Aransas National Wildlife Refuge (mostly pictures)

 Location: Goose Island State Park; near Rockport, Texas

Yesterday was day 2 of 5 here at Goose Island and I backtracked a little for some exploration. The route here from the last campground came in from the north and passed through a flat coastal plain. I knew it was part of or near the Aransas NWF. I've never really gotten turned on by NWF's in the past because after a mile of driving or a half mile of walking, they seem to repeat themselves. It's like what Ronald Reagan said about the Redwood trees, "If you've seen one redwood tree, you've seen them all". I agree, that may not be fair and I'm prejudging NWF's, but that's all in the past now since I explored one yesterday. 

Once I decide to explore a NWF, I knew I needed to look up an old blog for some information. One of the many blogs I followed, before and after I hit the road, was by a woman named, Judy Bell (RIP). She traveled in a Class A motorhome and volunteered her time at NWF's around the country. The NWF's would give her a campsite, usually with full hookups, in exchange for her volunteer work. She was a true bird expert and knew almost every bird by sight. If you're interested, her blog is still online and the name is Travels with Emma. Emma was the name of her dog. I was hoping she had volunteered at Aransas and would give me some useful tips about the place. Surprisingly, although she visited it on the way to another place at which she volunteered, she never stayed here for a while. Oh well, I guess I was on my own. 

Aransas NWF has been around since the 30's when FDR first helped establish it. After he signed the papers, the CCC began work on building the infrastructure of the area. Although I didn't see everything in the area, I also didn't see any of the tale-tale signs of CCC work like I have seen all over the country.

The rest of this post will just be pictures to help remind me of the place in the future.

The scenic way to the NWF is through privately owned fields that have been recently planted. I initially thought it was NWF property that had been leased but found out later it was privately owned.

As regular readers know, I look for places like this. They all tell a story, at least in my mind. There are never anyone around to ask about the place, so I have to believe what the wind and vibes tell me. This place is located on the side of the roadway and the edge of a massive field. It looks to have been abandoned decades ago and built many decades before that. The first question: Why is it still there? My guess is it has some sentimental value to the owners of the property. Perhaps and old home place? Maybe the old home of a friend or kin? It has been saved for some reason. 

This is the welcome center. There are two very nice ladies that work inside. After talking with them for a while, I found out they are following in the footprints of Judy. Both are work campers volunteering their time at the NWF. Well done, Ladies.

I didn't see any gators, just a nice view at the end of the walkway.

Tidal flats where lots of stuff live.

How about lunch under the Coastal Oaks with a nice view of the bay. I started to bring my lunch on this trip but didn't because I knew I would receive grief from someone about Bologna not being healthy and I should be eating turkey.

This 40 foot observation platform is what originally caught my attention and prompted exploration.

Looking down at Freedom from the first leg of the ramps with the bay in the background.

Beside a nice view of the backwater of the bay, notice the plastic on the post caps to keep birds from resting there and leaving surprises behind from their behind.

That is where we're headed.

View from the top looking out over San Antonio Bay

View from the top looking towards Mustang Lake

The walkway over the Tidal Flats. I'm guessing the thinking bench is from when you come back and need a rest. Not so much a "thinking bench".

A little like the infinity lines. It's a nice walk to be able to see all the tracks and various things in the flats.

The end of the trail. 

A nice "thinking" bench at the end. The plate said it was donated by someone. I wonder how many hours they spent here looking out over the bay and dreaming or remembering.

The walk back to Freedom. As with most things in life, it's usually not a straight line.

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

Goose Island State Park, Texas Gulf Coast

Location: Goose Island State Park; near Rockport, Texas

The tow was right at 100 miles on pretty smooth roads. Texas does a good job on most of their roads, right down to the Farm to Market roads. I had a gas/pit stop planned at an Exxon at about the half way point. As I pulled in to the gas station, there was a paramedic unit near a pickup in the ditch by the gas station. No one seemed to be seriously injured, so I went on about my business. By the time I finished pumping gas there were two fire engines, an ambulance and two fire chief cars. There wasn't any fire. And they were all parked at the second exit to the gas station which was my exit. With it blocked, I would have to back up the way I entered and try to make a sharp turn to leave by the side driveway. Everything worked out good and as I got back on the highway and passed the accident scene I would see the skid marks. It looked like the drivers slammed on his brakes and steered to avoid something. Oh well, he seemed to be OK, so I continued.

