Return to Bastrop State Park

Bastrop State Park

June 30 through July 3, 2014

Well I scheduled a bunch of camping trips throughout the summer. This is just one of them. I wanted to come back to Bastrop and see what changes have taken place in the forest's recovery. I also enjoyed the trails and local area. I always have.

When yesterday, June 30^th finally came around, I got off to a bad start by oversleeping. Like the idiot I am, I set my alarm for 7:30 PM instead of AM. I decided it didn't matter all that much, and went ahead and got cleaned up and ready to go. My stuff was all packed, with the exception of a few things that were unchecked on my list just to be sure I didn't forget them: inhaler, dental guard, meds, hanging clothes, and ice chest.

Instead of getting gas at my usual place, I decided to head over to HEB and get it so I could get a few things for the trip. I wanted DEET. That's right- DEET! I was not planning on getting any more chigger bits this summer. I picked up some groceries and ice, too. I bought a $100 gift card to use for gas. For my non-local readers, we save 11 cents a gallon in the summer if we use a gift card at the grocery store. I think they hope you'll spend it on other stuff.

Anyway, I gassed up and went to get the Colby T. I was hitched and ready to hit the road by 10:00, which was my original plan to begin with. Skipping breakfast was a good idea. The ride up was totally uneventful, so why bother even mentioning it.

As I turned off the highway to go to the park, I saw that the Bastrop Buc-ee's was open. I forgot that they were building it the last time I was here. I made a mental note to go there at least once during this trip. I don't know why I like that place so much, but I do.

The park ranger let me pick my site. Number 11 was available, so I took it again. She tried to talk me out of it, saying that most people don't like it because it isn't level. I already new that. It is on an incline from front to back of the trailer, and I have to put the nose down as low as it will go. That doesn't bother me. I can see that it would be harder to do in a long trailer. The real perk of this site is that it sits right by the trail head and as far as you can get from the pool, bath house, and play ground.

I had the trailer basically set up pretty fast. I had two not so usual chores to do. One I was looking forward to. N2S gave me a poster-sized print of my dog Nicky for Father's Day. Rachel got a frame for it. I couldn't wait to see his smiling face hanging on the wall of the Colby T. It was really easy to hang with these new-fangled velcro picture hangers Rachel bought for me. I just hope it stays up. If not, it will fall on the bed, so it won't be a disaster. The second job was making up the bed. I can't stand doing that. It is a difficult task. I waited for the air conditioner to cool down the camper a bit before I even tried it.

Once everything was all set, I got dressed to go on my first hike. As I checked the battery in my Canon, I realized that I had left the memory card on a bookshelf at home. I got dressed for the road again and headed to town. There is a Walgreen's right by the park, so I took a chance on it having one. They did. I picked out a 16GB one that was on sale for $14. When I got to the register it rang up to $42. I told her I would go get the right one. Then I realized what happened. The sale had ended. She let me have it for $14 when I brought her the sale sticker from the shelf. That's Texas law.

Since I was out, and it was late afternoon, I went on over to Billy's Pit BBQ to buy some mutton. She had one little tiny piece, which I bought along with a big slice of brisket. I took it to go and came back to the Colby T. It was delicious.

After dinner, I took my first hike of the trip. I went down the trail by the trailer that goes to the lake. It is about a mile through the woods, and it actually takes about twice the time to walk it as it does the second mile on the road that I took to get back to camp. The forest was beautiful. There are little pine trees that the park servie planted all over the place. The burned trees are thinning out as they fall to the forest floor or branches are sheered off by the winds. It is totally different than two years ago. Almost all of the black charred bark has fallen off of the trees giving it a new lighter look. I'll tell you more about that later.

When I got back to the camper, I stripped down and gave myself a sink bath. Then I set up the TV and watched a few shows before getting in bed and reading for a few hours. I'm not sure when I fell asleep, but I slept well.

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

I had planned to get up and walk the park road loop that goes around the park before the sun got too hot. My bowels had another plan. I “sat” around for awhile until I was “empty”, which delayed my hike by a little over an hour.

I started by hiking to the lake. It was breezy and cool for the first half of my trip. The hills going to the lake are going down. Then, you start hiking back up for about three quarters of a mile until you are at the highest part of the loop right were the road cuts off to Beuscher State Park. The coolest thing about that first part of the hike were all the little cotton mice that would scurry as I approached. They are the cutest little things. They look just like hamsters with long tails.[I just smelled smoke in the trailer. I went outside and saw that it was a neighbor starting a fire in his pit.]

From the lake I headed up to the scenic overlook. I was really shocked by how different the view was. Even after the fire, you couldn't see anything but burned forest two years ago. Now you can see the highway, the Walgreen's, and believe it or not, the trailers parked on the other side of the park. I shot a video in which I zoomed in close to the Colby T. It is really shaky when I get to the point that I seem to be standing about twenty feet from it, but it gives you a good sense of the perspective. On a good note, they rebuilt the roof on the old lookout pavilion.

