2-8-18

It seems that most Texas parks are centered on dammed lakes. Our next, Lake Brownwood State Park, is no exception. It may be the largest at 7000+ acres. We snagged a spot on the lake, which wasn’t too difficult since there is hardly anyone here. I bet it is really busy in the summer, though!

Janet, trying to get cell phone service

Foot bridge on a trail that we walked

Again, many structures were built at this park by the CCC. It’s amazing what they accomplished all over the country in just a few years. There was a lakeside trail with a “grand staircase” down to the water and periodic fireplaces/picnic areas.
 

2-5-2018

Although not a really exciting park, Abilene State Park is pretty and has the largest number of geocaches of any state park we have ever visited. However, no internet or cell service.
We went on many hikes, traversing the whole trail system at least twice, except for the longest trail which was closed for a wild boar hunt. So far, in spite of the large numbers of wild pigs we are told live here, we have only seen three, and all were dead on the side of the road!

The park is fairly flat and crossed by small streams. The CCC built all the structures and bridges.

The old water tower

The bath house by the swimming pool

 The lake is way down due to drought.

Denny at a dining area built by the CCC

On the way to our next destination we came across some cotton bales. Don't they look like big loaves of white bread?

We spent two days at Copper Breaks, a small state park with a couple of trails, some geocaches, a small canyon and a lake that was way down. Still no rain! Wednesday (1/31) was the warmest day yet, high 70s, and the first day for shorts and sleeveless!

Kismet is getting braver on the leash and even crossed the road. It probably helped that there are few other campers and no dogs!

Making sure to look both ways before crossing the road!

We'll be moving on south to Abilene today. Hoping to find a car wash (big enough for the RV), laundromat, PetsMart and grocery store all in close proximity before we head to the state park!

Red rocks, red rocks, and more red rocks. Absolutely beautiful! We hiked another 8 1/2 miles each of the last two days. My feet need a break!

Early, before the sweatshirt came off.

We crossed this same creek seven times on this hike!

After seeing four bison when we first checked in, we expected that we would see a lot more. We didn't. In 25+ miles of hiking in the last three days, we did not see any more animals other than birds. I suspect the animals are laying low after the recent hunt for Aoudads and wild boar. We saw evidence of animals, tracks and scat, but no actual beasts.We didn't even pass any other humans!

Fake bison herd at the Discovery Center

We saw a lot of this wildlife since their colony is right next to the restrooms! He looks like he is praying. 😀

It is very dry here. In fact, they are near breaking a record for the longest period with no rain. The record was set in 1902 at 115 days, and they are now at 110 with no rain in sight. We are using a lot of lotion to keep our skin from flaking off. Also dealing with concrete boogers and rubber cement snot! TMI?
We are moving on to another park this morning. It's supposed to be 70 degrees today. It may be a day of sitting outside and hiding my beer. No public display of alcohol in Texas parks!

1/27 Started out on a six mile hike today, but with all of our detours, it turned into 9 miles! It is impossible to show the immensity of the landscape in pictures but we keep trying. The red rock formations are gorgeous, as are the plains. We walked for several hours and never ran into a single animal or human on the trails!

The trail

We thought this was petrified wood but after reading decided that it may be gypsum.

The long road back to camp.

Deep trail. Denny thinks they used a front end loader to make the trails.

This is the horse camp. At this point, we were wishing we had a horse!

After a long day of driving we arrived at our intended campground, only to find it closed! We had to find an RV park in town and return the next day. The town was Quitaque. Can you pronounce that? No worries, they tell you how on the way into town!

I’m pretty sure that is NOT the Spanish pronunciation!

While waiting for the campground to open, we walked part (5 miles) of the 64 mile long Caprock Trailway, a rails-to-trails trailway. Apparently, along the trail is where old vehicles go to rest. It was very long and straight, and we found a lot of old railroad spikes.

We finally checked into the campground at 2:00 and after setting up camp decided to go take a shower. But we found these guys guarding the showers and dumpsters, so decided to wait a while! They were huge! They seemed bigger than the bison we had seen before. The literature said they were great plains bison and 6 feet tall at the shoulder and 2000 lbs. Plus, they looked kind of grumpy!

On the other side of the restrooms is a prairie dog town. They are so cute and fun to watch! They squeak and whistle warnings whenever anyone gets close and then they shake their tales and all dive into their holes.

At last, we got our first glimpse of the canyon! Actual hiking will have to wait until tomorrow. It was warm here today but a cold front is going through tonight so hiking will be a bit chillier.  No sweating!

At Lake Mineral Wells State Park, we were right across from a stream leading into the lake. Kismet went on a walk and didn’t seem to mind the leash at all. She was intrigued by all the smells down by the water. She even enjoyed watching the deer through the windshield!

We went on our first really long walk (9 miles!) and saw many deer, water birds, vultures, hundreds of armadillos (or close), and found 5 geo-caches. The lake is a dammed up river and we got to drive across the spillway to get to the campgrounds.

Kismet got her second subcutaneous fluid treatment. She was much less cooperative this time, which I think means she is feeling better. I remember saying that the one thing I never wanted to be was a nurse! I can’t believe I’m even able to poke her with a needle! Denny says it’s because I can’t actually see it go in because of her fur. Note the hanging IV bag, just like in the hospital. 😃

On our way out of town we stopped to do laundry at the Laumdronat, and yes, that it how it was spelled.

It was very interesting as it was also a laundry museum so there were antique items to look at while waiting.