Buescher State Park: Let's go float some hope!

Buescher State Park

Friday, June 21, 2012

I woke up ready to go. Went and had a coffee and chatted with Rachel for a few minutes, before going upstairs to get a shower, shave, and wake N2S up. Rachel was watching something on the new 55” TV that replaced our old one that died while I was in Lockhart. They were coming to fix it, but called and talked us out of it. They said it would cost us $600 and could only be guaranteed for 30 days. I'm gong to give it to Jack. If he can fix it, he'll have a very nice television. I just couldn't risk sinking more money into it. The new bulb was over $100.

I had stopped to wake up N2S on my way to my shower, but he wasn't up yet when I finished. I went ahead and packed the stuff into the truck while he got ready. Then as soon as he came down, we headed over to Packrats. Everything was going smoothly there until we did the signal check on the trailer. The left turn signal was burned out. We took it out of the casing and it had blown and actually cracked the glass. We drove super slow to Pep Boys and got another. I knew we only needed that turning signal one time to get there, and we went so slow, that nobody stayed behind us. The new one worked fine, so we got on the road. We were still about 15 minutes ahead of schedule. I wanted to be on the road by 9:00am.

We made it all the way to Buc-ees with no problem, except that crazy I-35 traffic. N2S got a pulled pork sandwich for “breakfast”. I got some summer sausage. We also picked up some jerky for snacking on in the Colby T. On the way out, N2S got a pocket knife, which has come in handy about 5 times already on this trip. We also posed to have our pictures taken with the statue of Buc-ee.

I messed up in San Marcos and forgot that the turn off to Bastrop now exits to the right. We just went ahead to the Lockhart turn off, then cut through Maxwell to get back to the right road. It was smooth sialing then, but every once in a while, I had to pull over to let the traffic pass by. I don't like to let too many vehicles pile up behind me, and I just will not drive any faster.

Once at Buescher, which I have been spelling wrong for weeks, we were given the host site, #14. I was excited because it is the only one with a full hookup. When we got to it, I backed in for the first time since the Bastrop disaster. I had absolutely no problem. I trusted my mirrors the way I have been doing at Packrats. Unfortunately, we saw that the sewer whole was on the opposite side of the trailer and way too far for my hoses to reach. Oh well. We were expecting to use the dump anyway.

The trailer was really off level from side to side. I actually got to use my BAL leveler for the first time. It lifted the portside tire about 8 inches off the ground to perfectly level everything. The leveling doesn't have to be perfect, but the refrigerator works best when you are leveled well. Water also drains better in the sink.

As we were bringing in all our stuff, we kept seeing road runners. There seem to be about two mating pairs in the area. At least one of them has a thing for the trailer. He or she keeps banging it over and over, just like the cardinals were doing last weekend at Lockhart SP. We tried to get him on film, but he just runs away too fast.

Once we were all set up we went on in to Smithville. We toured the railroad museum, took our pictures in front of the giant gingerbread man, walked around downtown, and then went to the Dollar Store to look for a box fan and Styrofoam ice chest for the trailer. I wanted a more powerful fan that would keep everyone in the Colby T comfortable, not just the one it is pointed at. Even though I don't pay for the electricity, I don't feel like it should be wasted. With a fan running, the Colby T will stay between 75 and 78 degrees on the hottest of days while set on a medium setting. When we are not there, I keep all the blinds closed to help. We also went to a really nice grocery store called Brookshire Brothers for some ice and bottled water. I wanted to put the ice in the freezer and fill a huge jug I have with ice to put in the fridge to help it cool down faster.

We spent a while just cooling off from our travels in the Colby T. I got the ice put away and we finished all the rest of the set up of the galley. I need to say that this time, there is absolutely NO toilet smell even in the restroom. You can open up the toilet valve and the new stuff just comes up smelling like orange zest. Amazing!

We decided we were hungry, so we drove back to Bastrop to east BBQ'd mutton at Billy's. That stuff is soooo good. It is some of the best barbecue I have ever tasted. It beats all of Lockhart hands down! N2S attacked the plate of it so fast, I thought we would need to order more!

We stopped at Best Buy because I wanted to buy a signal booster for my cell phone. It costs about $200 and is supposed to give you a strong signal in areas where you have a weak one. I have trouble getting more that two bars in Bastrop and Smithville. At Buescher, I barely get service, just like Lockhart. I jut feel that I need to have a usable signal when out camping by myself.

After we ate, we went to Bastrop SP so N2S could see all the fire damage. In fact, we drove the state park road all the way back to Buescher. He was absolutely amazed by what he saw. He asked lots of questions, which thanks to my time with the rangers during my Bastrop trip, I was able to answer. He, like I, thought that there was a strange beauty to it all. He was disturbed, however, by the big white water tower that smiles over all the devastation. I have to agree. It seems out of place. Perhaps they should repaint it to be a frown.

Back at the trailer, we got the TV set up for N2S. Then I played with the signal booster. I was amazed that it took me from 1 bar of E to 4 bars of 3G. The only problem was that it only worked when I held it in my hand. I called the toll free number and the guy explained that the antenna had to be placed on a metal barrier or the device echoed the signal and caused some kind of interference. Evidently the Colby T is not “metal enough”. Somehow holding it in my hands disburses the signal through my body and makes it okay. Well, I am going to talk to Jack about it. If he has an idea, I will give it a try. Otherwise, the device is going back to Best Buy. I don't want to have to hold it in my hand to get service.

It was finally cool enough to go for a hike. We ended up walking the park road that loops around the park.

(The road runner is banging on us again!) [Got his picture this time! He ran across the site to the table. Then he took off towards the bathhouse.] The walk took us over two hours, with stops at the lake and trips around all the areas off the loop (camping areas, picnic areas, etc.) We were pretty hot and tired when we got back to the Colby T. We watched TV while I processed the days photos. Then we called it a night at about 10:30.

Saturday, June 22, 2012

We slept cool and comfortable until about 9:00am. Then we got up, put the dinette back up and had breakfast. N2S had pancake wrapped sausages on a stick. I ate the leftover mutton.

N2S said he wanted to find some geocaches, so got the GPS out and tried to use my phone to find some caches to go after. I couldn't get enough signal to do it (I had already re-packed the device up and did not want to open it back up). We decided to go ahead and get on the road. We figured we could sit at the park in Smithville, where we at least had 2-3 bars of 3G, so that is exactly what we did. We loaded up 4 different caches to find, but decided we would go to the Central Texas Automotive Museum first. We drove about 15 miles to get there, only to learn that they had moved to Dick's Classic Garage in San Marcos, which we went to with Storm on the way back from Austin in January. N2S was disappointed, but I thought it was hilarious. We had been discussing it on the way to Lockhart, and doubting it could be as good as Dick's.

