Palmetto State Park: Spring Break 2012

Well spring break finally got here. Of course, it went by as fast as anything. Today is Friday, which means all we have left is your basic weekend. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.

We headed off for Palmetto State Park on Tuesday morning. N2S and I had planned on being at Storm's house at 9:00, but just as we were leaving, Rachel asked if I could figure out why the downstairs TV didn't have any sound unless you played a DVD. I asked her if she had changed anything in the menu, whether she had tried any other channels, and whether or not she had shut everything down and restarted it. She said she had, so I played with the wires. I even went upstairs and got the wires off the loft's TV, but nothing worked. I decided to completely turn off the cable box, but it was taking so long to reset itself that N2S and I went ahead and got our stuff in the truck. Rachel had the upstairs TV, and I would call for service when we got home from our trip. As we were getting stuff in the garage, we suddenly heard TV blaring through the wall. Restarting the cable box the second time seemed to have done the trick.

We grabbed Storm, got a tank of gas, and went to get the trailer at Packrats. I explained to both boys exactly what I needed them to do to help me back up to the hitch, since my tennis ball system doesn't work with this lower one. It took awhile to get it done with my getting out of the truck and looking for myself a few times. They didn't seem to understand that the ball of the hitch needed to be directly under the round part of the receiver.

Once hitched, everything went well. Traffic was a bit heavy on I10 the whole way, but not enough to stop our progress. We checked in at the park headquarters just before noon. Then we drove over to the campground, where we were assigned site #17 right across from the park host.

Backing the trailer into site #17 was not a good experience. There was a tree in the way, and there was nowhere to pull ahead and straighten out. The boys tried to guide me in, but they just didn't seem to understand what I needed from them. One of the park hosts, a wonderful lady from Gonzales, gave us some help. Even then it was kind of hard. At one point, I was following her directions and heard a strange little noise. I stopped and asked her what it was. She said, “Oh you just jackknifed a little bit.” Well that little bit put a little dent in the Colby T. (I told the boys we needed to put a bandaid on it.) I just couldn't be bothered about that little dent. Those things just don't upset me like they used to. Anyway, we finally got backed in and set up.

It took a few minutes to get everything put where I wanted it in the Colby T. I was disappointed that I did not find scissors in my toolbox. Rachel told me she had bought me some when she bought it and all the little tools for it. I don't know where they went to. I needed them to cut the Velcro for hanging my “Welcome to the Colby T.” sign and a few other things I had in mind. Storm produced a huge murder weapon of a hunting knife from his back pack, but it cut too jaggedly for my tastes. I told the boys to remind me to get a pair of scissors at Buc-ee's.

So, okay... I have said before that there was a slightly bigger trailer with bunks that was almost the same price. I didn't buy it because it didn't have that “I LOVE” it feeling I got when I first walked into my model. I said that I was buying for ME, not the people who might occasionally join me. I am going to stand by that. We had plenty of room on this trip. Yes, we had to shift things around every once in awhile, dependent on our activity, but we were not too cramped in the space. That said- I will like the trips by myself even more. There were so many shoes and things all over the place, that it did make me a little nuts.

We decided to go on to Buc-ee's to get some lunch. It is only about five miles from the campground. I had planned on getting them two meals there during our trip. I love the place. This time, however, it was a crowded nightmare. Coming from the state park, we were able to drive right in to the parking lot. Coming from the highway, there was a line of cars about 100 long waiting to get in. There was also a bottlenecked area of the parking lot where cars were trying to get back out to the highway. Fortunately, we were turning right when we left, and there was no waiting. Inside the store, I instantly got that awful NIOSA crowd feeling. You couldn't walk more than five steps without someone either stopping in front of you or crossing your path and nearly colliding with you. The place was a frapping madhouse!

The boys each grabbed whatever food they were planning to eat for lunch. I bought some peppered dried beef and a huge sack of jerky. I was happy because they were both zero carb products. A lot of the jerky out there has sugar in it. Anyway, as soon as we were able, we got out of there. The moral of that little story is: Don't go to Buc-ee's close to lunch time!

We went back to the Colby T. and ate our lunch in the cool comfort of air conditioning. It was about 80 degrees at the park, but the humidity was unbelievable! Palmetto State Park is in the middle of the Ottine Swamp. That and the San Marcos River running right through it can make for some really humid conditions this time of year. When I camped there last summer in the popup, everything was so dried up that humidity was no issue. I like this better. I'll say more about it later.

