2023-10-26 Bastrop Texas Ramblin' Roses Rally

 Texas Ramblin' Roses Rallies are always great especially if you come early and stay late. 

Teri is a full timer but this area is her home stomping ground. She told us about Snow's BBQ in Lexington Texas. The pitmaster is Tootsie Tomanetz. She's over 80 and very well known in the BBQ world. She has been featured on Texas Country Reporter and Texas Monthly. Snow's is only open on Saturdays and the line starts early.

Did I mention there is a line and the line starts early? It wraps around the block even though they don't start selling until 8 AM. 

Teri, Sherry, and Teresa arrived at 8:30 AM and were around the block. They waited in line for 3 hours. Elaine and I arrived at 9 AM and decided we weren't going to stand in line for hours and they do run out sometimes. the other women decided to stick it out and insisted they would get us some. They did and it was very good (and expensive too) but a 3 hour wait is just too much.

Rain was a big possibility during this rally and we did not have a rally room since it was a state park. Teri had a cover stored at a friend's house which she picked up and we those of us that arrived early set it up on Friday. This was not just one of those easyup clamshells but a large 20 by 10 foot cover with tie downs.

We put the top together on the ground and then those of us that are tall lifted it up while others put the poles in place.

And then we tied the top to the frame and staked it down with guy ropes. Elaine brought two 8 foot long tables for under it. It came in handy for both shade and rain drops. Several other women brought easy-ups which we put over top a couple picnic table where we set up food and a coffee stand.

Several of ventured into town to Maxine's for breakfast (a couple times). It was great.

We also gathered other places.....

...for a weinie roast and s'mores.

If you want to set around in a circle, you can play "Left, Right, Center" in a big plastic box.

Several different groups ventured up to the scenic overlook to take in the sunset.

There was a planned guided kayak/canoe trip on the Colorado River but it was too windy so the guide/rental place cancelled.

That, however, did not stop the women with their own kayaks from heading out. They just kayaked near the takeout ramp since paddling back agains the wind would have been tough.

Plan B worked for some water fun.

It was a great rally. WIth 32 women including 4 new members, it was a smaller rally for our group whch is the case with state park rallies since it is very hard to get sites. Check out my other posts for other things we saw and did during this rally.

2023-10-23 Bastrop State Park

Our October Texas Ramblin' Roses was held at Bastrop State Park right outside of Bastrop Texas.

The first thing you see upon entering the park is Lake Mina off to the right.

The park has a section for groups which includes a dormitory building and several large cabins holding a number of people.

There was a horrendous fire in the Bastrop area in 2011. In addition to the loss of many homes was the loss of millions of loblolly pines. Park personnel were able to save all the park buildings and millions of trees were replanted. These tall trees survived and the replanted trees are now about 10-12 feet tall so things are filling in. The site was devastating right the fire but it is lovely once again.

The scenic overlook area is a great place to watch the sunset.

 

It was just one of the many great buildings built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). 

The refectory is another CCC building. There were special efforts made during the 2011 fire to save all the CCC buildings. Events from the public are often held in the reflectory.

The CCC also built some great cabins here at Bastrop.

They are built of rocks and untrimmed lumber. By untrimmed, I mean the boards are not squared off.

There was a sign about the Historic Golf Course building with exhibits but when we looked inside it was just being used for storage.

Interesting sign "Historic Starter House" but nothing to see through the windows.

I stayed in the Copperas Creek Camping area which has back-in sites. Some are full hook up while others are water/electric but there are lots of tall pine trees. There is also a nice covered picnic pavillion built of rock by the CCC.

It has a very nice new restroom area that has great showers and toilets for men and women on opposite sides of an open hallway running down the center of the building. There is also a great outdoor sink area for washing dishes and cleaning things.

There is also another RV camping area where all the sites are pull-through with full hook ups. there is a bit less shade there as the fire hit that area harder. It is great for trailers but the sites on one side of the road can be a bit more difficult for motorhomes as they slope down in the back so it's necessary to lift the back up to get it level.

There is also a road over to Buescher State park, a 12 mile jaunt up and down over hills that is popular with bicyclists and runners.

2022-05-20 Bastrop and Buescher State Parks TX

 Harley and I arrived at Bastrop State Park in the afternoon on Thursday. I originally made a reservation for Friday night but decided to go a day early. I contacted the reservation office to add the day and had to take a different site for Thursday as someone had already reserved my first site. I asked about the 2d day discount on my state park pass. The woman on the pone tried really hard to fix it but the system wouldn't let her. She told me that they could do it at the park when I checked in but she was going to message her supervisor about the problem. When I arrived at the park, the ranger who was obviously new did her best to help me. First she found a site that would allow me to stay in one spot and told me to go and look at it. I did and it was not workable. I'll explain why a little further along. I told her I could easily move my motorhome. Then I asked about the 2d night discount. She was all set to do it when another ranger chit-chatting in the back came rushing out and told her she couldn't do it because both nights had to be in the same spot. There is nothing anywhere in the rules that I could find that says you must be in the same spot. The unhelpful ranger went back to visiting with her coworker in the back and I headed off to my first site.

These sites are all full hookup with little shade. There was a big fire a number of years ago that roared through this whole area. They managed to save all the CCC buildings but lost many trees and many locals lost their homes.

This was my first site. I was just barely able to get my RV level enough for the fridge to work without damage. While travel trailers can level by raising/lowering the tongue quite a bit, motorhomes can lift the front quite a bit with their levelers but not much at the back because you do not want to lift the back tires. 

Herein lies the problem. all the pull-through sites on the right slope down at the front significantly. The ones on the left slope down at the back significantly. That doesn't work well for motorhomes unless you also haul a bunch of blocks to manually level. It would be helpful if the sites made this info clear.

I moved my RV around the corner to the seconnd site the next day at noon right after the previous occupants moved out. It worked out as I just moved the car after I was set up. This site was more level and I was able to hook up my car before I left right there on the site. Interesting enough, the folks that reserved my first site had not arrived when I took Harley out at 10PM nor were they in the site at 8:30AM the next morning. I suspect they never came.

I toured the park the first afternoon. There was a nice playground.

This was a headquarters for the rangers.

There is no lake or river at Bastrop but they have a beautiful pool. It should have opened several weeks ago as it has been very hot in May; however, when I asked, I was told that they haven't been able to get lifeguards. I saw a sign on the door offering $12/hour plus training. That's a hard sell when fast food places are paying $15/hour.

This was a pavilion.

This was a big facility that the park rents out. I think it was a dining hall. Someone came into to the ranger's office to check it out for an upcoming wedding.

This is the electric/water section. Had I known about the problems (unlevel, very little shade) with the full hookup sites, I would definitely have stayed here instead. If I go back this is where I will reserve as the sites are level and well shaded! Back-in is no problem.

It was quiet and much cooler in this area.

There is a road between Bastrop State Park and Buescher State Park. It's 12 miles long and apparently very popular with bicyclists and runners but it is very hilly so be aware.

This tells all about the devastating fire a few years ago.

A lookout pavilion at the scenic overlook area.

The view is pretty big.

It's a long windy hilly road to Buescher.

The devastation is still visible years later.

A few trees survived the raging fire.

When you arrive a Buescher on this road, there is no ranger station or place to check in.

There are some nice CCC buildings here too.

Buescher is a very small park. There were a few people camping there but not many. Normally there is a small lake which would be a big draw but the lake is empty because they are rebuilding the dam.

Harley takes his job as navigator and security guard very seriously but he makes sure he gets plenty of rest in between jobs.