4-24-2023 South Llano State Park, Junction TX

 South Llano State Park is a popular Texas park near Junction Texas. It i especially popular with birders. We had a rally there two years ago.

Several of the ladies in our Texas Ramblin' Roses are into hiking and this park also has lots of hiking trails.

The entrance to the park is being reworked with a new bridge over the river as well as a new entrance and ranger station. The current one is in an old ranch house a couple miles into the park and is off to the side so people often go right past it.

Just after we came in the front entrance, we saw these unique animalson the next door neighbor's property.

They are Blackbucks from India.

This is part of the day use area. There are also turkey roost areas all through here.

I think this may be one of my favorite things about this park. It is a dark sky park so you won't have neighbors that light up their RV site like a liquor store. they ask you to turn out porch lights at 10PM. Of course, if you need a light when you go out it is fine.

There are bird blinds for those that like birding.

And lots of hiking trails.

On our way out of the park, we saw these guys heading down their own path.

there had to be at least 25 of them. There were both axis and white tail deer in the group.

It's a great little park well worth a visit. 

4-23-2023 TRR Junction TX Rally

 I headed towards Junction Texas on Wednesday for a rally with the Texas Ramblin' Roses. It rained off and on but not hard most of the way up through Kerrville Texas. There is a big change in the terrain between Kerrville and Junction with several steep hills up and down. There are also signs indicating gusty winds. that means intermittent not steady but I had no problems because I was prepared having traveled this way many times. Once through there the skies were clear and sunny.

I arrived at Tree Cabins RV Resort and got all set up. 

When I hooked up my water hose, I got a drip in spite of really tight connections. When I touched the actual water connection on the RV, there was water squirting everywhere and it wasn't coming from the hose connection. I quickly shut thigs down when I realized that the leak was coming from thepart in the RV so I unhooked and ran my hose around to the other side of the motorhome where I have an old fashioned fill opening. I filled my fresh water tank and was all set for the duration.

Tree Cabins RV Resort is located on Lake Junction which as a widen area of the Llano River. This is our second rally at this park. We were there first rally ever last year so we showed them the ropes.

It's a smaller park but nice. Some shades ties, some open, some pull through's, some backins. they have a nice bathhouse and some very nice cabins as well as a rally hall.

We always do rig inductions for any new or new to RVer RVs at our rallies. It's like a ship christening. Mary Ann wields the water blaster with aplomb.

We also had a ranger from south Llano State Park come to talk to us about the park and the 100 year Texas state parks anniversary.

We took on a special project for this rally which was to make some squares for a quilt to celebrate the anniversary. I did the brown on on Goliad State Park. The park will put all the squares from us and others together as a quilt and it will be displayed. Neat project. We also donated to bird projects at the park.

Of course, we also had a potluck with chili furnished by the hosts and some others.

Games are always a fun rally pastime. Rummikub, Farkle, and Samba are popular. Samba requires way too many cards for me but I like the others.

two of our members are talented guitarists and singer so a sing-a-long concert popped up one night down at the pavilion and again the next night up at the rally room.

Dedicated game players are not stopped by darkness moving in.

One event we don't have at every rally is a farewell cake and presentation for our 90+ year old chapter member Joyce. She is heading out soon in her Phoenix Cruiser for her place in New York and we will miss her at our rallies.

Oh, and I forgot to even mention the two really exciting events. Wednesday night, one of the ladies alarm systems went off.......4 separate times. I usually close my windows and blinds and run the A/C but that night it was so nice out that I left everything open. Yikes! Funniest thing was that the lady with the alarming truck had her windows closed, her A/C on, and her hearing aides out.....she never even heard the alarms, lol.

Second less than fun thing was the storm on Saturday night that was accompanied by thunder, loads of lightning, and even some hail. Fortunately, no damage was sustained by anyone.

All in all, it was a great rally. We ate out a couple of times and visited South Llano state Park. There is another post coming on the park.