From there, we went on in to Bastrop. We decided to go and get some cheap fishing poles to keep in the Colby T from WalMart. We ended up with two small ones, about three feet long. We got a small lightweight tackle box and a small collection of tackle.

We decided to eat lunch in Bastrop. Both of us agreed that we were totally BBQ'd out. Instead, we ate at the Texas Grille, which turned out to be a very good choice. N2S had a great burger, and I had a wonderful plate of baked catfish.

From there, we went to get the geocaches in the Smithville area. Then we stopped to gas up for the return trip tomorrow. We both loaded up with cold bottles of stuff to drink. Then we drove around Smithville some more, because we realized we had not seen the house that Hope Floats was filmed in yet. We saw lots of pretty homes and an old brick schoolhouse that we had missed.

Back at the Colby T, we got the fishing poles set up, then headed off to the lake. We didn't catch a single fish. In fact, we didn't get a single bite. We did rescue a couple of cicadas that fell into the lake. After about two and a half hours, we gave up and came back to the Colby T.

Fortunately, we weren't planning on eating anything we caught. Instead, I fixed N2S some Asian noodles in the microwave and I had two small cans of canned chicken. We rounded that out with
Buc-ee's jerky and Little Debbie brownies(N2S).

Since then, I have been writing all this out while we watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Not really interested, but it is the channel with the best reception right now.

Sunday, June 23, 2012

Okay... N2S and I finished out lastnight playing Scrabble and Trivial Pursuit. I won Scrabble and he won TP. By the time we finished with that, it was time for bed. I decided to walk over to the bath house and clean up a bit before bed. I couldn't believe how loud the screeching of all the insects was. You could barely hear it in the Colby T. Once the door opened, it was like being in a city with fire alarms. I don't know how the couple in the tent could sleep with that.

On the way to the bathhouse, I walked into a spiderweb with a huge spider in it. I saw it dangling of a thread from my head at about chest level. It took a few screamy seconds to get it off of me. The bathhouse was really hot. It was still in the high eighties, even this late at night. Fortunately, it was really clean, too. I don't think anyone was using it, except maybe the couple in the tent.

Back in the trailer, I went straight to sleep. We both woke up at around 7:00am. I got coffee and hot chocolate going. Then I started cleaning and getting ready for departure. I wanted to beat the heat, since it was already showing 79 degrees out there in the morning. On TV they were giving a heat and bad air advisory. N2S sat at the dinette out of the way and let me sweep and mop. Then we got everything put away and hitched up. After a quick visit to the dumping station, we were on the road.

Our ride home was uneventful, except for a stop at Buc-ees for lunch and nearly dying when swerving to miss a tire that was in the middle of the highway. An eighteen-wheeler passed me, got in front of me, then swerved hard to the right. I don't know if he had a blow out, or if he was trying to miss the tire also. Anyway, I had to do a really quick swerve and stop combination that was a little scary. I should have stopped and checked the trailer afterward, but we didn't stop.

When we got to Packrats, I backed in extra tight to the fence. We plan to park my Silverado there during the remodeling to give the workers more room. Rachel is parking her car at a friend's house while she is gone. Anyway, we did all our normal things, then I went in to open up the fridge so it could dry and air out. I nearly banged my head on the television. It was hanging about 6 inches off of its shelf. The cabinet door was wide open.

Oh well. We got home to an almost empty downstairs. There is a stack of boxes about 8' feet long and 6' wide waiting for me to take them to Goodwill. There is another stack of about 5 of those 55 gallon trash bags waiting to go to the landfill. Rachel was pretty busy while we were gone! Oh well, she gets to leave for almost four weeks while I take over.

Looks like I won't get away for awhile. Even though we have the weekends to get away, there are the dogs to contend with. I might have to bite the bullet and board them for some of this process. We'll see. Anyway, until then...

Click here to see all of the pictures of this trip.

Lockhart SP- All about the BBQ!

NOTE: I don't edit this stuff anymore. Please forgive the mistakes. I'm sort of like a cook who isn't hungry enough to eat his own cooking. I'm too lazy to read this again.

Lockhart State Park

Friday, June 15^th, 2012

Well, I am on another trip. Since Rachel is leaving for North Carolina soon, I am trying to get as many in as I can. The remodeling will keep me pretty busy, and I don't know how easy it will be for me to slip away. This week already involved spending parts of two days with the designer picking out things. The window guy came and measured for the windows. I expect to get a call on Monday saying they are ready to start something or other. Rachel and I are spending Monday cleaning out the kitchen cabinets and pantry. We will have other clean-outs to do, but that's where we are starting. Tuesday, I spend all day at the dentist's office getting a complete dental overhaul.

Yep. I needed this quick trip. This summer will probably not be the most “restful”.

I got up a little after 7:30 and showered and shaved. My stuff was already packed, and I had planned to leave, but just as I finished dressing, Rachel popped into the shower to get ready for her hair appointment. I went on down and had a couple of cups of coffee while I waited for her to come down. We left the house at the same time headed for different destinations.

Everything at Packrats went really quickly! I backed within one inch of the hitch on the first try and only had to edge that little bit back to be directly under it. It was nice and cool in the morning, and the sun was hidden by a blanket of clouds waiting to be burned off.

The drive to Lockhart was totally uneventful. I was amazed, as I always am, at the traffic on I-35 these days. Back when I was going between Mom and Dad's and SWTSU in the 1970's, there was no traffic at all on weekday mornings. Friday's were bad because SWTSU was a suitcase university, which meant everyone left for the weekend. Sunday's were bad northbound when everyone was returning to school. Now there is so much built up along the road that all of the I-35 corridor between San Antonio and Austin (and further north-I'm sure) is one big blurry suburban area.

At this state park, they let you set up your camper and then come back to register at headquarters. I drove around the full hook up circle by mistake. Then I got to the pull-throughs and kept changing my mind about which one to take. That one was too hard to pull into because of the tree. That one was too slopey. That one had too sharp of a hill to the picnic table. That one was close to a family with a horde of kids in one little tent. (Dad was already hollering and cussing at them all. They're going to have a long weekend!) I finally decided on number 19.

I unhitched, leveled, got the AC and fridge on (I installed my new little fridge fan that is supposed to help it cool down faster. We'll see.), and then locked it up and headed to headquarters to register. Before I left, I noticed that there was a bad smell coming from the sewer tank. I went ahead and added more water to it and dumped in two more packs of deodorizer stuff.

I bought a T-shirt when I registered. I am going to start getting them from all the state parks. I figure it puts some money in their hoppers, and I like the shirts. I didn't stay to chat much, because I really didn't have many questions about this park.

