Travel Stats and Pictures from Choke Canyon SP

Location: Choke Canyon State Park; Three Rivers, Texas

(click pictures to enlarge)


I've been on the road for 40 weeks. So many memories compressed into such a short time that I sometimes have to think hard about where I was at a particular time. Retirees are not supposed to have to think hard so I guess I've broken that rule. The complete list of stats are:

40   Weeks
280   Days
19256  Total Miles Traveled
9912   Total Miles Towing
9344   Total Miles Exploring
10.4   Average MPG
25   Num of States seen
73   Num of Campgrounds
39   Num of State Parks
136   Avg miles between CG
128   Avg miles exploring an area

3.8   Avg days stayed in CG

The average stay per campground has increased but that was primarily because I had extended stays while I was enjoying Thanksgiving with my family. My goals are to have the average stay per campground increase to 4 to 5 days with about 150 miles between campgrounds. I am happy with the number of state parks being a little more than half of the total campgrounds. I believe that is a good mixture. There have been a lot of states with excellent state park systems. I hope that continues as I head farther west. The MPG is a little higher than I had anticipated but that is good.  

Choke Canyon State Park is full of wildlife. More so than any other state park that I've stayed. There isn't a lot of things to explore in the area and due to the shale gas boom and lack of a good drenching/cleaning rain, the roads and town are nasty. There is limestone dust and dirt everywhere except in the park. There was so much dust on Liberty's windows that I couldn't see out of several of them. But the wildlife and pretty scenery in the park makes up for a lot of that drawback.

The following are some pictures from around the park:

I drove right by these guys as they were grazing on the side of the road. They will raise their head but usually won't run off unless you make a loud noise or sudden move. 

Herds of deer just wander around the park. I counted 22 in a group yesterday. Most are young or does. There are a couple spikes mixed in now and then. 

This one was grazing by the dumpster when I took my trash out. You can see Liberty in the background.

This is one of the few big bucks I've seen. I was driving up the road and he was "hiding" behind the tree. There were several does on the opposite side of the road. The bucks seem to stay close to the dense brush in case they need to make a quick escape. 

As I got parallel with him, he trotted off and I snapped this one through the passenger window. Looks like he has been around for a while. 

 

I believe it is a Crested Caracara

Harris's Hawk?

These are the evening visitors to my campsite

Entrance to one of the hiking walking trails. A geocache was located down this one. 

Another walking trail. What looked like to me as a couple javelinas crossed in front of me but I was too slow to get a picture. They were quick as the crossed the path. I mentioned it to the Park Ranger and described the size of the animals. He said, based on the size it was probably wild hogs. 

Here is the "thinking bench" picture. It even has what looks a little like a heart shaped tree next to it.

Pre-sunset. I am standing right at my campsite.

Nice sky

The leaning tree added character to this picture.

Tomorrow is moving day. It will be a short tow down to Lake Corpus Christi State Park and the weather should be good. 

Ya'll take care of each other. I'll Cya down the road