Palmetto SP, December 2012

Well here I sit in the Colby T, back at one of my absolute favorite state parks, Palmetto. I am situated in site number 12, which I am almost positive is the same one I had when I brought the popup in the summer of 2010. This is the first time I have ever been here in the winter, and it is totally different. I'll tell you more about that later. Right now, however, let's go back a bit.

It doesn't take much for me to run off in the Colby T. It is such an effortless thing to do. I simply make a phone or Internet reservation, pack a few clean clothes (most of which I never seem to use), grab some bottled water and a few dry goods, and go. I can be ready to hit the road with the Colby T in tow, within an hour of getting the notion. I love that. This time, though, I had a plan in place for a few months. When Stacey and Randy bought their Cougar, they planned this trip. That was a few months ago, at least. I decided to join them and booked three nights. After all, it is Christmas break. We have 16 days off. There was, and is, plenty of time to get other things done.

I tried to wait patiently for the break to get here. I almost made it, but Stacey and Randy went camping in San Marcos and posted about it on Facebook. That gave me a serious case of camperlust, so I made a quick getaway to Guadalupe River State Park. Then, there was nothing to do but wait.

A few weeks before the break, my sister told me that she was going to be coming down here for the Alamo Bowl. She got a chance on some tickets and jumped on it, only to learn that it was going to cost way too much to fly down here over the holidays on the spur of the moment. Instead, she decided to give each of my boys two tickets to the game for their Christmas presents. That created a bit of a problem. Neither of the boys really wanted to go to begin with. N1S is a UT student, but doesn't care much for all the hype at the games. He won't even wear UT orange. N2S hates football. He will tell you he has seen enough games while playing in the high school band to last him a lifetime. There were other issues. My first night of this trip was supposed to be the 29^th, which, of course, was the football game. The boys wanted me to go so we could all ride together. That led to determining who the fourth would be. That alone was a bit of a problem, but N2S asked a friend, so all was well.

Anyway, to get on with the story, I cut my trip one day short. The boys and I went to the football game. On Sunday morning, I got up at 8:00 am, drank a cup of coffee, and headed off to Palmetto. By 8:45, I was on the road, headed toward downtown. From then, it was smooth sailing all the way here. I pulled into the park headquarters at around 10:30. Much to my surprise, there were only two sites to choose from. I didn't really think there would be that many here for New Year's Eve. I was kind of right. This is the 31^st, and about half of the sites are now empty. My choices for sites were 7 and 12. I chose 12 because the ranger told me 7 was not very level.

I drove on to the camp site. I got to #12 and tried once to back in. I could tell it wasn't going to work out, so I drove around the loop and got Randy and Stacey to help me. I was going to let Randy back it in for me, but he gave me some tips that I wanted to try. For those of you who read these posts, Palmetto SP is where I jackknifed and dented the Colby T trying to back into a site with the boys and a park host giving me directions. That totally undermined my backing confidence. This time I thought that, if I did it myself with Randy's tips, I would regain a little of that confidence. It was really only two simple little changes to what I had originally tried. First, I sort of turned in toward my site. Then, I pulled as far away diagonally as I could. That lined up the camper better and made it easier to back on in. I was happy. Honest to God, you learn something every time you take a trip. You just have to realize that almost everyone else has more experience and knowledge base than you do when you first start a new activity. Let them help you and teach you.

Stacey and Randy went on over to their camper and left me to get settled in the Colby T. It wasn't leveled very well, but It didn't matter that much to me right then. I got everything in its place and grabbed a quick cup of coffee. Then I headed over to see their Cougar. They were sitting outside with a gas campfire. That was really cool, but I was there to take the camper tour. Now in case you haven't figured this out, yet, I LOVE THE COLBY T. I do not want anything else. BUT, if the Colby T is a fine hotel, their Cougar is a frapping 5 star Resort on a private island!!! It is gorgeous. There are so many things about it that would put the Colby T to shame, if I weren't so head over heels in love with it. That's all I'm gonna say about it. Just trust me, it is extremely luxurious and well designed.

After the tour, we took about a two mile hike with their dogs. It was nice to walk the trails in winter. Everything looks so different this time of year that it almost seems like they were different trails all together. Only my knowledge of the layout made them seem in any way familiar. At one point, the dogs found the muddiest part of the swamp to jump around in. They were covered in mud. Stacey decided that they needed to go down to the river on the way back to camp and get cleaned. They had a great time jumping in the water and chasing the sticks that Randy would throw for them. One of them, Dakota, got covered in cockle burrs. Randy had to hand remove them later in the camper.

I came back to the Colby T and set up my TV with hopes of watching the Spurs play the Mavericks later in the evening. Unfortunately, it wasn't televised locally, which meant I wasn't going to get to watch or listen to it, unless I went out and sat in the truck. The Internet radio services don't stream the NBA games. You can get WOAI, which is broadcasting the game in my truck, but it streams some sports talk show instead of the game online. I hoped to find the game listed on the schedule of one of the Austin or Victoria channels that I was picking up, but they had other things scheduled. I kind of lost interest and decided to level the camper better with my BAL leveler. It is a device you put around the tire that is on the low side. When you crank it, that tire is listed up to level the camper. That way, all my blood doesn't go to my head when I sleep. They say you have to keep the refrigerator level, too, but mine was chilled to 34 degrees before I ever started to level anything. I have a bottle of champagne in there that we will have with our New Year's Eve dinner of “black-eyed pea chili” which I have been invited over for this evening.