Back at the camper, the smell was still bad. I decided to go to Wal-Mart and get some other kind of deodorizer product. The stuff I have simply wasn't doing the job. Since there is practically no phone service here to speak off, I used OnStar to find the Wal-Mart. It took me to a closed one. Remembering that Tom Tom did that to me in Boerne once, I kept driving expecting to see a new Wal-Mart pretty close by. I was right. It was so new, the paint looked sticky! It was really nice. They had a huge RV section. I even found a new end piece for my Barker tote-along sewer tank. I got the tank for Father's Day. I will use it to empty my gray water tank and haul the water to the dump station. That way, I don't have to break camp, pull the camper over there, dump the tanks, pull it back over here, and set it all up again. I couldn't get a “full hookup site” with sewer. Some state parks don't even offer them, so I needed a tank anyway. I can usually go two days before the gray water (from the sink or shower) tank fills and four days before the black (from the toilet) fills. I use way too much water in the toilet, but the experienced RVers all tell you to.

The new stuff I bought is super concentrated drop in packs. I read it and saw that I can't use it with the stuff I already have. I decided to come home and dump the black tank in my Barker since it only had water in it, albeit stinky water. I dumped it in Bastrop during the last trip. Anyway, when I got back to the camper the smell was gone. I guess that the other stuff needed time to eat the bacteria that was causing the smell. I decided to wait until I leave to dump that tank. I really don't want anything toilet related in my Barker tank.

Before heading back to camp, I stopped at Chisholm Trail BBQ and picked up lunch. Lockhart has been officially declared the BBQ Capital of Texas by our State Government. There are four places to get BBQ: Chisholm Trail (most popular with the locals- according to a video I watched at the recommendation of my RV Forum buddy, Smokedummy), Blacks' (which I have been to several times in the last 30 years), Smitty's (which, after passing by today, I realized I had never been to), and Kreutz Market (which I had also never been to). My weekend goal is to visit them all and see who is best. I am going to order the same thing in each one: beef ribs and a sausage ring.

Back at the Colby T, I pigged out on the delicious BBQ from Chisholm Trail. The ribs were sauced during cooking, so I had to wipe as much off as I could with paper towels. Everything was really good. The sausage ring was juicy, and had a really good flavor to it. I was impressed.

I cleaned up and took my first hike. I went on a trail that goes along the creek. The Colby T is parked close to the creek, but the trail runs along the other side of it. I hiked by road to the trail head and came out at the loop right close to the camper. I was a little shocked when the trail ended, because you had to cross a really rustic little rock damn. The footholds were minimal, and a fall onto rocks below would be lethal, even though it was only about 4-5 feet. Falling the other way would put you in the mucky creek. I crossed it anyway, glad nobody was there to rush me, or to see how long it took me to summon the courage to go to that next step.

When I came out on the circle, which goes around a wide field and is there to help trailers make the turn around to leave the park, I saw a huge turkey standing with his chest up to the bushes. He kept jumping up and grabbing either grasshoppers or leaves themselves. I couldn't tell. When I was finally close enough to get a picture, he ran away. His legs moved like the Roadrunner in cartoons. I taped the whole thing. It was funny.

The trailer was nice and cool. I opened the blinds and the sun started heating up the dinette area really fast, as if I had put the heater on. I decided today was the day I would learn how to use the awning. I got out the manual and put it down about halfway. That cast the whole side of the Colby T into shade. I got a little worried because the directions said to pull it all the way out. Maybe you have to do that? Maybe I'm ruining it the first time? Such thoughts wouldn't leave me, so I texted Jack Funkhouser and got his opinion. I would have spared him and gone on the RV Forum, but remember I mentioned the lousy phone service? About all I can do is send a text. Even that takes about ten minutes to leave because I have one bar of E! Anyway, Jack knows more than the whole forum put together (Sorry forum guys- Jack is so full of helpful information and advice, I sometimes am frightened by it! The weird thing is, he never lets on. If you ask him, he will tell you what you need to know. He isn't one of those know-it-all types who needs to let you know he knows. He just calmly tells you without making you feel like an idiot for not knowing, even though it is usually something every idiot should already know!) Okay... Back on track. It took a while for Jack's text to get back to me, so I went ahead and asked the neighbor guy. They always say ask the other RVers. He said it was fine. But, I don't know that dude. I was really relieved when I got Jack's text telling me it was okay. Anyway, the camper cooled right back down. This trailer stays a constant 75 degrees in the hot Texas sun. I think that is great since it was 97 degrees in Lockhart today!

I took another hike. This time, I took the “Creek View” trail all the way to the intersection with the “Hill Top” trail which brought me back to the same place. Both trails leave from that loop I told you about. They go up hill pretty high. Of course, I was coming down on the Hill Top trail. I had to stop several times to catch my breath on the way up. It was really nice though. I am going to take another hike later this evening, but plan to stay on the roads. The trails here don't seem to get much use. The weeds are pretty high, and poison ivy is prevalent. I'm afraid it might be too hard to see as it gets darker.

I went into the Colby T just long enough to get my glasses. I wanted to go to Kreuz Market to pick up my dinner before the dinner rush got there. It was practically deserted. I ordered the same exact meal that I had gotten at Chisholm. There I paid $8.01 for beef ribs, a ring of sausage, and a large unsweetened tea (which turned out to be sweetened and got dumped!). I was absolutely flabbergasted when the guys who wrapped my meat charged me $18.68! I still had to pay $1.89 for a large iced tea, which was half the size of the other one!

On the way home, I drove around the square. I was scoping things out. I plan to spend some time downtown after hooking up with N1S for lunch at Smitty's BBQ tomorrow. He has to come get his new debit card from me. Once again, Lockhart is only about 30 minutes from Austin. There are several state parks that close to Austin. They are sooooo lucky! Among the things I hope to see are the courthouse, the library, and the old jail house.

Okay, I got back to the Colby T and ate my dinner. The beef ribs were over-seasoned to the point of being so salty I didn't even finish them. That's right. Big fat Jim Baker threw beef ribs away. You never saw that coming from this porker, did you? The sausage could have been from Chisholm Trail. It was exactly the same, unless you count the fifty-five cents more that it cost me. I just looked- ribs were $4.90 a pound at Chisholm and $15.11 at Kreutz!! So far, Chisholm Trail is winning.

Okay, I've been sitting here at the computer harvesting pictures from my Flip videos and writing this blog post. It is 7:10 PM. Time for a nice LONG hike in the heat.

Well, that was a nice walk, even though it was a bit arduos. I'm not sure how far I went, but it was at least 1.5 miles uphill to the recreation center. It turned out to be another of those old State Park lodge buildings. The climb was shaded and quite pretty. Coming down was easier on my heart, but harder on my old knees. Now, I'm sitting here all cleaned up getting ready to watch some Walenda dude walk across Niagara Falls. Lord, please help get him across. Crazy!