The sky was trying to clear and let the blue shine through. This is the tail end of the cold front that blew thru Yoakum.

You suddenly break out into the coastal plains. If you've been to the coast before, you can tell you're close. I could sense it. It will be a good stop.

I've stayed at Goose Island State Park before. It was back in January of 2015 when I was just starting my first western swing. I camped in one of the bayside campsites. It was the time when I got lucky with a picture of the water in the bay visually disappearing. It was definitely one of the "wows" of my travels. There were no bayside campsites available when I made these reservations, so I'm camped in the wooded area. It is like snuggling under the covers, except in this case it's coastal oaks. I'll be here for 5 days and have a couple of explorations planned. The weather is long pants weather, but a warming trend thru the next few days.

The welcoming committee at Goose Island. I saw this herd twice. Once, here as I was entering the park and later on my way back to the park from getting something to eat. I counted 15 in all. All about the same size. 

The one lane road leading into the campground. In places it is like a tree tunnel. I saw two trees that I didn't get a picture of, but will look for them again.

Liberty2 nestled in her campsite. Big ole Liberty may have seemed too big for this campsite. I hope she's still doing good.  

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

"Come and Take It" Cannon

Location: Hub City RV Park; Yoakum, Texas

After typing, this is a longer than normal post. Beware.

Back a few weeks ago when I was planning my trip and making reservations, I found a period of time where every COE and State Park along my path had no vacancies. That period of time was this week and after doing some checking I  found it was due to Spring Break. So, I started checking into smaller towns that may not have an influx of people during the break. I found one in a little town called Yoakum, Texas. It has a city owed RV park located directly across the highway from the hospital and next to the city owned golf course on the outskirts of town. I called them and talked to a nice lady about making a reservation. In a heavy Texas "twang" accent she said, "we don't do that here". That bothered me a little bit since I like to have assurances about a place to stay, so I asked if they expected to be full during Spring Break. Her reply was classic and meant so much more than just answering my question,,, she said "Honey, people don't come to Yoakum for spring anything." I got here three days ago and found an empty campsite and set up camp. As per instructions post on the wall near the bathrooms at the entrance, I put my money in an envelope and dropped it in the "iron ranger". I was good to stay for four days.

I passed this campsite on my way out of Jim Hogg Campround. Loss for words.

Windshield view of the area between Austin and Yoakum

There are occasional hills with trees.

And you can't have a windshield view without some cattle now and again

This is my power pedestal. When I opened it up, I was a little surprised. I went to the other open campsites and they were all the same. I plugged my surge guard in and it said everything was fine. I thought about it for a while then decided to go for it and set up camp. By the way, that is the water faucet attached just above the electrical box. Water and electricity get along with each other, uh?

My campsite. Even with the questionable electrical box, I'm satisfied. Full hook-ups for $13.00/night, not bad. 

The view from my laptop desk. 

One of the things that has been on my list of things to see for a while is within a thirty mile drive. It's a cannon. Not just an ordinary canon, but a special cannon to the State of Texas. The reason it is special is because it helped start the Texas War of Independence. 

A quick (I hope) history: 

1821; Mexico wins Independence from Spain with Texas becoming part of Mexico. To populate Texas and keep the Indians busy, Mexico encourages Americans to migrate to Texas in exchange for free land. 

1830; Mexico begins to worry about the large amount of Americans migrating to Texas so they pass very restrictive laws against the Texans. The Texans don't like it one little bit.

1831; Mexico gives a small cannon to the town of Gonzales to help fight the Indians. It was so small, it could only be used to scare the Indians, if it worked. But it didn't work because the Mexicans had spiked the cannon so it couldn't fire. Spiked means they drove a nail into the firing port so there wasn't a way to light the gunpowder.

1833: General Santa Anna elected President of Mexico

1835: General Santa Anna tears up the Mexican Constitution and declares himself Dictator instead of just President.

September 1835: Texans were becoming too independent-minded for Santa Anna, so he did what all dictators do, he started to dis-arm the citizens of Texas. One of his acts of disarming was to send a corporal and five soldiers to Gonzales to get the cannon. The city politely said "no". 

