Did you miss us? No wi-fi coverage in almost 2 weeks! I was still writing the blog but unable to post.

On the way to our next park, since it was raining, we stopped at LBJ ranch and National Historic Park. I liked it better than I thought I would and learned a lot. Did you know he signed over 60 pieces of education legislation and was a teacher when he was young? The ranch was impressive but the house was actually quite modest. Also, a small Air Force One that he took to the ranch after landing in Dallas was on display.

 And, the Johnson family cemetery was also there. Both LBJ and Lady Bird are buried there.

Onward, to Pedernales Falls State Park.  Supposedly, the falls are quite impressive after a big rain but it was quite unimpressive when we were there.

 But, the area was still beautiful.

 We left for a hike in long sleeve t-shirts and jeans and the humidity went way up, leaving us wishing for shorts and short sleeves. It didn’t take us long to strip when we got back several hours later!

An interesting tree burl.

On our last full day at this park we decided to tackle Old Baldy in honor of all of our follicle challenged friends (including us). We made it! At the top, I tried to get Denny to make a short video of us singing “On Top of Old Baldy” to the tune of “On Top of Old Smokey,” but he refused. He said later he would have done it if there hadn't been a young couple up there. Yeah, right!

Old Baldy from the bottom, note the little red car

Part way up, see the little red car?

 It was a tough scramble at times.

Near the top

 We made it!

                        Zoom in. See the young guy behind Denny? I think he was carving his name in a tree!

                                                   See the little red car again?

We even found two geocaches on the way down! To celebrate our hike without injuries, we had a couple of ice cream bars from the park store and then I took Kismet for a walk on the rocky shore by the river.

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And, Garner is a beautiful park. In spite of no wifi or cell service (still!), we plan to stay at least several days. We arrived early enough for a short hike so we tried out a trail designated as easy to get a feel for the park. The easy trails seemed more like moderate with rocks and roots to climb over and steep hills. We’ll try some moderate trails tomorrow. I’m not sure we will attempt any of the challenging ones!

Easy-peasy, just don’t fall off the edge and into the water as you are scrambling around roots and rocks!

 Some rapids on the Frio river, and yes it was frio!

Denny and a giant tree (sycamore?)

There are many structures in this park also, that were built by the CCC .

The next day we went for a morning hike and combined an easy trail and a moderate trail. It is quite hilly here so even the easy trail was steep in spots. We did get quite high up with some nice views.
 

After lunch and a small nap 😜, we decided to tackle a tougher trail to go see Crystal Cave. Since it was rated as challenging, with the map designating many spots as steep with loose rocks, we made a pact that if either of us wanted to turn back we would. We made it! Unfortunately, all of the crystals had long ago been stripped. However, there was a young woman that went in the cave at the same time as we did whose name was Crystal!
 

Being successful, we decide to tackle another cave. This one was also challenging…but a shorter, steeper hike, getting us quickly to 1800 feet. We are debating whether we want to attempt Old Baldy, one of the most challenging hikes in the park.

 A view of Old Baldy from the campground.

A view of Old Baldy from the cave hike.

The ultimate hike is to the top.
 

Back at the RV, we realized that we had walked just  ¾ of a mile less than 10 miles today, so we went for a short walk to take some pictures of the trees reflecting in the river. It’s always nice to end in even numbers!
 

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On the way to San Angelo State Park, we stopped back at Abilene to complete a geocache trail. Since we were walking on a road around a dam, Denny decided to leave his camera behind. Wouldn’t you know it; we finally saw a wild pig. Not just any wild pig, a GIANT wild pig! Her head was the size of a beach ball and she probably was as tall as Denny’s waist.  We were told that pigs generally ignored you unless they had piglets. Then we saw the grass around her rustling with small forms. After uttering a few “holy shits,” we quietly moved away as she watched us. After that, Denny found a nice sized stick to carry with us for the rest of our walk. I wish I would remember that my phone is also a camera; I could have had a picture!

 So, we walked 11 miles, found 14 geocaches (the most in one day ever!) and didn’t find three.  I also learned a valuable lesson, never walk where small mesquite bushes have been mowed. I got several one inch long barbs all the way through my shoes and into my foot.  Ouch!  Denny had to pull them out as I was afraid to move. He had on hiking boots rather than sneakers so didn’t have the same problem!

We arrived at San Angelo State Park at dusk, expecting to stay a few days but found a desert wasteland almost in the city. We could hear traffic all night! So we packed up and moved on to Garner State Park. It had to be better; it is touted as the favorite state park of Texans!