Author Archives: Jill and Bud

Bud enjoyed yesterday’s walk on the Maple Trail, so I asked him if he might like to walk the mile trail to a day use pond area. He and Matey could wait there while I walked another mile and a half to an overlook. He agreed.

We started out before 9. It was less than 50 degrees, but the day was going to get hot, so we wanted to walk early.

We took the East Trail to the Ponds, along Can Creek.

There were several places where you could use stepping stones or walk in the water.

Matey chose the water route and took plenty of opportunities for drinks.

It was a nice level path and the sun on our backs felt good.

We passed a dam. Above the dam was just rubble, but the water was flowing out a pipe at the base of the dam. I don’t know if it was an old dam that had filled in or if it was built to keep the rocks and trees that washed down in floods from coming any further downstream.

Further upstream the creek was flowing nicely.

Right at a mile, as promised, we came to a large pond.

I left Bud and Matey sitting on a bench, in the shade.

I will admit, I wasn’t sure how far I would go.

The next section of trail started like this, and this wasn’t the part labeled “steep” on the map.

I was getting pretty high, but I still didn’t think I’d gotten to the steep part, so I kept going.

When I got this far, I was pretty sure this was steep. This was in front of me,

and this was behind me. It wasn’t so bad, so I kept going.

Looking back from near the top the trail just dropped from view.

At the top was a side trail for primitive camping area B. What a trek to haul your gear up here, but what a lovely, remote spot.

Now the trail was level and I made good time.

I stopped at one place where I could see the valley we’d walked up, but that wasn’t the official overlook.

After more than a half mile I came to the side trail to the overlook.

And there it was.

I took a break to have a drink and mark the moment and then headed back.

Along the way I found a spot where I could look down on the pond. Bud and Matey were down in those trees.

Going down the steep part I passed this young woman on her way up to camp at area B. After she’d passed me I thought to ask if I could take her picture and she obliged. I was impressed, although there was a time when I would camp alone.

But I was happy to come back to Bud and Matey and I was very glad that they walked the first and last mile of the hike with me.

Jack and Sharon went home and we’ve moved on. We have a nice site here at Lost Maples State Natural Area.

This is pretty much the middle of nowhere in hill country Texas. The nearest town, Leakey ( pronounced Lakey) is a half hour drive away.

It is lovely and quiet,

although the park was full Friday and Saturday nights, including this group of boys in tents that took six sites. They weren’t noisy, though, and they weren’t near us, so that was fine.

The park is along the Sabinal River, which right now is quiet, but you can see that like all the rivers in the hill country, it floods.

They build the bridges here so the flood water will just flow over them, and not wash them out. This is the park road, but you see bridges like this on secondary highways all over hill country.

It’s a bit cooler in this high valley and the live oaks are larger.

And this microclimate supports Bigtooth Maples, which 10,000 years ago, when things were cooler, grew all over the area. Now this is one of the pockets where they remain, and one of just a few places on public land.

In the fall these little leaves are brightly colored…

and the short Maple Trail is very popular.

It is still a pretty trail. Matey and I walked it yesterday and brought Bud along it today.

Bud noticed this maple that they have walled up, probably to protect it from the floods.

You return via the East Trail, which is easy walking.

It does cross the river several times, but above the confluence of Can Creek, and in this weather, you don’t need to worry about getting your feet wet.

So far I’ve just been walking Matey, sometimes in his stroller, up to the day use area, less than a mile on the park road. Then we’ve hiked the short Maple Trail. There are some nice trails I hope to do in the next two days; sure wish Jack was still with us. It’s nicer to walk with a friend.

Jack had asked me to think about a trail I might like to hike while they were at Pedernales Falls State Park with us. I had thought that one day we’d do a pretty substantial hike.

But Jack is a walker, he makes me seem like a slacker. So Tuesday afternoon, once they were set up, he suggested a quick hike.

Sharon took us out past the entrance, to the Madrone Trail and we proceeded to hike back towards camp, first on the Madrone Trail and then on the Juniper Ridge Trail.

This is rough country but the trails were not bad.

There were a couple of lookouts,

and some interesting formations.

When we were on the other side of this valley I had looked across and wondered if we would climb up here. Well we took a long loop and eventually got here, but through the junipers, so it never seemed like that long a climb.

But it was getting late, so we ended up cutting up to the park road and having Bud come and pick us up at the overlook by park headquarters.

We had walked almost six and a half miles.

This morning we decided to go down to the falls and hike back from there. Bud drove us down, Sharon came along and walked down to the overlook. Bud walked further, down the steps to the riverbed.

When you walk out on these rocks you can see where the river goes. It cuts through this channel,

continues down this chute,

and exits into the Cypress Pool.

Bud went back and Jack and I scrambled upstream…

making our way through the boulders.

This looks deceptively flat. Just beyond those rocks is a 20 foot drop off where the river has carved a channel.