October 2, 1835: Santa Anna didn't like that answer so he sent 100 soldiers from San Antonio to take the small cannon by force. Obviously, the cannon, which Mexico thought couldn't be fired, had become a "bone of contention", a "point of principal" to both sides. The 100 Mexican soldiers where met by 18 militiamen from Gonzales who were flying a flag that had a picture of a cannon, a star and the words "Come And Take It". The 18 men held the line until it was reinforced by militiamen from other towns. Eventually, it was 150 Texans against 100 Mexicans. And, oh, by the way, the Texans had "unspiked" the cannon, so it now worked. Again, it was so small, it wasn't effective militarily but when it fired, the 100 Mexican soldiers ran away. It is considered the first shots of the war and made an exclamation point in terms of Texas Independence. The flag became known as the Gonzales Battle Flag and helped rally Texans in their war.

October 13, 1835: The axle of the cannon broke so it was abandoned and buried in a creek. 

April 21, 1836: After the massacres at Goliad and the Alamo, General Sam Houston defeated Santa Anna at the Battle of San Jacinto. Texas became an independent nation. 

And as Paul Harvey (youngsters will have to ask a seasoned citizen who that is) would say,,,, "and now the rest of the story",,,,,,. In July 1936, after heavy rains erode the banks of a creek near Gonzales, two guys find the cannon. They tried to drag it back to town but gave up and dropped it alongside the road. Apparently, a postman saw it and made arrangements for it to be picked up and placed in the basement of the post office where it stayed until 1968. In 1968 Henry Guerra traded for the cannon and loaned it to a museum in San Antonio. Somehow it finds its way to a gun show in the late 1970's and is bought by a Robert Vance. In 1979, Dr. Patrick Wagner buys the cannon and in the year 2000, upon his death, it is gifted to the Gonzales Memorial Museum which is where I saw it yesterday.

As a side note: the Battle Flag of Gonzales has been designated by the FBI to be an "Extremist Symbol". Something ain't right.

The cannon barrel is original. The wheels and caisson are modern items. That little thing is what sparked the war. Amazing, uh?

A big state has to have some big flags. 

A cold front blew thru yesterday bring cooler temperatures, wind and rain. The high today is 53 and tomorrow (moving day) is suppose to be 58. 

This is a replica of the Gonzales Battle Flag. Maybe lots of honest patriotic citizens should fly it and tell the FBI to "come and take it"? Just a passing thought.

Tomorrow is moving day and I'll finally make it to the coast. It will be good emotionally to see the Gulf of Mexico again.   

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

Another Moving Day

 Location: Jim Hogg COE campground; Georgetown, Texas

This is the 8th consecutive Corps of Engineers campground I've stayed at since I left Louisiana about a month ago. I've been very satisfied with most of them and a little disappointed in a couple 1 1/2 of them. So, that means I'm about 85% happy with the COE campgrounds on this trip. The next six campgrounds will be a mixture of State, City and County owned campgrounds. I have reservations all the way back to Louisiana except for a couple days at a first-come, first-serve camping area. My plan is to be back in Louisiana on or about April 11th.

A nice campsite here at Jim Hogg's Campground.

Today is moving day and I'll be heading towards the coast. Spring break festivities end in a couple of days in this part of Texas so I'll make a stop about half way to the coast to give plenty of time for people to clear out and things to get cleaned up. I'll stop in a small Texas town called Yoakum. Not much there, but they do have a city owned RV park that had pretty good reviews although a couple were not so good. What I've learned over the years is there are mean-spirited people that will make up stuff just to give a bad review. They lie. This afternoon, I'll find out which reviews were more accurate. But hey, the city has an H-E-B so there's got to be something there, right? It will also be a good location for a base camp for me to explore a town and museum that's I've wanted to see. Yeah, a museum. Again, if I'm disappointed, oh well, it won't be the first or last time. 

I'm still liking these 4 day stays at campgrounds with a short haul in between. Today's tow will be about 130 miles which is longer than most of my recent tows but shorter than when I used to average closer to 200 miles when I started traveling back in 2014. Most of the 130 miles will be through small towns on state highways. I've used Google maps to verify a couple of things about the highway I'll be traveling. One, it's in better than average condition and two, most of it's length has half paved shoulders wide enough to pull off with one wheel still on pavement. I'm looking forward to a nice leisurely drive. I sure hope I didn't just jinx myself.

