!
I’m going to call this contest for the Uvalde Maples, though. They were much more colorful than the Bigleaf, and the carpet of them sent up the quintessential fall fragrance.
Back to Garner we go.
The rain held off on actual Halloween, although the humidity was sliceable. As we were getting ready to go out, I espied a red bird that I assumed was a cardinal. I wasn’t even going to pick up the binoculars to verify that, but I’m glad I did because that was no cardinal.
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| Vermilion Flycatcher |
I’m going to sidetrack a moment to give a shout-out to the TPWD for their state park maps that are good quality, accurate, very informative, and have been readily available at each park we’ve visited. No other state we’ve visited has even come close in that regard.
We set out on a trail combination at Garner that we — OK, me. I planned the route, all right? — thought would take in the most sites listed on the park map.
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| The signs tell you so. |
It was a day of repetitively climbing up and down rocky hills in extreme humidity.
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| 100 year old mystery rock fence. |
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| Humid view of trail up Old Baldy. |
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| Crystal Cave |
It is permissible to go into this cave. It looked anything but inviting, though, even for Halloween. I don’t mind walking in a cave, but I’m not going to crawl into one like some kind of idiot. That’s what snakes and spiders do, no?
By this time we were both in pissy moods, and I was seriously worried that I was sweating out way more water than I had with me.
Before setting off, TBG had us throw our swimsuits in the car just in case, and that was an idea that saved the day.
It was clear and wonderful after the sticky, miserable hike. The current was strong enough that you could tread water and stay in place. It was just what the doctor ordered for tired muscles and feet. Only a few short minutes after we were back in the car, the sky finally let go.
Say, here’s a crazy little story. The next morning was sunny again but far chillier, and we got everything buttoned up for our move further south. At check-in, the ranger remarked that it was no problem to add another day since we were a day early. Say, huh? I looked at my reservation email, and sure enough, we’d left Garner a whole day early! We’d also left behind our faucet adapter and pressure regulator. How’s that for a terrifying Halloween tale?