I decided to take another longer walk by myself. I have not been following the low carb plan over the break. That has meant a small TEMPORARY weight gain. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to burn some calories. Unfortunately, I left my compression shorts at home and do not seem to have any body glide with me. That means chafing, which is exactly what happened. Since I wanted to walk more trails the next day, I decided to make a run to Walmart to either buy a pair of compression shorts or some of the Gold Bond Friction Defense. Of course, the Walmart in Gonzales didn't have either of them, so I went to the new HEB. They had every Gold Bond product but the one I wanted. I bought another bottle of Merlot out of spite and picked up some mustard for Stacey and headed back to camp.

I took the wine and went over to the Cougar. They invited me for a delicious steak dinner. Stacey had sauteed some onions and mushrooms and baked some huge potatoes to go with the steaks. I had a ribeye (I got to choose between that and a T-bone). The steak was wonderful. The meat came from the Shudde Ranch, and Randy knows his way around a grill! I stayed and talked with them for a while before heading back to the Colby T. I didn't want to impose on their evening too much. That and the fact that I LOVE being in the Colby T.

I poured a little Jameson's and turned on the TV. There was nothing I wanted to watch at all. I knew that the Spurs were playing, and it was really making me angry missing it. I ordered a great radio the other day that will be able to pick up the games within about a hundred mile radius of San Antonio, but it won't come till later in the week. I had even considered buying a radio at the Gonzales Walmart, but that was too idiotic even for me. Instead, I kept hunting on the Internet looking for some bootlegged broadcast or something. Then I came across the NBA League Pass. I must have seen something about it before, but it never dawned on me that it was what I needed. For $39 you can watch every single NBA game for the entire season on any Internet capable device. I got it on my iPhone and watched the second half in absolute bliss! Just think how many games I missed during the 31 nights I was off camping this year! There's another game on tonight. I will be watching it on my phone. People say, “How can you watch things on your phone?” All I can say is, when the phone is there in front of your face, you see the same sized screen you do when you look across the room at a 50 inch TV. I had no problem seeing any of the action.

Not too long after the game, I got into bed and started reading for awhile. I kept nodding off, so I finally just put the book (actually the iPhone) down and went on to sleep. I slept really well. I left my box fan on low to circulate the air and the heater set on low to keep the chill off. I would have made it through the night, but my nose got stuffed up, and I couldn't breath. I broke down and allowed myself two snorts of Afrin and went back to sleep.

I first woke up at 5:30. I looked at the clock and knew I didn't want to get up yet. I just laid there relaxed until six, when I just gave up and got out of bed. I decided to run over to Buc-ee's and gas up. I figured I could grab something for breakfast at the same time. I pulled over to the bath house to clean up a bit, then headed off. It was a bit foggy and misty and very dark. I drove slowly, because there were several dear along the way. It was only about a three mile drive so speed wasn't going to do anything to get me there noticeably faster.

I drove up to the pump to get gas first. There were only about four other cars getting gas, and maybe twice that parked in front of the store. I pulled up to the side entrance after getting the gas. Inside, the place seemed deserted compared to how it normally is. In fact, it also seemed strangely smaller when you were able to walk from point to point without going around the hordes.

I didn't expect to find the Gold Bond stuff, so I wasn't too disappointed when they didn't have it. I took advantage of the emptiness to really look at what all they do have in a Buc-ee's. I found a huge bag of dried apple rings that looked good. Then I got some jalapeno sausage kolaches. I already had them in the little white bag when I stumbled upon Hipporitos. I think that's what they are called. They are breakfast tacos with egg, cheese, bacon, sausage, potatoes, and beans. Who could resist? I grabbed two of them. I figured I could put one of each in the fridge for tomorrow morning. Fat chance! One taste back at the camper, and I scarfed all four down in minutes. That just made me feel guilty, so I decided to take a walk. That idea just made me feel tired, so I laid back in bed and watched TV for awhile listening to the tap tap tap of rain on the roof of the Colby T.

Sometime in the morning, Stacey sent me a text saying her son, Chris, was on his way, and they were taking a hike across the river when he came. I went ahead and dressed, shaved with my battery operated razor, then headed to the bathhouse. Then I went to their camper and waited for Chris to get there. Randy drove up to meet him at the headquarters, and then we took off for a hike. Chris was wearing a new backpack that he got for Christmas, filled with 20 pound weights to break it in.

We crossed the San Marcos River, which was down enough that we did not even have to wade across. The water was below the bridge. We went through the tent camping area, then followed the trail around the lake. It was pretty quick, so when we got back across, we went on the short interpretive trail. The dogs found the one little mud spot on, so we headed back to the river to let them swim and clean themselves off. I left the group at that point and took the long way back to the Colby T. It added about ¾ of a mile to the walk for a total of 3.32 miles.