After lunch, we decided to go fishing at Oxbow Lake. You can either cross the San Marcos River and walk over, or get in the truck and drive around to it. We opted for the walk, but the river was about a foot over the walkway. That is normal, and it is safe to cross. N2S and I, however, did not want to get our feet wet and then hike to the lake with soggy shoes. He and I both have very delicate skin on our feet. Storm went ahead and walked over and was waiting for us when we got there by truck. It really didn't matter how you got there- fishing was a waste of time. The lake was really muddy from a helacious thunderstorm they had a day or two earlier.

I didn't even bother to fish. I took pictures and enjoyed the awesome feeling of blistering sun for the first time this year. I am not being facetious. I love that feeling of the hot sun hitting my skin. I know it is bad for me, but I still like it. Face it folks- We all have some things that are bad for us that we like just the same. The boys drowned about two worms each over about 90 minutes. They actually stuck with it longer than I would have. Storm had the only catch. Somehow, he managed to hook a nasty disgusting washcloth that had been sitting on the bottom of the lake rotting for what could have been years. It was GROSS!

After awhile, even the boys got tired of fishing, so we headed back to the Colby T. N2S and I changed into shorts, and we hit the trails. We hiked for over ninety minutes at a pretty good pace. This is where I am going to talk about the humidity again. Last summer, the park was completely dry. The only water I saw there was the San Marcos River and Oxbow Lake. The river was so low that I walked across it with the water about two feet below the little walking bridge. The swampy areas along the trails were bone dry. The palmettos were dry and even brown in some spots. It was still beautiful in the dry heat of July. The theme for this trip, however, was moisture. The swamps were filled up with water. Creeks and streams were flowing under all the trail bridges. Low spots on the trail were wet or actually puddled. Since everything is crushed granite, there is no mud. The air around you on the trails is heavy and humid. Life was abundant. Insects were buzzing, birds were singing, and spring flowers were showing off everywhere you looked.

I don't like to get all preachy. I am an ordained minister. Did ya'll know that? Just the same, I usually keep my mouth shut when it comes to spiritual thoughts unless I am talking to a fellow believer whom I have a closer relationship with. Not today- Sit down and listen! Reverend Jim is about to preach. You people who are bothered by that type of thing have my permission to skip the rest of this paragraph. Okay... Last warning... Here I go: Walking on the trails of Palmetto State Park with all their lush beauty, I could not help but feel the awesome presence of my Creator. Science be damned! I can not and will not believe that all the beautiful balances of nature that I was witnessing on my hikes were unplanned. Okay... that wasn't so bad was it. I never was fond of Pastor Jeff's longer sermons.

We got back to the trailer and settled in a bit. I microwaved dinner for the boys and brewed some delicious Keurig coffee for me. Then we got the TV out and set it up, but none of us really wanted to watch anything. We were really just testing it to see what channels we would get. We were pulling in some from Austin and some from San Antonio. We got the new poker set out and played Texas Hold'em for several hours. N2S was the big winner. We played until the first person got knocked out of the game. That was me. Then we got ready for bed.

Converting the trailer for bed was a little more challenging with extra people. By myself, I just moved all the stuff on the table to the sofa. This time, the people needed to sit out of my way on the sofa, so we had to find other places for stuff. Our plan for sleeping the first night was me in the bed, N2S on the sofa, and Storm on the floor. At night, I allow peeing in the toilet (nothing else!). During the day, there is no reason not to use the park restrooms. Unfortunately for Storm, that meant that during the night, I had to walk past him to get to the bathroom. I used my iPhone for light and carefully went by him.

In the morning, Storm got right up and headed to the bathroom, so N2S and I converted the trailer back to daytime use. It was easier to do without the extra body in the way. Then I made some coffee and got the boy's donuts out for their breakfast. We watched the Today show until they switched to a fashion segment. Then we dressed for the road and headed off to find some geocaches.

The first cache was called Scary Bridge. We drove about five miles down a dirt county road until we got to a really old wooden bridge. All the metal was rusted, and it creaked and groaned as we drove over it. After we crossed, I parked the truck and we went back and walked on it looking for the cache. The bridge was really beautiful. The metal work on the top had some floral ornamentation, and GONZALES COUNTY was stencil-cut into a panel up there.