Not far from here we found another set of stairs that took us right back up to the overlook where we’d started. Then we found the trail to actually start our hike back!

We went west along the river…

until we came to a large pool.

From here the trail cut up the bank…

and eventually came to a broad trail straight south along the park boundary. We then walked out a maintenance road, took a bit of a wrong turn towards the swimming access, cut through the path Matey and I have walked two mornings from the picnic area to the campground and at about 1:30 got back to camp, having walked just over four and a half miles.

We still hadn’t done the trail I had picked out, so we decided we’d have time to do it after lunch. That one started at the low water crossing of the river. Jack just walked through in his hiking boots, but I took the time to put on water shoes, which I then left on an old towel pinned down with rocks. I would put them back on when we came back across.

The reason I wanted to do this trail is because it led to overlooks that gave the best views in the park. This is the hill country overlook.

and yes, it was a nice view,

and we stopped to take it in.

Back down the trail a bit,

we came to the river view.

and we both agreed,

that made the long uphill worth it.

Back down we went, and back across the river, and back to camp, having walked another four and a half miles.

I still walked Matey his two miles, and Tuesday had already taken him another mile in the stroller before Jack and Sharon arrived. So Tuesday I walked about nine and a half miles and today almost eleven. I don’t think I could do this every day, but it sure has been fun to do some serious walking with Jack.

When Jack and Sharon got here on Tuesday they were able to get a nice site that shared a “back yard” with ours.

On Wednesday we drove the short distance to Johnson City and the National and State Parks at the Lyndon B. Johnson Ranch. Part of the State Park is the Sauer Beckmann Living History Farm.

There you can see what life was like for the German immigrants who settled this area.

There were sheep and chickens loose in the farmyard.

The farm is still run as it would have been in 1918, when the Beckmann’s bought it from the Sauer’s.

This is the kitchen in the small cabin first built by the Sauer’s.

Later they built a 2 story structure next to the cabin to accommodate their 10 kids. When the Beckmann’s bought the farm they converted the downstairs girls’ bedroom into a kitchen. Having only three kids they didn’t need all that sleeping space. Their old wood fired stove is still used every day on the farm.

Eventually they constructed a Victorian house next to the other two buildings.

Once we’d toured the farm we did a driving tour of the LBJ Ranch, this part of the property is a National Park. This is the schoolhouse that Lyndon Johnson attended as a child. His mother had taught him the alphabet and some reading as a toddler, so at her request he started school at four.

We drove through the ranch past his grandparents’ final house and a couple of guest houses. At the back of the property we stopped at the show barn. The Johnsons raised Hereford cattle, and Herefords are still raised at the ranch.

The tour then went back towards the front of the property where we passed “Air Force 1/2”. This was a small jet fitted out to bring the President from a nearby airport that could accommodate “Air Force One” to the smaller runway at the ranch.

Unfortunately the main house on the ranch, the Western White House, is being renovated and is closed for now, so this was the end of our tour. It was still interesting and informative.

By then it was mid afternoon. We had a great late lunch at a Mexican restaurant in Johnson City and later just had snacks around the campfire. Just after dark a bit of rain passed through, so our very nice day ended abruptly.

Four of the five times we’ve headed out from Hot Springs after Christmas we’ve headed southwest and one of our first stops has been in the Austin area so we can visit Jack and Sharon. Here we are, again, enjoying a meal at their house.

The first time we came through Jack suggested we camp at McKinney Falls State Park, which is located right on the southeast edge of Austin. We did and liked it. The next time Jack suggested we try Pedernales Falls State Park, but I couldn’t get reservations, so we stayed a bit further away at Blanco State Park.

Last year I tried again but the campground at Pedernales Falls was closed for upgrades, so we stayed at McKinney Falls State Park a second time.

This year I was finally able to book a site here, at Pedernales Falls State Park, and it is now my favorite campground near Jack and Sharon. I like seeing deer instead of other RV’s out my window.

There are a lot of interesting trails, some quite rugged,

and some wide and easy.

Matey and I saw a family of pigs along this trail. Sorry, no photo of them, I did not want mama pig to think we were going to interfere with her babies; we walked quickly and quietly past them.

Right now the river is broad and shallow, but this is the Texas hill country that’s prone to flash floods.

These tree roots look like they’ve held on through some fast water.

This afternoon we walked down to look at the falls. The river bed here is a huge expanse, scoured from past floods.

There are interesting rock formations and pools left behind. Can you see the tiny people down there in the rocks? When it floods this whole area runs full and fast.

This is a pool along a creek that feeds the river. It is secluded and serene, quite a contrast to the river falls.

But small path or park road, river, stream or grassy hills, there is beauty everywhere. Tomorrow Jack and Sharon are coming here to camp for the last three nights of our stay. I’m looking forward to having them guide us to see more of this grand state park.