3-31-2023 A Hill Country Adventure

 We stayed at the Nueces River RV and Cabin Resort until after 1:00PM on Monday. The park was very gracious about the extension as they knew we couldn't check into our next stop until 3:00PM and they didn't have someone coming into our spots.  The road from Camp Wood to Leakey is part of the famous Three Twisted Sisters but more on that later. Let's just say it is an interesting and exciting road. Unfortunately there are no pull-offs to get pictures.

Once we reached Leakey, we headed south. Yes, Elaine and I have reservations at Garner state Park for the next four nights. Garner is impossible to get into during the summer but during the weekdays in the off season, we were able to get sites in this very large but immensely popular park.

Checking in at Garner is not fun. They only let one person at a time into the lobby. Even though you have an online account with all your information including license plate numbers, and even filled in the advanced registration form, they never have all the information and you have to give it to them again. They have a really good set up for RV parking while you check in. It's a good thing because I can't imagine how long it takes to check in when there is a crowd. Just be prepared and don't expect any friendly chatter. 

There is a nice pull-off as you drive down the road towards Oakmont campground where we were staying. You can out quite a ways.

The weather was beautiful when we arrived on Monday and people were in the water...not so much the rest of the week as we had mist and rain. Somebody built this rock ring in the middle of the river. The birds were enjoying it.

The cypress trees are huge and beautiful all along the river.

There are paddleboats, kayaks, and paddleboards for rent. the paddleboats were in use when we arrived.

The views are great and there are lots of hiking trails. We walked around the campground but didn't hike any of the trails. Across the river there are rope swings. 

There is a dam on the river within the park so that there is water in the park. Other parts of the river are very low right now as you can see below the dam.

Cacti are growing new paddles and the trees are all leafing out.

This is the boat house but it was not open when we were here. I guess you could rent boats through the shop in the pavilion.

The Civilian Conservation Corps built many beautiful stone structures as well as wood cabins in the park way back in 1935. It gave people jobs instead of handing them money and built many wonderful things for the public which are still in use across the country.

This is the famous pavilion where dances are held on weekends and then every night during the summer. Some people have been coming for many years.

We were walking along the wall near the pavilion when we saw this bird. It was huge...close to two feet tall. We had no idea what it was but after after asking lots of questions and doing some online research, we found out it was a juvenile blue heron. We reported it on the bird board at the Visitor's Center so otherrs could look for it. Lots of birders come here but no one else had reported it.

The trees are very interesting as well as large.

One day we drove south to Concan. It was foggy over the hills when we left the park and rather chilly.

We took the back road on the far side of the river where there were lots of other RV parks and cabins. Glad the river is low since this passes for a bridge.

We stopped at the Visitor's Center in Concan. This mural is painted on the outside of the building. There were three women working there and some brochures to pick up but not much else this time of year.

Another day we drove in to Leakey to look around.  We thought we were going in to an actual drug store when we stopped here.

But this is what we found inside.

It's actually a Coffee Shop and Restaurant open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

We had a great cup of coffee and used the free Internet. This cup was as big as a soup bowl. They roast their own beans in a nearby building.

It would be wise to bring most of your groceries with you although this store does

have groceries for a relatively higher price. But it's nice to have the choice.

On the way back to the park from Leakey, we took another back road on the other side of the river.

And again saw lots of RV parks and cabins plus another river crossing.

Just thought I would add some additional information about this area. this whole area is a paradise for motorcycle riders. 

The Twisted Sisters refers to three farm-to-market roads that create a 100-mile loop through the heart of the Hill Country. FM 335, 336, and 337E are all two-lane, black-asphalt roads that twist through some of the toughest terrain in Texas. That route makes for stunning views of the sides of the road, which twist up the hills, race down through canyons, and bend along the edges of cliffs. It can also make for dangerous driving. A sign on Road 336 warns that since 2006, 10 motorcyclists have lost their lives on the Twisted Sisters.

Although the weather could have been better, we had a great week together and are already looking forward to the next trip.