That's it for today. I'm gonna wait until tomorrow to get the few photos I took processed. I have three choices for this evening: write (too tired), watch TV (nope-going off after that dude crosses or falls), read (only thing I have is Frankenstein, which will put me right to sleep when I'm this tired), or just call it a night and get a LONG NIGHT'S SLEEP!!!(We have a winner!) Time for a Bushmill's... Nighty-night!

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Oh, well! I guess when someone like me who usually only sleeps from 4-6 hours (don't start preaching) goes to sleep at 11:00 PM, he should expect to wake up at 4:00 AM. I tried to go back to sleep, but couldn't. I decided to eat an early breakfast of BBQ leftovers from the Chisholm Trail and have a nice cup of coffee. Then, I tried going back to bed, but, once again, no go.

I laid in bed for awhile playing 7 Little Words on my iPhone. It is one of the few games I like to play. They give you seven clues and a bunch of word parts. You have to put the parts together to make the words. Fun. As I played, I kept hearing a banging noise that sounded like it was coming from under the camper. I couldn't be sure, because every time it happened, it wouldn't repeat for a long time. I thought there might be a raccoon messing under me or something. Then I noticed a car light shining from in front of the camper. I looked out the window and saw a car sitting right there by me. It was in my little driveway space at 4:30 AM. I couldn't think of any acceptable reason. That and the sounds made me really nervous. I got my truck keys and put my finger on the alarm button in case whoever it was tried to break in, all the while cursing my lack of phone service. After about five minutes, the car pulled slowly away. Then I saw the pickup camper from the next site slowly come into view and follow it. The banging had been them packing up to leave.

At about 5:15, I went ahead and set the dinette up and started watching some crazy show that has video clips. Not my favorite thing, but it was something to do while waiting for the sun to come up so I can take a nice long hike. That got too boring for me, so I turned on the computer and caught up with this. Now it is almost 6:00 AM, but there doesn't seem to be any sign of sunrise. I'm not sure when that happens here, but it should be soon. Time for another cup of coffee.

My morning walk stretched out to almost two hours. I headed back up to the recreation hall and watched the final stages of the sun rise, although now a little after 9:00, it is still low in the sky. I sat there for just a few minutes and caught up on email and FB. Then I started back down the hill. There were several cotton-tailed rabbits hopping around. One of them stayed in front of me for quite a while. As I got close, he would hop about ten feet ahead. I hope my Flip captured him close enough to see.

At the bottom of the hill, I just kept walking up to the park headquarters. I got to watch a ranger put the flag up. I also got to buy an ice cold bottle of water out of the machine. It was wonderful. (Note to self-buy some water for the fridge when you are in town today.

I arrived back at the camper at around 8:30. Since I was covered in a cool morning coat of sweat from the humidity, I went ahead and had my sink bath and shaved. Then I tidied up a bit, and here I am. I accidentally left the Flip running at one point, so I have to get the movies off before I go meet up with N1S for lunch. I only have about a minute left. It must have recorded the interior of my pocket for a bout 15 minutes. Geesh!!!

Oh, I forgot to mention that a female cardinal has been sitting on my truck mirror having a war with herself the whole time I have been here. I caught her sitting on the site 19 post. I hope that turns out. Cardinals were Mom's favorite birds. She had them all over the house and fed them twice daily for years. Every time I see one, I think of her. I know- silly, but I feel like she is with me when I see one.

WOW!!!! Something was knocking on the back of the trailer. It kept happening, so I went to see what it was, and a bird was doing it with its beak. I was so startled I didn't get a good look, but I think it was a wood pecker? Do they peck aluminum siding? I wish I had internet here!!!!! [NOTE: There were two cardinals, a male and a female. They banged on the back of the trailer all dang day off and on. They were fighting with their reflections in my shiny diamond stuff that is on the bottom half of the camper behind the hitch. Even my banging on the wall wouldn't stop them. I had to go out there and shoo them away, which lasted about thirty minutes.]

At about 10:00 AM, I headed on in to town. I parked on a back street in front of a bank building. There was a market day going on on one block of Main Street. They had that one block closed and people were selling crafts, homemade jars of pickled things, and fresh vegies at about twenty little booths. There was a guy singing, too. Last weekend was their big festival for the Chisholm Trail. Glad I wasn't here then. I wanted to enjoy downtown without too many people.

I went into the library. It is the oldest one in Texas. They have a newer building that connects to the old one which is absolutely beautiful. There were lots of people there today reading, browsing the aisles, and using the computers. Since I had a little bit better phone service, I sat down for a few and checked my email. Then I left and took a loop around the downtown looking for a coffee shop. The ranger at the park had told me there were several of them on the square. I walked right by the only one, but later decided to use yelp, which led me back to it.

I was the only customer in the Baker's Rack bakery and coffee shop. I stayed for about an hour drinking coffee and using my iPhone on the internet to check email, read the RV forum, and update Facebook. I wish I could have eaten some goodies, cause, let me tell you- they had some NICE ones. Anyway, when it was almost noon, I walked over to Smitty's to meet up with N1S.

He pulled up about five minutes after I got there. We were stood in a long hot line until an older gentleman broke it in half and sent our section wandering through back halls that looked like something out of a horror film to a different line. There were huge piles of burning logs all over the place and it was hot as hell! I looked at my T-shirt and noticed there was steam coming off it. I asked on of the workers if anyone ever caught on fire. He jokingly said it happened once, but I was convinced I was gonna be the second on. My skin was actually starting to hurt. Finally, I got to the front of the line and we ordered. N1S got a half pound of brisket and two sausages. I got pork ribs (they don't sell beef) and one sausage ring.

After we got the meat, we entered a huge air conditioned room with tables. I got us some drinks and barbecue sauce. N1S was a little put off by the lack of silverware. We did have a plastic knife. Yippy! He thought the brisket was just “okay” and did not like the sausage.(In fact, he threw the second one away, much to the chagrin of the lady sitting next to us. For a minute, I thought she was going to call the sheriff and have us arrested for disrespecting Lockhart BBQ.) I thought the pork ribs were awesome and the sausage was the best so far. (N1S just doesn't like this style of sausage.)

After lunch, we walked over to the old jail house, but it wasn't opening for a few more minutes, so we hung out at Walgreen's for a few minutes talking with the manager. He told us it is against the law in Lockhart for residents to say which BBQ place they like best. I couldn't tell if he was joking or not. They seem to take their sausage very seriously. (There's that damned bird again.)

The jail house was a lot of fun to tour. You can see from the pictures that it was kind of creepy. It is four stories high. The lady who runs the museum was really chatty. On the way out, we talked about 70's sitcoms. We sort of wandered from discussing Sally Rand and Mae West, whom long ago prisoners have scratched their testimonials of undying love for in the cell walls.