The rest of the hike was literally down hill. When I got to the lowest point, it was starting to get really hot. The breezes didn't reach that part. It is sort of like a bowl. I walked over to the campsite I used with my popup two months before the fire which happened in 2011. I did it in 2012 also. I took pictures each time to compare the changes.

Then I came on back to the Colby T. It was about a 4.5 mile hike altogether. I stripped down and had another sink bath. Then I cooked poached some eggs in salsa for lunch and relaxed for awhile. Time just slipped away. I watched the end of the Argentina/Switzerland soccer match. Then I went outside for a while and realized it had gotten really hot. I had about an hour or so until the USA/Belgium game, so I went over to Buc-ee's to get a cold drink, some ice, and a few treats to nibble on. Then I came home and watched the soccer match. It was a bummer to see the USA team lose, but I still enjoyed watching it. I only got it on Univision. After a while, I forgot that it was in Spanish. I understood enough to follow it.

I messed around with Twitter for awhile after the game. I have been following the tweets about ISTE14. I couldn't get the ones I wanted to go back to later to go to myEN. Evidently, Evernote dropped that service in December. I haven't used Twitter much for awhile. Anyway, I set a new recipe in IFTTT which is supposed to do the job for me when I favorite a tweet. I'm not sure is is working. It will be easier than emailing them to myself.

Before I knew it, it was already 7:00 PM. I decided to repeat my hike of yesterday in reverse. I walked by road to the lake, then took the trail back to camp. Somewhere on the trail I heard a giant tree come crashing down. It wasn't near me, but it did make me a little nervous for the rest of the hike. The highlight of the hike was seeing a cane toad sitting on a log. Then I got to take a bunch of shots of a road runner that I tried to photograph yesterday.

Back at the camper, I had another sink bath. Then I settled down to write this while watching America's got Talent. That pretty much catches you up for tonight. Nothing left but TV, reading for awhile, and going to sleep.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Well, I pegged that right. Nothing else interesting happened last night. I read for awhile and went to bed. I woke up without an alarm at 8:00, which, compared to school days, is sleeping in. I made some coffee, poached some eggs in the microwave, ate my meal, checked my social networks, and hit the trail for my first hike of the day.

Just at the beginning of the trail, I heard some men talking off the trail. I went a little farther and saw a green truck parked in the middle of the forest where there didn't appear to be a trail. I kept going on the trail listening to the men behind me. Then I got to the point where one of the trails was closed the whole time I've been here and saw about ten people working on the trail bridge. The two men following me were rangers, either coming to work or check on the progress.

My goal was to hike to the lake on a trail and take a road back to the Colby T. I changed my mind because the trail was so pretty this morning. There was a cool breeze, and I saw lots of lizards and birds. I saw a lot of those cotton mice, too, but they scurry away so fast I could never even try to get a shot. I swear they look just like hamsters with longer tails.

The crew was still working when I passed on my return trip. One of them hollered, “Can you work a drill?” I shouted back, “Not in the middle of a forest!” Then I just kept going. There was one woman working with them. She seemed to be working harder than the men. I'm just saying. Most of them were watching the work- not doing it.

Back at the trailer, I took my usual sink bath. Then I sat in the cool for awhile before getting dressed for my trip into town. I used the bathroom, and decided to use a flashlight to see how full my b lack tank was getting down there. It looked pretty full. I don't conserve flushes as much when I have full hook ups. I told myself that I would need to dump the tanks when I got back from town. Unfortunately, when I washed my morning dishes, the water wouldn't drain. That meant that the grey tank was also full. I went out and hooked up my cheap blue sewer hose and drained both of them. I had read in my blog from two years ago that my deluxe Rhino hose won't work here.

Anyway, I got everything ready and went over to Billy's Pit BBQ. I wanted to get there early enough to be sure I got mutton ribs, since they only had a tiny bit left when I went on Monday. I was lucky. They had plenty. I brought them back to the camper and pigged out. I love mutton. It is so moist and greasy. Billy's is about the only place I know to get it. I think that Billy's has the best BBQ this side of I-35. The state may have declared Lockhart the BBQ capital of Texas, but Billy's puts all of four of the places there to shame. As a matter of fact, so does Coopers in Llano.

After lunch, I was ready to do something, but I didn't really want to go on another hot afternoon hike in the park. I decided to drive over to Beusher State Park. Unfortunately, when I went to do my daily paranoid “ants on the electric cord” check (read by Lockhart SP blog from last year!), I noticed that the Colby T's license plates expired in January! I tried to call the state DMV offices, but all I ever got was a busy signal. I decided to ask the rangers at headquarters if they knew where I could renew my license in Bastrop.

While I was at the headquarters, I asked a few other questions. I wanted to know if all of the baby pine trees were planted by the state, or if some where natural growth. They told me that a large percentage of them were natural. I also asked about the Houston Toad, and learned that they are the size of a quarter, so what I have seen on the trails was just a frog. Oh well. Anyway, the ranger gave me the number of the Tax Assessor’s office so I could call about the license.