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

Nothing Much at a So-So Campground

 Location: Cedar Breaks COE Campground; Georgetown, Texas

Today is Day 4 at this campground and is also moving day. I haven't made a post since I got here because I haven't found anything to explore. One place I thought about going was a sculpture garden in a town named Cedar Park. I'm usually on the look-out for places like that ever since I stumbled on the ones in Wausau, Wisconsin and Loveland, Colorado. But after reading the reviews about this one in Cedar Park and talking to some locals about it, I decided it wasn't worth the trip. One review was especially convincing, when it said, "don't make this sculpture garden a destination, but it is worth it if you just  happen to be in the area". I had to make a change in plans. I had also heard about a great Reuben Sandwich at a small delicatessen about 15 miles away. I haven't had a good one is a very long time, even though I've attempted to make them myself. So, off I went, with hunger in my belly and hopes of finding a great sandwich. After missing a turn, I finally found the place. It was small alright. There was one table inside which looked more for decoration than eating. I looked at the menu on the wall but couldn't find the Reuben. The nice young lady behind the counter could tell I was puzzled, so she told be about their special. After politely listening, but not hearing, I asked about the Reuben. Her answer was surprising. They only serve Reubens on Tuesdays and Saturdays. She said it was because they don't want sauerkraut as an ingredient everyday. I guess that made sense, but I was really disappointed. It would have been nice had they posted that fact on their webpage. Oh well, the small hometown cafes in Hinckley, Minnesota and Freeport, Texas will remain as numbers 1 & 2. 

Except for H-E-B and Walmart, I haven't found anything that has captured my interest in terms of exploring. And, that's sad because my next campground is just across the lake from this one so I will be in the general area for another four days. I was somewhat forced to stay in this area when I was making reservations. Spring break is about to be in full swing around here and there weren't any vacancies, down the road, in the type of campgrounds I like.

This is a first for me. Most campgrounds are having a hard time finding camp hosts to man the gatehouses. Since this campground is by on-line reservation only, they can just clip your ID card for your windshield to your campsite number. Like the 60's song, it's just a "sign of the times". (Extra points if you remember the singer without googling)

Nice looking campsite uh? For some reason, I haven't felt comfortable with it. Not super bad mojo, but average bad mojo.

Typical lake picture from taken from about 100 feet from the campsite.

 

One good thing about the campsite is this view from my laptop work location. It's a nice and peaceful view.

I felt like a pirate finding treasure at the H-E-B. There was enough to make several great meals for what seemed like a cheap $50.00. I double checked my receipt to make sure I didn't miss something when checking myself out. If it hard to see in the picture, there are flat iron steak pinwheels, NY strip steak, Shrimp scampi, potato salad, mushrooms, tortillas, pico de gallo, a salad, shredded chicken, strawberries and bananas. 

You can tell that it is a poor exploration location when I post a picture of my grocery shopping,,,, but I was really happy with it and it all tasted great. Way to go H-E-B.

I hope the next campground has better vibes than this one. Something just doesn't feel right here. We will see. 

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

DG Bacon & Sunset (mostly pictures)

Location: Cedar Ridge Campground (COE); Temple, Texas

It was a lazy day around the campsite. I did walk around the campground a little. I was surprised that there were more people still here. Around noon, I got a hankering for a burger and fries but didn't want to go into the big city about 15 miles away. (I told you it was a lazy day). So, I found a hamburger food truck just a couple miles away in a community called Moffat. No other restaurant or cafe was listed online in the community. Off I went. It was closed. Oh no, not another one of those day, I thought. There was a Dollar General (DG) near by and since they started carrying food products, I knew they would have the bacon that I liked. So, instead of burgers and fries, I would fix some bacon and eggs back at Liberty2. Surprise, surprise, when I pulled into the parking lot, there was a burger food truck there that was not listed online. It worked out perfectly. I ordered a cheeseburger and fries and while they cooked it I did a little shopping. Yep, I still got the bacon. After putting my DG stuff in the truck, I walked over and got my burger and fries and headed back to the campsite a couple miles away. It was a nice lunch on my picnic table with a great view. I fixed some of the bacon later on for supper. A few months ago, I started cooking my bacon in the microwave. Paper plate, two layers of paper towel, 3 slices of bacon (not touching), paper towel to cover and in a little over 3 minutes on high, perfectly crisp bacon. The bonus is no washing dishes, everything is just thrown away. I wish I could say I planned the food truck and stuff, but it was all accidental. Or the big fancy word, serendipitous. I think a lot of us learned that word from the Serendipity Singers in the 70's. Of course back then, we had to look it up in the dictionary. Today, we would call that a "hard copy". 