We worked up quite a thirst in the jail, so we stopped back in Walgreen's and got some drinks. We walked across the street to the AT&T store. I wanted to see if they sold some kind of signal booster for my iPhone. I saw them on the internet, and supposedly AT&T gives them to their customers whose service isn't good at home. I thought maybe I could buy one. The kid there said he didn't know what I was talking about. I told him I couldn't get more than three bars in all of Lockhart. He walked me over to a phone on the wall to show me that the service was strong. Then he said, “Oh... You didn't tell me you had a 3G!” I guess you have to upgrade to live in Lockhart.

After that, N1S went back to Austin, and I went back to the Colby T, after a quick stop at Wal-Mart to buy a toilet brush, a Renuzit air freshener, and some more Smart Water. I sat at the dinette and started to process today's pictures off the Flip, but I kept nodding off. I finally gave into it and laid down for about an hour long nap. I don't think I got any real sleep in, because the birds kept coming and banging by my head!

I had decided I was sick of BBQ, and since I have been to Black's before, I would skip it. Then I remembered that I need to fill up with gas for the trip home. I probably didn't have to, but I would rather have a full tank than have to find some place that is easy to get gas at pulling the Colby T. I got in the truck at about 5:00. I picked a bad gas station. The pump wouldn't work so I took my card in. Then it still didn't work, so the guy told me to go back and just start pumping and it would work, but it didn't. He came out and messed with it and thought he had it fixed, but when he went back in, it still didn't pump. I finally had to back up to the next one. It ended up taking about 20 minutes!

Black's wasn't crowded at all. I parked across the street and went on in. I got a “giant beef rib” that could have fed Fred Flintstone and a sausage ring. They put them in a foil pan covered with foil, which they slid into a paper sack. The only place out of three that didn't wrap it in brown paper with the grease oozing through. The rib was outstanding. The sausage had a chalky texture that was really weird. Didn't like it much.

Okay, I will now make a list that gives my BBQ findings:

1. Best prices- Chisholm Trail. They were half the price of all the others.
2. Nicest dining atmosphere- Chisholm Trail seemed like an old fashioned country diner.
3. Nicest people- Smitty's. Even though she was working in the fires of hell, the woman who handled our meat sale was really nice.
4. Worst service- Smitty's. The girl behind the counter in the air conditioned room reminded my of Seinfeld's soup Nazi! As I looked for a plastic knife, she yelled, “No forks!” I asked where the knives were and she hollered, “Look in your meat!” I'm pretty sure she said, “Stupid”in her head. It sound like she was saying that.
5. Best Sausage- Smitty's. OMG it was juicy and tasty. Probably have a coronary next week.
6. Worst Sausage- Black's. Icky texture and not much taste. Don't know what that was about.
7. Best Beef Rib- Black's without any competition. Huge. Meaty. Full of greasy flavor!
8. Worst Beef Rib- Kreutz. Way too salty. Threw have of them away! Smitty's didn't even have them, although the pork ribs I had there instead, were probably the best I have ever eaten.

So who has the best BBQ? I don't know. I guess I would stick with Chisholm Trail just because it was pretty good and really cheap. Or, I would drive to Bastrop and get Billy's Pit BBQ's mutton. It is better than all of it. Or, I would drive to Llano and get one of those roast-sized pork chops. They are to die for!

After eating all that meat, I knew I needed to pound the trails. Rachel texted me that the TV was out at home just before I left. It needs a new bulb. I'll take care of it tomorrow. She is afraid to do it herself because she can't hold the TV up while she is working in the back of it. Anyway, I climbed up to the recreation building again. I sat there for a few minutes using the better signal on my phone that I get up there to plan my trip home. I want to go through Fentress, instead of going all the way back into Lockhart.

I discovered a trail that came back down that wasn't on the map. I learned why about half way down. It was so overgrown, I was afraid I was going to get bitten by a snake or something. When I finally bushwhacked through, I was covered in those pesky little field lice! I think that's what they are called. They are tiny little burrs that stick to EVERYTHING. I sat at the picnic table with my T-shirt and shoes off picking those suckers off. I didn't want them in the Colby T.

I had another lovely sink bath before settling down in front of the TV. Reception isn't very good tonight. It keeps going in and out. Instead, I got some writing and picture processing done. It seemed to get dark pretty quickly. Now I am enjoying an Irish coffee and about to play 7 little words or read for awhile. I want to get on the road by 9:00 AM tomorrow. There are only three trailers in this area, and all the others have sewer hookups, so I shouldn't have to wait in the dump station line. I have seen that happen before, but never experienced it. I am a little nervous about using it. How do you put more water in your black tank like your supposed to, if you are already disconnected from the water supply? My plan is to fill my fresh water tank really well and use it with the pump to put water in the black tank. As soon as I get to the campsite at Beuscher, next week, I can refill it. I could even drive by the house and refill the fresh tank with the hose.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Well the BBQ caught up with me. I actually put the trashcan next to my bed. All the grease from that wonderful rib had me queasy. Then again, it may have been that awful chalky sausage. I never did get sick during the night, but in the morning- let's just say it “passed” and be done with it. In fact, waiting for it to finish “passing” delayed my departure by about thirty minutes.

The only problem I had today other than the “passing” was worrying about my Barker tote-along. It fell over in the tub on the way up. I decided to put it in the closet for the ride home. I thought it was secure, but kept worrying it would tip and force the doors open. I ended up laying a blanket under the bed, rolling it under there, wedging it in with the trash can, and duct taping the handle to the floor in about twenty places to it wouldn't roll around during the trip. That did the job. I really don't want to go to the expense of getting an outside mount for it.

I passed through Fentress on the way to San Marcos. It was a nice deserted country drive. I never saw another car. I-35 South was pretty busy all the way to San Antonio. I kept it at 55 though, and really saw a difference in the gas. I didn't even use a quarter of a tank getting home.

For the second time, backing into my spot at Packrats was easy as pie! I think I might have the hang of backing again. It was the trailer mirrors that were throwing me off.

Anyway, I am home and ready for another nap. Happy Father's Day to all my friends and fathers. Thanks Dad for making my land cruises in the Colby T possible.

Photos of this trip may be found here:

http://photobucket.com/Lockhart_SP

Bastrop State Park: After the Fire

Saturday, June 2

Wow! I thought this trip would never get here. Talk about a rough ending to a school year! I finally figured out a few things that made it rougher than usual. Of course the fact that I work the same job at two schools is obvious. Still, I convinced myself that it would be a breeze to shut them down. I based this on my 14 year experience with Carson ES. We got closing down the school to a science where technology was concerned. In fact, closing down Carson went as smoothly as ever, if not smoother than ever before.