Back at the Colby T., I processed the flip videos I had taken and started working on this blog. I ate an Atkins bar for lunch and had a nice hot cup of green tea. It suddenly dawned on me that I was exhausted, so I laid down to read for awhile. That wasn't enough of a rest, so I decided to just go ahead and take a full blown nap. As soon as I laid down for the nap, I realized I wasn't tired anymore. Maybe the green tea kicked in... I don't know. Anyway, instead of a nap, I walked a really fast 2.47 miles. The chafing was pretty bad, but I pressed on, punishing myself for eating all that Buc-ee's food! The whole time I went between, “My crotch is on fire” (from the chafing, don't get nasty on me!) and, “Man... I really have to pee!” Then, when I got back to the Colby T, I forgot I ever had to go. As stated previously, I am such an idiot.

Stacey had invited me to come over for black-eyed pea chili at 5:30. She decided to serve it early so I could watch my Spurs game. I was happy about that. Watching the Spurs is not a social activity for me. I sit glued to the screen shouting at the players and helping Popovich coach. Other people watching with me are distracting. Besides, when you watch it on your phone, you don't really want to share it with a crowd. Anyway, I got back from my walk at about 4:45 and texted her to say I would be cooling down for awhile, then I would come with the champagne.

I forgot all about using the restroom. I changed clothes and washed up a bit. Then, I took the champagne, a bottle of Merlot, and my wine glass and put them into one of those IKEA bags to carry over. I had meant to go to the rest room on the way, but with carrying the wine and all, I decided to wait. We drank champagne, ate the awesome black-eyed pea chili, and talked outside in the rain. Randy put the awning out. It is electric and just comes on out by itself! I told you- 5 star resort. Anyway, when it was time to head home to watch the Spurs, I had my little camp chair and didn't want to go to the bath house with it, so I went strait to the Colby T. Since I was late getting to the Spurs game, I decided to wait to go to the bathhouse until halftime. When halftime came, it was raining a little heavier, so I decided to wait until after the game. I almost made it, but something told me I better get to the bathhouse quick. That's when I remembered that I was watching the game on my phone. I could carry the stupid thing with me and watch it the whole time I was going to, using, and coming back from the bathhouse. I am sooooo frapping stupid sometimes.

Anyway, I headed to the bathhouse. There was someone in the shower, but the curtains were all closed up for privacy, so I was pretty sure I wasn't going to get “cruised” as my friend Perry called that last episode at Guadalupe River State Park. Trust me, the sounds coming out of me would have scared that other guy off. Those Hipporitos did not leave me in a quiet way!

The game ended on the walk back. The Spurs won by about thirty points. I came back in and started working on this blog a bit. It is still raining outside. So far the predicted thunderstorms haven't happened. I don't mind them in the Colby T. Even the winds that set the camper rocking don't scare me like they did in the popup. Man, a storm in that thing was like a rough ride on a stage coach. Anyway, it is now 8:22 on New Years Eve. I guess I will have a few more shots of Jameson's. Then it is early to bed.

Since Mom and Dad passed, New Year's Eve just makes me sad. They always threw a party. Patti even flew down here to help Dad do it after Mom died, even though almost nobody came anymore. Besides, tomorrow is New Years Day- Mom and Dad's anniversary. I kind of hate it now. It is hard to be the baby of the family and have to deal with the loss of parents. I was never prepared to handle this type of thing. Now, I chug through life dreading parental dates of importance (birth/death/anniversary) and holidays in general. All of them are still a little too raw for me.

Well, I ended up going to sleep before midnight. No big deal. I had already toasted the New Year in with Stacey and Randy. It was warmer, so I didn't need the heater at all. I woke up a few times during the night to the sound of loud rain on the roof, but never saw any lightning. I guess the thunderstorms never really materialized.

I woke up for good at 8:00 am. I started the Keurig and headed over to the bathhouse. I saw Randy walking around his camper and figured they were probably getting ready to leave. I drank my coffee and started getting the Colby T ready for departure, too. I had more trouble getting on the hitch than usual. The back up camera had water drops on the lens that I was too lazy to get out and clean off. I guess that made it harder to see where I was. Just as I got it done and started to put the chains and electric on, Randy and Stacey came over with the dogs. They were packed and ready to go, but wanted to hit the trails one more time. I told them I was gonna pass. I needed to finish going through my obsessive departure checklist. I ended up sweeping and mopping the camper floors and wiping down all of the counter tops. I remembered how I had skipped that once with N2S and had to start my last getaway doing it. It is always nicer to start out with a clean camper.

Stacey and Randy were back from their walk as I was finishing up with my check list. I sent Rachel a text telling her I was leaving. Then I started up the truck and headed up to the dumpster to drop off my trash. The Cougar was already gone when I drove past their site.

I had planned to drive home on Alternate 90 as far as Seguin, but it was wet and icky. I decided it would be easier to just take 10 the whole way. It was an uneventful trip, except that there was a cross wind out of the North that was bugging me enough to keep me under 60 MPH. Now, the Colby T is safely back in its spot at Packrats until next time. Trust me, even if it is just to Von Ormy, it won't be long!