There is a really good cheeseburger and fries in the box. And the ketchup is 50% less in sugar and sodium. Win, Win.

Along the lines of serendipity, while typing this post, a herd of deer just wandered through my campsite. I was lucky I had the blinds raised on the back window next to the laptop. That may mean it's going to be a good day.

That is two of about a dozen that wandered through the campsite. It's not a good picture since it was quick and my cell phone camera is trying to focus on the window frame. It was nice.

This campsite is convenient to the creek for sunset pictures. No serendipity there, I planned that. Thank you Google Earth.

There is a private subdivision on the other side of the creek. Hard to see, but they are there.

The subdivision explains where the people came from that I saw fishing off that little peninsula at sundown the other day. 

This area is a buzzard's roost. There are about 30 or so buzzards that roost on top of those electrical towers. They are soaring around early in the morning and around sundown. They are an ugly bird, but sure fly pretty.

Sunset through the tree.

Sunset through another tree.

This one is my favorite. The trees and bushes are framing the sunset. Night ya'll.

Tomorrow is moving day and I'll be headed about 50 miles south to the next COE campground. I'm liking these short hauls. I don't have to travel a couple hundred miles to find something different. 

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

 

Watching the Weekenders and a Museum

Location: Cedar Ridge Campground (COE); Temple, Texas

It's Sunday morning and the weekenders are all packing up to go back home so they can go to work tomorrow. It seems like every campground has different types of weekenders. One group here is an older couple with their adult children and grandchildren. The grandparents are staying in a used pop-up trailer they are trying out to see if they will buy it from Craig's list. It's nice of the owner to let them try it out. Their adult children and grandkids are staying in a tent set up near the pop-up. I met the grandfather when I saw they were having trouble with their water heater and went over to see if I could help. After we got the water heater working, I said my goodbyes and was walking back to Liberty2 when they invited me to have supper with them. I thanked them, but declined. I didn't want to interrupt their weekend time with kids/grandkids. They were generally quiet. That is opposed to the two RV's across the road from them. Those people were middle aged and had their teenage kids with them. In total, there must have been about a dozen people. A little whooping and hollering, but not too much. There was about an hour where they thought everyone in the campground liked their music so much they played it loud enough for everyone to hear. All in all, they weren't bad weekenders. 

It takes a good hour, with all hands working, for them to break camp. It makes for some interesting people watching. Most all of them will be gone by noon and the campground occupancy will drop to about 20% from nearly 90%. They cycle repeats itself when Friday evening rolls around again. 

This is looking downstream from the boat ramp area. The boat ramp is almost dry but is still open. It is one of two in the campground with the other one wide open and crowded. 

This is another hard to access dam structure. Although they let you drive across the top of the dam, it is restricted access to the backside of the dam. With the lake a little low, there probably only a minimum water being release. 

I saw this on the way to the museum. I looked for a place to park but since it was Saturday and the courthouse square is surrounded with thriving small businesses, there wasn't any parking. So I settled from second best and got this shot while stopped at a redlight. 

I've said many times that I've become jaded to small town museums, but I can't help myself, I keep going to them. I saw, online, a local one in the town of Belton. It was close by, check,,,, it was free,,,, double check,,,, and one of the pictures of the entrance had Carnegie carved above the door,,,,, triple check. Let's go.

It was a typical small town museum. Lots of stuff that had been donated by local families. It did have an interesting section as to  archaeology digs in the area. It was a nice way to spend about an hour and learn a few things. On the 1 to 10 scale, it ranked about a 6. It polished off some of the sharp edges of my "jadedness". 

I got to the museum around 11:00 am and was the only visitor. I wandered around for about an hour. The thing that enticed me to visit was the word "Carnegie" over the door. I suspected it was one of the original 2,509 libraries built by Andrew Carnegie. The curator confirmed my suspicions but they don't elaborate about it in any section of the museum. Strange.

Today is day 3 of 4 here and not sure what my plans are for the day. The weather is great, so I may just hang around the campground and do a little walking. 

Ya'll take care of each other. 

Maybe I'll Cya down the road.