What I did not expect was the impact of Braun Station ES. It was as if they have never experienced the end of a school year. I don't mean to imply in any way that it was a problem with them. It was a problem with US. My methods and the ones their previous CITs have used definitely suffered from some kind of profound culture clash. Just the same we got them all checked out at both schools. I have a ton of work left to do at Braun Station. Doesn't matter. I'm off on a trip in the Colby T. My batteries will be recharged, and I will get it all done in stride over the next week or two.

The other thing that packed a wallop was the upcoming technology deployment at Braun Station. While I should have been concentrating on shutting down, I had some pre-planning things to do for the deployment that were really time consuming. All worth it in the long run, though.

Anyway, today finally got here. I set my clock for seven and sprang out of bed like an eight-year-old on Christmas morning. I did my three S's, threw on some clothes, finished my little bit of packing and headed down for coffee. Then I loaded the truck, kissed Rachel goodbye, got gas and ice, and went to Pack Rats to rescue the Colby T.

I had an amazingly easy time of hitching up. Jack suggested using the truck's backing camera system with the tennis balls. They were too short to see over the bed of the Silverado. It was a great success when I did it after the Corpus trip. Today, however, I tried just using the camera without the tennis balls. If you ask why I had never tried that before, I will answer, “Because I am dumb as mud! That's why!” It was so ridiculously easy that I am ashamed of myself for not figuring it out sooner. I was hitched up and sitting outside the gate of Packrats in under fifteen minutes!

The drive up was really pleasant until I reached New Braunfels. Although the weather was really nice all day, there was a crazy wind coming from the east that kept wacking up against the side of the Colby T. It freaked me out so much that I slowed down to 55 for about fifteen miles. I was going to stop at Bucee's to see the new store, but the wind had me too freaked, so I just headed on.

I got to the park in just under two hours. Then I sat at the gate for about ten minutes while some lady with a car load of kids asked hundreds of questions. I really didn't mind. After all, I was safely within the perimeter of the park! The ranger just waved me through and told me to stop at the headquarters to register.

Inside the station, I renewed my park pass, which gave me a discount on my stay. I thought I had done it in Goliad, but I remembered that the lady there told me not to because it would have caused me to lose a month. Anyway, the ranger let me pick out a site, so I picked the one farthest from the bath house. I like it. It has a nice view out both sides of the Colby T, even though the trees are all burned. It is nice and level, even though I have the hitch thingy down as low as it can possibly go. As soon as I got here. I plugged in, turned the AC on, unhitched, and drove off to meet N1S at the Roadhouse. He came over to get some rent checks from me, since this is only about 30 minutes from Austin. He had asked if I could go there, to which I said, “Oh, HELL no! I'm on vacay buddie!”

We had a great lunch at the Roadhouse, although I am sorry to tell all my friends who recommended it that N1S said the burgers are “Just Okay”. I had a Greek salad, so I can't really say. It was very good.

We also enjoyed a beer while we were there. I should also say that we sat outside because that place is dinky and was PACKED!!!

I drove N1S over to the Colby T. He had never seen it, and I wanted him to see the results of the fire. You really couldn't see them from the direction he had driven. He stayed about ten minutes before I drove him back to his truck. He needed to get back to Austin and put a deposit down on his new apartment. The cool thing is that he needs my signature as the “guarantor” on the lease. That means he will be back tomorrow. We are going to meet at a different hamburger place that is highly rated on Yelp! Hamburgers are N1S's thing. He and some friends go all over Austin trying them at different places and plan to start a blog about it.

Back at the park, I drove over to the site I used last year in the Casita Jim. Some people were tent camping there, but I took some photos with my Flip anyway. The perimeter was pretty bad, but the actual camp area didn't seem to have too much damage. I will tell you that the rangers have repaved all the roads and redone all the electrical boxes, etc. throughout the park. It really looks good, even though most of the trees are burned.

I headed back to the Colby T to change my shoes and get ready for a hike. I ended up going for two and a half hours. The rangers have hand-written corrections and changes to the map. I didn't read them correctly and ended up lost twice. Not really “lost”, just not where I thought I was. Anyway, it was a great walk. I even went all the way up to the scenic overlook. I tried to match my Flip videos to the ones from last year before the fire.

It is so different now. Even the trails that I had been on seemed new to me. I didn't recognize anything. The pine needles that softened the trails are all gone. Now it seems really rocky. I guess that is the erosion the signs talk about. The bridges are all gone. There are new ones in some places. Other creek crossings involve hopping from rock to rock or crossing small logs. It was challenging at some points. I would come to a place in some trails and not really know for sure where the trail went. Towards the end, I used my phone to find the part of the park where the Colby T was docked and kept my eye on the little blue ball to make sure I was headed for it. I still ended up in a strange area of the park. After a while, I figured out where I was and took the road to the camper.

I rested for awhile. I had to scrub my legs. Where my socks ended, there was about a six inch area of black from the fire ashes. It was like a magic marker drawing, the line was so vivid. In fact, the paper towels I used to clean my legs were so black, I almost took a picture of them, but I settled for a shot of one foot instead. Check it out.

I decided to put all my cold stuff in the fridge. It seemed cold enough. I even filled the freezer with the rest of the ice from the 10 pound bag. Then, in true Jim form, I started to get paranoid. What if it isn't cold enough. What if the chicken breasts I plan to survive on grow bacteria and poison me? I decided I needed a refrigerator thermometer, so I dressed again and went to Walmart. While I was there, I also bought some mustard, some asparagus, and some turkey pepperoni. I like to dip my chicken in a blend of Sriracha and mustard. Asparagus is one of the two vegies I will eat, the other being broccoli. I use the pepperoni in the microwave to make a great low fat and zero carb crunchy chip.

I also stopped at Clint's liquor store and got a bottle of Irish Whiskey. My Glen Livet is on it's last legs and won't last the whole trip. I don't guzzle the stuff. I take a drink in the evening. I was going to buy Scotch again, but Irish Whiskey caught my fancy.

I headed back to the Colby T with my treasures. I was going to find a place to watch the Spurs game, but the hike had worn me out a bit. I guess I am getting old! Anyway, I couldn't watch it on my TV. I ended up downloading an app that let me get an ESPN broadcast of the game on my iPhone. Fortunately, I still have my iCube in the camper, so I got really good sound. Unfortunately, I'm such an idiot that I keep looking at the TV when the announcer mentions something exciting. The Spurs lost the game, and now the series is tied 2-2. I am glad. I want to watch a few more games.