The cache was actually about a football length down the road on the other side of the bridge. It was in a knothole of a big old tree. We found it, signed it, and put it back. While signing, I saw that a Kenneth Hanks had signed it and given his phone number with the comment, “Call me. I want to play.” I figured it was someone in the area who had come across it some how. Since I have a good friend, Clay Hanks, whose family is from Gonzales County, I decided to call. Turns out the guy's name is actually Hanke, and someone had put that in there as a joke. I was evidently the first person to call him. I asked him if he wanted me to cross his number out. He did, so I did.

N2S was a little freaked out by the bridge, so we decided to just keep going from the other side to see where it went. It came right out on the highway to Gonzalez. I figured we should go ahead and travel to Gonzales so I could get myself some scissors. It was only about ten minutes away. While there, we stopped at the old Buc-ee's. It is just a regular convenience store, but they still operate it under the Buc-ee's name. We were looking for a cache that is supposed to be there, but it was too crowded to even try for it. They didn't have any scissors there except a tiny pair in a $7 sewing kit. I knew WalMart was right down the road, see we headed that way and bought a pair for $2.

N2S had seen a sign about Pioneer Village so I offered to take the boys there. It wasn't opening until 1:00 so I made a deal with the boys that, if they let me eat barbecue for lunch somewhere, they could go to Buc-ee's to get their dinner again. They were all for that, but we didn't see any BBQ places before ending up out of town heading toward Shiner. N2S asked if that was where Shiner beer came from. I told them it did and asked if they would like to go see the brewery. They were down for that, so we drove the fifteen or so miles further to Shiner.

We got there just after a tour had started. I was taking a photo of the brewery when the guide called and asked us if we wanted to tag along with that tour. We ran over there and joined them, and she said, “Sir, I'm gonna have to ask you to turn off your phone, and put it in your pocket. There is no phone or camera use inside the brewery.” After the tour, they gave me a beer and three tokens for refills. I used one to drink one more sample and gave the boys each a token to keep as a souvenier. Then we went out and took some photos of the brewery before getting in the truck. That was when I learned that Storm had taken a photo inside the brewery. I told him that I was very disappointed in him. He said he just wanted a picture to show his mom the fancy carved-wood chair they had. I told him how what he wanted was unimportant. Rules were rules. He knew that when he was with me, I expected him to follow the rules.

As he and I were discussing the situation, an employee came over and told us not to worry about it. She felt it was a silly rule anyway. She offered to send photos of the inner chambers to Storms phone, but he declined the offer. I'm glad he did. We later discussed how wrong she was to have even offered.

We left there looking for Frank's BBQ, which Storm had seen on the way into town. When we got there, it was out of business. Instead, we ended up at a steak house that I had been to before on another trip with Jack and Mike. Before the waitress (YES, I still use that word. Deal with it!) came to take our order, I noticed that Storm looked kind of sickly. I asked him if he was feeling okay, and he broke down in tears. He said, “I am reflecting on what I did wrong. I am ashamed of myself.” I looked him in the eye and said, “Good, Storm. You should feel bad about it. You made a mistake. You learned from it. Now class is over. Let it go, and don't let it spoil your day. I am proud of you for taking it so seriously.” Well, that seemed to make him lighten up. He went to the restroom to wash his face and came back his normal cheerful self.

An elderly couple across from us were evidently the owner's in laws. They chatted with us throughout our meal. They were from the same town in England. She had married a American GI and come to the states a long time ago. Her husband had passed, but somehow, which was not explained, she was now married to this other man from her home town. Anyway, they were a lovely old couple, and talking with them about our trip and my days in England as a child was a high light of the trip. She reminded me so much of my mom, my mom's Scottish friend Marion, and English friend Jan, that I kept tearing up a bit. It was as if she were a blend of all three of them.

After lunch, we got back on the road and headed to the Pioneer Village. I used OnStar to find it, since I wasn't sure where it was in Gonzales, and we only had about two hours to get there and see it all before closing. OnStar couldn't find it. I told him it was the first thing to come up on Google, but he said they did not use Google. I had to fire up my iPhone and give him the address I had seen earlier. That worked, and the guy told me he was updating their database for future reference.

We were the only people at Pioneer Village when we got there. It was really fun walking around and looking at old time buildings. In one old cabin, they had an upstairs loft where the kids had slept for safety. I climbed up the tiny stairs just enough to peak in. When I was ducking my head to go back down, a big cat nibbled on my ear. It came out of nowhere and scared the huhah out of me. I have never liked cats. This is why!

