Circle Trip Stop 4: Mother Neff State park

10:39AM, July 4^th, 2013

I got up early, as has been my habit on this trip, and fixed my breakfast. Then I started getting everything ready for departure. I have mentioned before that I use a checklist compulsively. With picking up and moving every two days, it hasn't been necessary. Instead, I get everything done, then sit at the picnic table and go through the list just in case. I will probably never give up the checklist entirely.

I was ready to go by about 7:45. My next stop was only an hour away, so I didn't fell rushed. I decoded to stop in at headquarters and say goodbye to the awesome ranger lady. She wasn't there. Another very nice ranger lady was working. I didn't stay long to chat or anything. I got in the truck and headed on down the road.

This trip took me back through Clifton, where I got a Blizzard the day before. Then I took a right and headed south through McGregor. All in all, I think I switched roads at the most four times.

[My feet are so cold they hurt! Gonna get my slippers... That's better.]

I almost missed the gate into the headquarters area of the park. Evidently there was a horrific flood in 2007 that left most of the park covered in 13 feet of water for three weeks. At least I think she said three weeks. The park was closed for a long time because of it, and was only for day use for a long time after that. The original headquarters either washed away or was damaged so bad that it was torn down. It was up by where I am camping. No sign of it now.

Right now, the headquarters is in a little white barn like you would put in your backyard to store stuff. They don't have much in there, and sadly I can't get a plate for my walking stick. The rangers have all been very friendly. In fact, when I got to my site (number 3), I knew there was no way I could back into it. The map was deceiving. I called and asked if I could take site number 1 instead. The ranger said that was fine. When I said I would be down there in a few minutes to swap out my paperwork, she told me not to bother, they would bring it to me!

Anyway, site number one was really easy to back into. It isn't shaded like number 3 was, but an hour or so later, neither was number 3. Last night at about 8:00, a huge 5^th wheel came in. He made a loop through the campground and left for like twenty minutes before coming back to try backing into the spot. He pulled in to the loop from the other direction, passed up my site, and then backed straight in in a matter of seconds. I didn't think of that. Oh well. He left early this morning. Must have just been a stop over for him.

There are only six water and electric sites in this little loop. There are a few, right now there are five tent campers, one pop-up, two 5^th wheelers, and me in the entire park. I thought they would be swamped on July 4^th. The ranger told me that this park doesn't draw as many campers because there is not pool or lake to swim in. That suits me fine. You know I'm all about the trails.

I took my first hike on the trails shortly after getting set up. There was a bus full of boys in the park from something called “Project Heatwave out of Temple”. They were coming off of the trail just as I started, which made me happy. I like to here the sounds of nature. Kids don't let that happen.

The park has three different ecosystems, and you can experience them all by walking all of the trails. They are all beautiful in their own ways. On the first part of the trail, you are in a river bottom, even though the little creek is all dry. You hike amongst huge old pecan trees. Then, you get to a more hilly canyon-like area. There is a place called “The Cave” where the water has worn the rock away and left about a 20 foot overhang. It was really cool under the rock.

I headed back the way I came and took the trail to another intersection. This time, the trail climbed up until it suddenly ended in front of a beautiful round tower with stairs and iron railings winding around it. The tower was built by the CCC and is a really stunning feature. From the top, you can see for miles and miles. When I came down, I realized that I was right near the temporary headquarters compound, so I went there and took some photos.

I retraced my steps back to the intersection and discovered a sign for a bird blind. I had missed it when heading to the tower. I followed the short trail and had a seat there for awhile. It was built by and Eagle Scout. It was very nice, but not one bird bothered to visit while I was there. I noticed a path going to the right of it. It took you right back to headquarters in about twenty yards. It is amazing how you have no sense of where you are on the trails!

I went back to the intersection and headed for “The Wash Pond”. On the way, the trail split in two directions to create Buffalo Loop. I veered to the left. The other trail went off to the right. I soon realized that they were separated by a large ravine that got larger and steeper as I went. At the end of the trail, I saw the pond. It is sort of a pit at the bottom of the rock wall that catches water. It is almost empty right now, but there were some huge pollywogs in there. All kinds of insects were stopping for a drink.