I know Matey needs to walk in the morning and so yesterday, even though when we started out he was not enthusiastic, I took him on the 2 mile loop around the recreation area and along Lake Conroe. He did not appreciate this spectacular view,

but by the time we got near the lake he was full of pep.

I was concerned because the day before we saw the trail that cuts through the center of the loop was closed. On the map I saw creeks and bridges on both that trail and the loop and was hoping the loop trail was open.

We had to cross two downed logs, which only increased my worry, as these trails are usually cleared.

The trail was otherwise pretty nice.

I stopped to admire the morning sun on the trees and Spanish moss. Again, Matey was not impressed.

We came to the far end of the cross trail and that was also blocked, so I was encouraged, as the main loop had no barriers (except those logs).

At about a mile and a half we came to the bridges on the main loop, although a bit slanted they were sound.

I was glad we didn’t have to find a way across the little creeks off trail. Nor would I have wanted to make Matey walk the mile and a half back.

Instead we soon came to the campground loops and in just under two miles we were back. Matey hadn’t really wanted to go, but he enjoyed it and it was good for him.

In the afternoon I was just lazing in the camper. Matey got restless. I knew he couldn’t walk again, so Bud and I got the stroller out and put together and I took him for a walk down to the boat ramp and dock.

I got to see more of the area…

and the lake.

We walked the roads through both campsite loops in the bright afternoon sun. We went about two more miles. I hadn’t really wanted to go, but I enjoyed it and it was good for me.

Today we came back to our itinerary, for a four night stay at Cagle Recreation Area on Lake Conroe in the Sam Houston National Forest. They had some sleet here, with remnants that still remain with the cold temperatures.

But we are well west and south of any power outages in Texas.

Had we stayed at Cypress Bend Camp we may have been in trouble. Sabine County, where we were, had 50% of customers lose power and over 20% are still without power. So we did dodge the storm.

But in doing so, I almost forgot that our 250th different campground visited since we started full time, was now Bayou Marino RV Park in Westlake, LA.

This lovely National Forest Campground is now number 251. And today, when we set up camp, it was the 296th time we’ve done that in just over four years of full time travel. We move a lot.

It is nice to be back in a public park with room and trails.

Ice drops were still clinging to the needles, leaves and twigs, it was only about 30 degrees.

But 30 degrees in sunshine and trees feels a lot better than 34 degrees under clouds on city streets.

This morning the weather forecast turned ominous. Cypress Bend Park was now firmly within an ice storm warning area. We were daunted by the “expect power outages” portion of this warning. It was still above freezing and just misting, so we decided to quickly pack up and move south.

And here we are, at Bayou Marino RV Park in Westlake, LA close to I-10.

I called this small, commercial park while we were driving south. We made all the arrangements via text.

After we were set up my contact texted me this photo and asked if I liked the park. They must have a camera on one of the posts.

The park backs up on the bayou, which is pretty enough.

The neighborhood is fairly blah,

as is the view from the dinette window.

But I have a decent view out the back window where I do dishes (those are egrets in the tree across the bayou).

And best of all, the forecast is for possible slick roads, but no power outages!

We are now at Cypress Bend Park on the Toledo Bend Reservoir near Many, LA. Wednesday morning, before we left to come here, I got a call from the gatehouse here asking if we knew the weather forecast and if we were still planning to come.

Yes, we know the forecast, and yes, we still came. Where we are now, the blue dot, is in the area expected to get a glazing to a quarter inch of ice from winter storm Fern. And if I were choosing a weekend to take off in my trailer this is not the time or place I’d choose. But since we will be in the trailer no matter what, this seems as good a place as any nearby to be. In fact, rather than try to drive on Sunday I extended our stay here by a day, so we don’t leave until Monday.

This reservoir is renowned for its bass fishing,

but not too many fishermen are out there now.

So far it’s been very drippy and very gloomy, but well above freezing.

The reservoir is interesting, if not inviting.

This is a pretty nice place, with pavilions,

and a fishing pier.

There’s a picnic area,

a beach,

and a playground.

It has 10 very nice cabins, all empty now.

There are 64 campsites, almost all with full hookups.

Ours is right along the reservoir.

But considering the forecast,

The view out our window might be what we appreciate the most.

Friday we came back to Lincoln Parish Park in Ruston, LA. And though I still enjoyed the walking and mountain biking trails, and the infrastructure they have built to accommodate both,

I was dismayed to see that by Saturday afternoon every site along the reservoir was occupied. And it was cloudy.

Sunday dawned clear and cold. It’s hard to tell but there’s ice on the shallow water here. We made the best of it, but the only view out our dinette window was the huge motorhome next to us. We kept the shade down.

Then this morning everyone left!

We have our lovely terraced site…

all to ourselves.

Then I realized, today is MLK Jr. day and all the folks who came camping for the three day weekend had to go home today. It’s nice to be the ones who get to stay!