The Tax office told me I could only renew my plates in my home county. I told her that I would have to take my chances getting home, and that if I got a ticket, it was my own fault. She told me I could pay $5 and get a “one trip permit”, so I went over there and got one. They give you a paper license plate to put on the trailer. They ask what route you will take, and give you fifteen days to make the trip. I would much rather pay that than a ticket. The office was in a new building. It was fully automated and very nicely run. I only waited about ten minutes for my number to be called, and I got to sit in a waiting room until then. I should be so lucky when I got to renew the license in San Antonio.

I left there and went to do a walking tour of the historic district. I love doing that in every town I visit. I shot tons of photos and even went to the museum to learn about the history of Bastrop. They had a really nice video that told the story. I was going to go into a coffee shop for an iced coffee, but it looked more like a lunch venue than a coffee house, so I opted out.

I drove over to Buc-ee's again before heading back to camp. I needed some bottled water and hoped they had it. They did. I also bought some smoked pork tenderloin for dinner (about 6 oz.) and a bag of chili lime pistachios. For those of you who don't know, I have been eating Paleo for a while now. Can't say I've lost any wait, but it stopped the gaining that was happening. It also cleared up by skin problems. Anyway, I am a little bummed with Buc-ee's now because of it. All of there jerkies and meat products but about two have sugar or soy products in them. Even there nuts are messed up. Paleo lets you eat all nuts but peanuts. So what does Buc-ee's roast their nuts in? Peanut oil. They also seem to put a lot of sugar in their nuts and dried fruits. Only the dried apples don't have extra sugar, and the chili lime pistachios are the only nuts without the peanut oil or sugar. Oh well. At least I can find something. I'm not one of those people who wants the world to change to suit me.

Back at the camper, I ate some pistachios, checked my social media, and made a big mistake. I laid on the bed to be a little more comfortable. I woke up two hours later! The bed in the Colby T is sooooooo comfortable. I have the standard four-inch mattress made of the seat cushions, a four-inch memory foam mattress, and a four-inch feather mattress top. The latter two were given to me by Stacey Stilly, my good friend. It was like a MAJOR upgrade in the sleeping department.

Anyway, I woke up from that nap with that weird disoriented feeling I get sometimes from an unplanned nap.[Just went outside to stretch my legs. It is really nice out there. There are about four new campers near me. They have lights all around their sites. They seem to be laying on the ground around the site perimeters. They are multi-colored. It almost looks like Christmas!] I decided to eat the pork tenderloin and some more pistachios for dinner. Then I decided to take another hike to the lake and back.

When I got to the bridge that the workers had repaired, I saw that the trail going that way was now open. I thought it was the trail that led to the scenic lookout, so I decided to honor their efforts and take it. I would just follow the road back to the Colby T after visiting the scenic lookout again. Well, it was the wrong trail. It took me way over to an overflow parking lot right near the other campground where I once camped in the pop-up. I figured I would go ahead and hike up to the scenic lookout by road, a long and arduous climb. As a result, my final hike at Bastrop SP ended up being a lot longer than I had counted on. Even though it was only about 3.5 miles, a lot of it was breathtakingly uphill. It was a good workout. I can always use the exercise, especially now when I am not having any problems with my plantar fasciitis. I ended the day with 16,698 steps, which ain't bad!

Back at the Colby T, I took another sink bath before settling in and writing this. I put the TV on, but nothing kept my attention. I just don't understand “Under the Dome”. It is such a disappointment to me after the book was so good. Then a show about a police woman who can't drive and teams up with a taxi driver came on. I had hopes of it being good, but it just didn't do it for me.

Now, I am drinking Merlot, probably more than I should since it is the last night of this trip, and settling into a comfortable and quiet night. I won't set an alarm. When I wake up on my last day of a trip, I start the departure prep as if I am compelled to do so. I can stay here until 2:00 PM, but I won't.

Anyway, I will finish this tomorrow when I am back at home.

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Well I woke up at 8:05 this morning. I felt totally refreshed, so I got up and fixed breakfast before prepping for departure. I took my time at it this morning. It was already pretty hot outside by the time I got to doing outside stuff. I got everything done, but left the shore power connected and the AC running until the last minute. When I was just about ready to pull out of the park, I sat in the camper checking my socials while I cooled down a bit. Then I changed into my traveling clothes and hit the road.

Traffic was terrible the entire way. On highway 21, there was a driver going about 35 MPH. We would get a bunch of vehicles stacked up behind us, so I would pull over at safe spots and let them all pass me. Then I would get back on the road and drive for about a minute before getting behind all of them, slowed down by that slow driver. I could have just stayed in the queue, but I didn't want anyone who couldn't see around me to think I was the slowpoke.

San Antonio traffic was terrible, too. Even Bandera Road was bumper to bumper. Just the same, I was able to park the Colby T at Packrats and get into the house by 2:00 PM. Now, I'm going to catch up on all my electronic things that I couldn't do on my phone.

The next trip is to Palmetto State Park in two weeks. Until then, happy trails!

See all the photos from this trip here!