Anyway, I ate my dinner, listened to the game, and worked on getting my stills off of the Flip videos. Then I went ahead and started writing this blog post. In a minute, I am going to transform the dinette into a bed and read for a while. I have a great book checked out from the San Antonio Library with the Overdrive app on my iPhone. It is The Kite Runner. I am really enjoying it. I only have 21 days to read it, but I think I'll make it. That didn't used to be a problem. Now I am an old fart who falls asleep too easily. More tomorrow.

Sunday, June 3

Well, I slept really well last night. In fact, I slept so well that I woke up super early fully rested. I tried laying there for a while, but it was obviously time to start my day. I ate a quick breakfast after converting the bed back to a dinette. I quickly attached the hose to the fresh water input, since I wasn't sure how much more was left in my tank. Then I put on some hiking clothes and hit the trail.

I wanted to hike the trails to the lake. Once again, I took the wrong trail and ended up at a picnic area on Park Road 1C. I went ahead and followed the road until I found the lake. It was really nice. The trees around it survived the fire. They were humming with life as the morning breeze blew through them. There were some people fishing right in front of me, so I just sat there for a long time enjoying being a live and communing with nature. I saw some big whirl pools in the middle of the lake and wondered what they were. [Note: I asked the rangers the next day and they said they were put there after the fire to aerate the lake. When one of the roads washed out, it filled the lake with a lot of crap. The whirlpool thingies are there to help keep the fish alive. Not sure if it worked. Nobody caught anything while I was watching.]

I took the right trail back to the camper. It was different on the trails today. Something about the morning sun. Colors were different, and the shadows where interesting. I saw a couple on the trail and chatted with them for a bit. Nice people. But then, most campers are nice people.

It was about 11:00 when I got back. An alarm went off on my iPhone reminding me to get some work done on my Camp Tech presentation, so I did that until about noon. Then I got in the truck and headed over to Billy's Pit Barbecue to meet N1S so I could sign his lease agreement as the guarantor. We wanted to try another hamburger place, but there were few places open on Sunday. As I passed the Roadhouse, I saw that it was open and more crowded than yesterday!

We ate our meal and then got to work filling out his form. There was quite a crowd in that tiny little place, so we gave up our table and moved to the truck. I had to provide a lot of personal financial and employment information for both Rachel and me. I texted her for a few things I couldn't get off my phone. Then we saw that she had to sign the paper. I told her to sign her name on a piece of paper with a sharpie and send it to us as a photo in a text. Then N1S forged it. I tried, but my handwriting is such crap there was no way I could fake Rachel's beautiful writing. N1S is capable of beautiful handwriting, because his mother forced him to learn it back in third grade. Then the teacher held up one of his papers in front of the class and commented on how “pretty” his handwriting was. That ended that! Anyway, for those of you who consider it wrong for us to forge Rachel's signature- get over it. She was in on it. It isn't like we were doing it behind her back.

N1S headed back to Austin. I headed to Walmart. I wanted a few things again, but can't remember what they were. Oh yeah, paper towels, drink mix with electrolytes, and keytone test strips. I use the strips to test my pee for keytones. On my MEDI plan, I am supposed to stay in keytosis. I got off of one of the trails yesterday and had the worst keytone taste in my mouth I have ever had. Sure enough, I am getting the best color on the strips I have had since beginning the program in November. Of course, scientists will tell you that keytosis is keytosis. Doesn't matter what color the strip turns, as long as it turns.

When I got back to the Colby T, I just messed around for awhile. I hiked up to the trash dumpster. When I was coming back, I noticed that about half of the trailers were missing. Throughout the day, they would just be gone. By night time, we were down to only eight of us! Anyway, I read for awhile and ended up taking an accidental nap. Then I was doing something in the sink and realized it wasn't draining. The gray water holding tank was already full.

I took out my Rhino sewer hose and went to hook it up, only to find that it would not fit. The hole in the ground where it has to go has a little concrete wall around it, preventing me from bending it to a useful angle. Fortunately, I still have the cheap blue one that the dealer gave me when I bought the trailer. I bought the Rhino because RV parks won't allow the cheap blue ones. I was worried about using it because we store them in a black tube on the trailers tail. If it didn't fit in there with the Rhino, what would I do with it? Before using it, I went ahead and tried storing both of them. It fit! It was my lucky sewer pipe day. I went ahead and drained the tank.

I decided to take another hike before it got dark. It was only 5:30, but I had a long one in mind. I hiked from the camper to the new trail that cuts across the ridge to an area close to the Copperas camping area. Then I took the rode to the trail head for the part of the park that I had not been to yet on this trip. Nicky and I hiked that trail last year. It was one of my favorites because it was mostly shaded and the trail was sand covered in pine needles, so it was really easy on my feet. We only had issues on a few unshaded stretches that did not have the needles, because the sand was too hot for Nick. We would go from shade to shade so that his feet could cool off between stretches. Today, it was a different trail entirely.

Every part of the trail was sand today. It was deep sand like a beach and hard to walk in. There were charred roots all along the way. They were about a foot above the new trail surface level. It was almost as if I were walking with a ladder on the ground, stepping over the rungs. Very few plants grew on the ground over there. The trees just stood there in a frighteningly barren landscape. I noticed that there was not a sound with the exception of my footsteps. The wind was blowing a little, but there was no sound coming from the trees whatsoever. It was ERIE. I can't describe it any other way. I am going to get a little goofy here, so you might want to skip the next paragraph.

I am not a tree hugger. You will never find my ass chained to a tree because someone wants it out of the way to build a convenience store. Sorry. I'm just not wired that way. However, I do respect trees. When I walk in a forest, I feel like we are communicating in some weird way. I won't even try to explain it. Just understand that on some emotional and very real level, the trees and I are understanding each other. On this trail, there was nothing. I was so aware that I was the only living creature there, that I actually became overwhelmed for a few minutes and cried like a baby. I don't give a rats ass if a fire is good for a forest. It still broke my heart to walk among the corpses of all my tree friends. Okay, I'm done.

The trail ended back at the scenic loop. It was not dark yet, but I didn't want to take any chances, knowing how many times I had gotten lost so far. Besides, I had my sunglasses on, and they are an old prescription to begin with. I didn't want a repeat of Lost Maples! I decided to follow Park Road 1C past the lake and back up to the pool area. I hadn't experienced the hills. They were murderous.

When I finally got to the Colby T, I filled up my sink, stripped down, and took a sponge bath. Then I put my comfy clothes on. I caught up with email and Facebook for a few minutes before turning on the TV and watching a few shows. I was tired. I was sore. I was so frapping happy to be on this trip, that I almost couldn't stand it!

I converted the dinette to bed mode, poured myself a Bushmills, and lay there reading for about two hours before finally turning out the lights and going to bed. This time, exhaustion from all those hikes caught up with me and I slept long an hard.

