Traveling with the Longdogs

2023-10-25 Bastrop TX Museum

One of the things some of us did at the rally is to take a tour of the Bastrop Museum. We had a very interesting tour guide. He is sitting in front of the group after we finished the tour.

Texas has a very interesting history. This area has actually been under six different flags beginning with the Spanish.

Moses Austin petitioned to bring colonists to this area but was initially turned down until he met the Baron of Bastrop who was not really a baron at all but a man with influence with the Spanish government in San Antonio de Bexar. The baron interceded and got permission on behalf of Austin.

Catholic priests made trips from their missions to other locations. Settlers were required to become Catholic and everyone had to be married by a priest regardless of whether or not they were already married.

Bastrop was initially named after the baron by Stephen F. Austin, grandson of Moses Austin in 1834. By 1834e control was under Mexicans rather than the Spanish and the town name was changed to Mina to honor a Mexican revolutionary hero. By 1837 Texas had won independence from Mexico and the town was renamed Bastrop.

During the Texas revolution, citizens fled Bastrop in advance of Mexican troups using carts such as this pulled by people because the horses were all gone to fight the war elsewhere.

This whole evacuation was called the Runaway Scrape.

There were coal mines near Bastop.

After the civil war, there were Freedom colonies in Bastrop County where black families established homes.

At one time before the civil war, there were a number of large plantations worked by slaves. After the war, they were worked by sharecroppers, tenant farmers, and family members.

Cattle became the major industry after the way. The original cowboys were patterned after Mexican vaqueros.

Bastrop became a major training area for training Army infantry during World War II.

German prisoners of war were also held at Camp Swift.

Inside photo of a living room of an historical home in Bastrop.

The museum is very interesting and contains a lot of history of the local area....well worth a visit.

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.

2022-10-15 Our Annual Eclipse

I bought the eclipse glasses for all five of my family that would be here for the eclipse. We planned to watch and then grill hamburgers. The dawned cloudy but the weatherman promised it would clear by 10 AM. It was looking real iffy. I sat out with my granddaughter for a while until she lost interest. My daughter-in-law popped in and out as she had some work to do before they went out of town. My son and husband were in the garage tinkering with motorcycles. As the actual time for the biggest part of the event rolled around, the clouds had cleared and my son came out. My husband insisted his motorcycle helmet would work just fine...we didn't let him try it.

And then it started. Just pictures from here on. Some from friends and acquaintances that got good shots. Ours were not too good as you can see below. Enjoy.