I took some steps down into the ravine and right back up. The other end of the Buffalo Loop trail was off to my right, but I went straight headed for the prairie. About six hundred yards from the ravine, the terrain suddenly flattened out and got grassy. I found myself out on a beautiful golden prairie with a few clumps of cedar trees here and there. The trail goes in a square all around that. I took it, even though it was really getting a little warm to be hiking with no shade. I would say the loop is about two and a half miles around the fence line of that area of the park. It ended by a playground and a big sign that said to watch for snakes.

I followed the trail I was on until it looped back to the trail that got me there. I made my way back to camp. There had been a little trailer similar to mine when I got to the park. They had now packed up and gone leaving only four of us in the loop. The camper was nice and cool, so I relaxed awhile until I was dry. Then I cleaned up and got ready to go explore the area a bit.

I went to the headquarters, because there was a sign about a 4^th of July hike. I wanted to check the time and see where it met. I asked the ranger a little about the flood. Two male rangers came in and sat down. They looked hot and tired. They must have been working hard on something. I asked if there was a place nearby to get barbecue. The older ranger told me to go to the Backyard Barbecue at Morgan's Point, about 20 miles away.

I wanted to see The Grove first, so I drove about 6 miles down the highway. The Grove is just a tiny little downtown area with about 6 buildings. I don't know if it is authentic and was a town at one time, or if it was built as a movie set. You can look at the photos and see what I mean.

From the Grove, the barbecue place was only fourteen miles away. It was actually in Temple. One funny thing about the trip was crossing the Leon River. It was huge like a lake with about a quarter-mile long bridge to cross it. By the park, it is a stagnate looking little creek!

The barbecue was amazing. I got a three-meat plate with potato salad and beans so I could judge it on my criteria. It was all good, but they gave me way too much of everything. I was going to ask for a to go box, but ended up scarfing it all down like a hungry dog. It was just too good not to.

On the way back, I stopped at the dollar general. I was hoping to find a napsack so I could carry extra water on longer hikes. I have plenty at home, but forgot to bring one on the trip. They didn't have any, but they did have some Merlot and some adhesive hooks that I wanted to hang my keys on. I keep laying them down somewhere, and even in this tiny trailer, I can't find them.

[The pop-up just pulled out of the park! The tent campers have been joined by about six other family members. They are sitting in chairs in a circle enjoying the shade.]

I felt so bloated when I got back from eating all that barbecue that I just sat in the camper disgusted with myself for awhile. I read part of my book. I off loaded my photos to the computer. I checked email and all that. I got an email from the Postachio people saying they were having a webinar about using Evernote at 8:00 my time. I didn't think I would get to be part of it, but I installed the GoToMeeting app on my phone to try. Then I played with posting photos to my mini-blog. I finally figured out that it was working. I don't know why I thought it didn't the last time I tried.

At about 5:30, I just couldn't wait anymore to start hiking. I needed at least two hours to pay for the barbecue, and I wanted to be back at the camper in time to shower and try to join the webinar. I followed the park roads checking out all the different areas. When I ended up at the playground by the Prairie, I followed the trails back to the camper. I was a hot stinky wet mess. I grabbed my stuff and went to the shower.

Now, I am not the most bashful person in the world. Just the same, if there is a choice, I will choose the most private of the two showers in the bath house. At this one, it was the handicapped shower closer to the wall. I guess they were expecting me to be seated on the pull down bench, because the shower hit me right in the junk! The other shower up higher was one of those that only stays on while you press it in. Between the two of them, I manage to get scrubbed.

I fixed myself a Jim Beam and diet coke and tried to use the app. It seemed to log me in okay, but nothing happened. It kept saying that it was waiting for a session administrator (something like that) to connect. Finally, at 8:00 PM sharp, I heard the voice of Jared Shaw coming through. Eventually, his computer screen popped into view, and I got to successfully participate. It was interesting and fun. Evernote is one of my favorite things. I use it for a lot of things.

I don't know if it was looking at a tiny screen, or just that fact that I normally do not eat huge amounts of greasy barbecue, but I started feeling a little nausiuos towards the end of the webinar. When it was over at about 9:00, I took an antacid, got in bed, made a few posts on Facebook, and read for awhile. It wasn't long. I fell asleep and woke up around 11:30 with my kindle laying on my chest. I got up, used the bathroom, and then went back to bed.