Monday, June 4

I woke up this morning at 9:30. I cleaned up the Colby T, got dressed, and took a hike to the park headquarters. I would say it is about a mile away, but I'm not sure. Anyway, I got there and bought a T-shirt. Then I spent about an hour talking to the rangers. They answered all of my questions, and believe me- I had a bunch. It was wonderful. I learned. I learned. AND I learned. I love the rangers in Texas state parks. Why did I not become a ranger? Don't get me wrong, I loved my career in education. But, WHY DID I NOT BECOME A RANGER?????

I hiked back to the Colby T and fixed a quick lunch. Not hard to do when you only eat meat. After a quick clean up, I got ready and headed to Beuscher Park, but remembered that I wanted to go to the Walgreen's first. Okay, too much information, but last night my drawers got sweaty on the hike, clumped up on me, and caused some chafing. I wanted to buy one of those Gold Bond sticks that helps out with that. It seems to me that it is just Body Glide. I wonder if they bought them out?

Anyway, while I was at Walgreen's, N1S called me to say he needed more stuff for his lease. They wanted copies of our bank statements! I was not happy. I mean, come on, he isn't trying to move into the White House. They had all of our personal information. Run a credit check. We are good for the rent. I used the Internet on my phone to get screen shots of my balances. Then I used an app I have to create a fax and send it to the leasing office.

I took the highway to Beuscher, but never seemed to get there. I asked OnStar and they directed me to turn on to some road called KLBJ. I made it to the park, but N1S called again to say that they wouldn't accept my screen shots because my name isn't on any of them. I was ready to blow up. I let N1S log into my account and get a May statement that satisfied them. Then I realized that I was lost in the park! I could not find the park headquarters. OnStar had taken me in a really weird way, which I later learned all GPS related devices do. I called and got directions.

I had another nice visit with the rangers at Beuscher. They told me only six people were camping in the park today. Wow! When you try to book parks online, they are always full. Someone once told me to call instead of booking online. That worked for this trip to Bastrop SP, and is obviously good advice.

I took the map and drove around to see all of the camp sites. They do not have any pull throughs, and only the park host sites have full hookups. There is one camp site that is arranged in a circle. I could tell by looking that backing the Colby T into them would be no problem for me, since the angles would allow me to just back straight in without any turning. I can go fairly long without dumping my tanks, and if I have to, I can just hitch up, dump, and come right back. I could also buy one of those blue tanks that you fill up and walk to the dump site. Anyway, I am up for a stay at Beuscher in the next few weeks, if the house remodeling lets me get away.

I also stopped at the lake and walked out on the grassy berm. It is a much bigger lake than the one at Bastrop. It is in the center of the park, and pretty much the main feature.

I ended my time there with a partial hike of the Beuscher trail. It is almost an eight mile round trip, but I was a little worried about walking that long in the hot sun and humidity. I had plenty of water with me, but it still didn't seem wise, especially not by myself. Knowing that I had a heart attack sometime within the last few years, without even realizing it, has made me a bit more cautious. I wanted to do more. This trail was so lush and full of life. I was overwhelmed by the noisiness of it all. The cicadas and birds were screaming at me the whole way. There were also these loudly buzzing flies. I wasn't sure if I had my own fly that flew circles around me the whole time, or, if different flies took over every few yards.

I took the park road back to Bastrop State Park. It was a nice drive. It seemed to take longer than I expected, but I figured out why. I kept thinking that Beuscher was only five miles from Bastrop. When I got to Bastrop I saw the sign saying, “Beuscher State Park 11 miles”.

Instead of going to the camper, I decided to drive on out of Bastrop State Park and fill up my tank for the trip home tomorrow. I got gas and saw Billy's Pit Barbecue across the way. I remembered seeing that they had mutton, so I went on over and got some for my dinner.

Back at the Colby T, I ate the delicious mutton, dipping it in a mix of Sriracha and mustard that I sweetened with Splenda to make sort of a barbecue sauce. It can be challenging when you don't eat carbs! While I ate, I called Rachel and checked in. Then I cleaned up, got dressed for a hike , and hit the trails for the last time.

I took the same trail I took last night. This time, when it came out by the Copperas area, I stayed on the Park Road and walked back toward the pool area. It ended up being a lot longer than I wanted. All the pains from hiking over the last few days came back. My back was hurting for some reason. I would have to stop and bend backwards and forward to get to stop. Then I had to do it again about every two to three minutes.

Back at the Colby T, I repeated my sponge bath actions from last night. Then I copied the screen shots I had made of apps from my iPhone to my computer so I could work on my presentation while listening to the Spurs game. Since I don't have cable TV in a state park, I have to listen on my iPhone using an app that gives me ESPN radio. In fact, the Spurs just lost the game! Oh well.

While the game was on, I finished my presentation before catching up on this blog. Now I have to process today's pictures from my Flip. More tomorrow.

Tuesday, June 5

I woke up super early again. This time I stubbornly refused to get out of bed until about an hour later when my bladder forced me to. It was about 6:45. It will take several weeks of summer break before my body stops waking up early for work. I decided to take advantage of the semi cool outdoor conditions and went ahead and started some of my “leaving camp” routine. I tried to get as much of the outdoor things as possible. Then I came back in for a quick breakfast before getting to work on some serious maid service. Trust me when I say that the Colby T is cleaner than it was the day I pulled it off the lot! I swept, mopped, scrubbed, and polished. I even took my fan apart and cleaned the blades. Don't forget defrosting the fridge.

Anyway, I got it all done and hitched up for home. I decided I wanted to stop at Camping World. I had only been there once with Jack Funkhouser years ago. I wasn't interested in anything back then. Today it was an “oo/ah” experience. I ended up just buying one thing. It is a book call 10 Minute TECH Volume 2. It has “600 all-new ten minute solutions to fix every maddening RV problem imaginable!” I figured I better have it in case a problem arises.

From there I went across the highway to the new Buc-ee's. It is huge, but doesn't have anything the others don't have. You just aren't forced to trip over everyone else. I got some turkey sticks and jerky. I like theirs because most of it is carb free.

After a short and uneventful drive, I pulled into Packrats just after 12:30 pm. I backed straight into my spot like normal. I got out to figure out my adjustments only to be amazed that I had actually backed it right into the sweet spot on the first go!!! Maybe there is hope for me.

Not sure when my next trip will be. For those that don't know, we are doing a lot of home repairs and remodeling this summer. Some of it includes new windows, new floors, rebuilding the stair way, painting the whole interior, a new kitchen, a new guest bathroom, and turning our shower into a closet and putting a walk- in shower where the tub is. I think I will be fairly tied up with all that. I may be taking some one-nighters just to stay sane!

Until next time!

Oh, I forgot. You can see my pictures from this trip at this link:

http://s1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff433/jjjandrbaker/Bastrop%20State%20Park%20June%202012/