We rolled on from there to find a geocache called “Why Can't I Own This?”, which turned out to be hidden in the Buc-ee's parking lot. We were going there to pick up dinner for the boys anyway, so it was pretty convenient. It was hidden under the base of a light post. A lady was there walking her dog, so it took awhile for us to get it. After that, we got our stuff and headed back to camp.

We were supposed to go fishing, but it was getting pretty late. I told the boys that I needed to go for a walk after eating the steak I had for lunch. I was going to drive them over to the lake and walk the lake trail while they fished. Then we decided to fish in the morning. They were hungry and tired, so I took a nice long walk on the San Marcos River Trail by myself. It was really hot and humid, and I worked up a bit of a sweat. I walked a lot faster than I did with the boys earlier. It was nice to get in the air conditioned trailer when I returned.

The boys ate their dinner while I processed some of my flip videos on the computer. Then we played Scrabble for several hours. I won every game, Storm always came in second, and N2S came in third every time, much to his chagrin. Storm is not as strong a student as N2S, so N2S had smugly announced how he was going to sweep Scrabble like he swept Poker. Storm actually held his own. We had to challenge a few of his crazy words, but for the most part, he did great.

When it got late enough that I could barely stand sitting there anymore, the boys wanted to play yet another game of Scrabble. I told them I was willing to play another game, but I would not be getting up to go fishing. They decided they didn't want to fish anyway, since there weren't any fish in the lake. I made myself some coffee, and we played one more game before finally converting the trailer to sleep formation. N2S said the sofa hurt his back the night before. This time, he was supposed to be on the floor, but he chose to sleep on the wall side of the bed with me instead. Storm slept on the sofa as planned. He actually liked the sofa. It was much better for me. All I had to maneuver past in the dark was the collection of shoes that were scattered around the floor.The trailer felt a lot less crowded without a body sprawled there, too.

We got up and had breakfast. The boys were supposed to have kolaches from Buc-ee's, but the order got messed up and only Storm's were in the bag. N2S had a microwave dinner instead. This was a big moment for me. In the past, it would have ruined N2S's day to not get his kolaches. He would have stayed angry and sullen for hours. This time he didn't seem bothered at all. Breakfast was peaceful. I had several cups of coffee and an Atkin's bar.

After breakfast, we started packing some of the stuff up. We stowed the coffee maker and TV and put the dinette down for travel. Then we got our personal stuff together and put it in the truck. I cleaned the bathroom, dinette table, and kitchen counters really well. Then, we all took one last hike on the Palmetto Trail, before hitching up and heading home.

Hitching up was an ordeal. I thought the boys would be able to help this time, but they still didn't get it. At one point I looked at the boys in the mirror to see them pointing in different directions. The park host saw me getting frustrated and came over to help. He was trying to teach me a new method involving backing the rear corner to some imaginary spot that made no sense to me. People just don't understand that I have a visual interpretation problem. My brain can not translate what it sees in a mirror into usable information. I have a method that works for me, and I should have used it. As a result of not doing it my way, hitching and backing failures on this trip have undermined my confidence to the point that I may limit myself to campsites with pull throughs.

We got home without any problems. I chose to follow alternate 90 through Belmont and Seguine. It was a beautiful drive with no traffic. We joined IH 10 just west of Seguine and fought traffic the rest of the way home.

Back at Packrats, I could not get the trailer in the correct position. I had the same problem by myself last weekend. I actually called Packrats and asked if I could have another space. Kevin was covering the phones, but didn't know what spaces were available. He drove over and tried to help me get backed in correctly. I would follow his instructions and get out to see what it looked like. Then, I would tell him, “Okay... Come look from this side.” He would see right away that I was angling toward the trailer two spaces over. Not a problem, unless they rent out the space between us. The problem is that that, when looking at the fence, the two spaces to the right of mine are angled at about 25 degrees. When you back up using the driver's side mirrors, it creates an optical illusion. You think you have your back end parallel to the fence line, but it is angled wrong. I am going to solve the problem with a piece of PVC pipe I have laying around. I'll put it on the ground, laying at the correct angle from the fence post to help me back in better. If that doesn't work, I'll invite Jack to come and teach me how to do it.

Well, it has been three days since we got home from the trip. I am already eager to get back out on the road. I am going to see if I can find a place in Bandera that has pull-throughs that is closer than the Koyote Ranch. I love that place, but it adds another 30 or so miles to the trip. Then, to get to the State Natural Area, you have to drive all the way back to Bandera. Maybe the Pioneer River Resort would be a good one.

Anyway, that's all I have to say about this trip!