I woke up at 5:00 AM feeling perfectly fine. I used the bathroom and went back to bed, but finally gave up at 6:00 and fixed breakfast, at it, got dressed, and started off on my first hike of the day. This time, I took the trails strait to the Prairie trailhead, hiked up to the prairie pond, then took a new trail back to the one that goes around the prairie, hiked all the way around that area, and finished by hiking back on the roads. It was great. The weather was perfect.

When I got back to the camper, I hung my wet clothes out to dry, cooled down for awhile, then got caught up with writing this. I took a break for lunch a while back and polished off a pound of ice cold strawberries that I bought at the Brownwood WalMart on Sunday. Now, I am going to relax for about 45 minutes.

I am going to go to the 4^th of July walk. It starts at the playground over by the Prairie trail head. I'm going to hike over there by trail, like I did this morning.

8:29 PM

Well I left a little earlier than planned to go over to the Prairie Trail Head. I walked really slowly so I wouldn't be all hot and sweaty when I got there, but it didn't work. There was absolutely no breeze, and the air was hot and steaming. I was a wet mess when I got there at about 1:27. I sat on a bench by the playground listening to the birds and enjoying the breeze that suddenly came from nowhere.

A man came and joined me on the bench. I asked if he was taking the hike and he said he was, but I guess he misunderstood me. After we chatted for awhile, he said his goodbyes and headed off down the trail. I got up and walked to the parking area and found Ranger Leah there with some others. I asked her some questions that I had accumulated while hear. She answered them all and told me that what I thought was an archaeological dig site was actually where they are starting to build a new campsite with pull-throughs and full hookups.

After it looked like we had everyone assembled, Ranger Leah led us down the trails. We walked at a fast pace, but she stopped about every 10 minutes to tell us things about the park and share patriotic facts and readings for July 4^th. It still didn't help some of the people. They were very slow and many seemed uncomfortable. I can begin to imagine what they thought a hike through the canyon would entail. One family was all dressed for July 4^th. The girls had pretty little dresses with stars one them. Very few people had the right shoes on.

At one point, I was alone with Ranger Leah waiting for the others to catch up. I suggested that she point out poison ivy, because the kids where trying to run around the people in front of them and getting right into it. When everyone caught up, she sad she would show them, but didn't see any right around her. I had moved about ten yards down the trail. I hollered, “There is some right here next to this man's leg!” He jumped away pretty quick, but it was too late. The rest of the trip (about 2 and a half hours), I kept seeing people let it rub up against their legs. I told one lady about tecnu. I had seen her in the poison ivy several times.

When we finally got back to the starting point, Ranger Leah gave us all an ice cold bottle of water from a cooler in her truck. I poured half of it into my water bottle so that what I had left with me would be cooler for the walk home and drank the rest. I thanked her for a great hike and started back to camp on the road. I didn't want to take the trails because somehow or another I had strip all the skin off one of my toes. It was a little tender. I honestly don't know what I could have done to cause it. It was rubbing something. Maybe a wrinkle of sweaty sock got between the two toes. It wasn't horribly painful unless I landed on rocks and stuff. Ranger Leah was passing by and asked me if I wanted a lift. I declined. I needed the exercise to get to my calorie burn goal.

By the time I got back to the Colby T, I was wiped. I went to the bathhouse and took a shower, then I came back and doctored my toe with Neosporin and a bandaid before cooking up a delicious dinner of tuna casserole.

After I ate, I laid on the bed for a few minutes to see how soft it was with my sleeping bag under the mattress. Sleeping on the four inch foam mattress panels with my big butt has compressed it a bit. It usually gets more time to spring back to life. Anyway that did the trick. I still think that I may get a real mattress in here someday. I don't use the dinette unless N2S is with me. On those rare trips, I could leave the mattress in the garage.

I decided to try using the Movie Vault app, since I left my kindle on, and it went dead and needed to be recharged. It has specially minimized movie files that will run well on 3G service. I wasn't sure if it would work with 1 bar, but it has done great. I am about halfway through Mae West's She Done Him Wrong. Hey, I'm easily entertained. I took a break to put the awning up and finish this so I can stowe the computer before getting more settled in and watching the rest of the movie.

I want to get an early start tomorrow. Lockhart is only about 120 miles away, but I want to be there and get set up in plenty of time to meet N1S for a barbecue lunch. Anyway, I guess I will end this here.

Happy Trails

You may see all of the photos from this trip on my Photobucket site. click here