Days 17 -19 Lost Maples State Park, Vanderpool TX
Day 17
Woke up around 8:00 am. Still gloomy and wet outside. Had granola and vegan yogurt for breakfast. Cleaned up and packed RV. Jack had a little scare when the trailer rolled backwards when he lifted the scissor jacks. This was the first time it happened and thankfully it was on a slight hill. Note: later in the day we purchased some wheel chocks – Can’t believe we went this far without them. We got on the road around 12:15.
If you notice on our trip map, we didn’t make plans to get home. Today we decided that we will be leaving the RV out west and driving home the truck and return late summer to pick it up so we can hit some of the Northern parks in the mountains. We can’t stand the cold weather here in the southern part of the country so there is no way we can do those Northern Parks in March! Gina made our first AirBNB in Austin from April 1 till 6th. Still not sure where our other stays will be the rest of the trip back. We picked Austin because we enjoyed the city. Our spot is close to downtown and has a fenced in backyard for the dogs. Lots of young people and great food. Weather was not so good this time of year – hoping for better weather early April. Driving the truck in the city was a little challenge, but manageable.
The Drive from Austin to Lost Maples park started out like just an ordinary drive through some boring country. We chose to skip the interstates and take the backroads. About half way across there was a choice to make – stay on 290 or take 165, a smaller country road. We chose 165 and it was a good choice. It took us through more of the countryside and before we knew it we were in the Texas Hill Country which is quite beautiful, consisting of nice rolling hills, trees and long vistas. Every so often the road will dip down to a creek level with a warning sign stating that the road may flood here. Right next to this dip is a marker going up to 6 feet that can register how high the water is in the dip so you can decide whether to proceed or turn around. Thankfully for us none of the dips were filled, but had they been, we would have been spending the night next to that creek until it subsided, or worse, turn our RV into a house boat (I think I mentioned before that there ain’t no u-turns in the RV). About 30 miles out the dogs were dying to pee and Gina needed a coffee. We stopped at the Apple Store in Medina TX, not one of Steve Jobs Apple Stores, and Gina got some delicious apple turnovers and two coffees.
We finally arrived at Lost Maples about 4:15. They gave us our pick of sites as the campground was not very full. We picked a nice spot and set up. It was Superbowl night and we debated driving 45 minutes to Bandera to watch it because we had no cell service and no cell service means no internet service and that means no TV service. We are talking ZERO bars here. Thankfully we decided the drive to was too far so we put out the fire bowl and ate left over gluten free Bolognese pasta. The night ended up being a beautiful evening sitting out by the fire bowl with perfect temp and a nice breeze. We closed up and hit the bed early looking forward to checking this park out in some finally spectacular weather.
That night there was a dog barking in the distance ALL NIGHT! Or I was imagining things again. Gina slept like a rock.
Day 18
Woke up around 8. What happened to the weather? It was very wet, foggy and gloomy outside AND… we had no internet, cell service, nada! So we lounged around, walked the dogs, Gina made an egg breakfast with spinach. I had to go to the Check in station to get internet. Public wifi – not secured - no work today. Did check the weather hoping for good news, but…. nope – rain and wet, only saving grace was temperature was not cold – in the 50-60’s. Interesting to note that a month ago I would have said 50-60 was cold. The ranger informed us that the nearest ATT signal was 2 miles down the road and the nearest store and gas was another 2 miles. Went back to RV discussed options with Gina and we decided: drive to the store, do some internet checking and find a sunny park somewhere else. We got ready, and as we were leaving we changed our plans. The fog had lifted and we decided to hike one of their trails first. They have an East and a West. The East is 3.5 miles, The West is 4.5. With Teddy in mind we chose the East. The first park of the hike is mild and crosses a river bed several times, with nice tree cover and an easy path to walk on. That section is about ¾ mile. Then you come to a sign that states “East and West Trails Start here” one trail goes one way and one the other. We took East of course – and for about ¾ mile this trail goes straight up hill and you are climbing over rocks. Teddy started out good, but pretty soon we were carrying him up. Gina did some carrying but I got the motherload of that duty. When we finally reached the top it turned into a 2 mile easy walk along a ridgeline. There were several good spots to stop and take pictures. Teddy was good to go again. Remi was in his glory the whole way and if we let him loose he would have been in heaven. After the ridge we had about ¾ mile downhill with the same rocky conditions as we walked up, except because this section was shaded, it was slippery. Teddy did great going down but Remi was the challenge this time. He loves to pull, and going downhill on slippery rocks, with a leash that is just not quite long enough made the downhill portion nerve racking, but we survived. After finishing the decent I checked the map - 1 mile go - Wait a minute – the trail was 3.5 miles. we went 3/4+3/4+2+3/4+1 that equals 5¼ miles! For some strange reason they didn’t count the in and out as part of the East Trail - only the up/across/down part. No wonder why our legs were hurting. Despite the extra miles, Teddy was a trooper, but he was dragging when we finally got back. It is worth mentioning that the mile out was a very nice hike that crossed a river several times with an abundancy of white limestone rocks. Gina finally decided the hell with the leash, Remi wants in the water, so we let him loose and he ran around the shallow water hunting fish (of course there were none). We also let Teddy loose and they both played together. Despite the extra length we both would say that was an excellent hike.
When we got back we had to wash the dogs… again! This time behind the public bathrooms there was a hose so they both got blasted with COLD water, but were dried and put in the RV. We finally got to the store about 3:30 – so much for finding a sunny RV spot today. The local store did not have very much in the way of food, so we got gas, a couple bottles of water and two bags of Doritos, something neither of us ever eat but they were good. Back at the RV Gina cut my hair, She couldn’t stand the Mountain Man look I was trying to create. She then cooked dinner in the insta-pot: short ribs from the Austin Whole Foods with Garlic ginger sauce over rice and roasted broccoli. It was killer!
We were now ready for bed and it was early, about 8:30. I asked Gina for one of her sleeping pills because I did not want another night tossing with that damn dog barking. She gave me something else instead. She had a friend get her a pill she tried when we were in California that worked wonders, except this one she thought might be a little different, something about the ratio of THC to CBD or the milligrams of THC being different, but I took it anyway! I wanted to sleep! Bad move. I started reading Origin and it was getting close to the end and it was a cliffhanger. Page after page - totally into it. Then Remi barked – the awning outside was flapping in the wind. I got up to bring the awning in and came to the realization that the pill was working full force, but not for sleep anymore – I was buzzed. I learned later these pills work best if you go to bed right after taking them, don’t stay awake and read a cliffhanger novel! Needless to say it was another long noisy night!
Day 19
Woke up around 7:30 and had yogurt for breakfast. The only good thing about those pills is there is no hangover. The weather was even worse than yesterday with a real light misty rain soaking everything. We had planned to do the West trail today, but this weather changed those plans. Instead we decided to drive to the town of Bandera for supplies and lunch. We took the dogs with us and were in the town by Noon. The Park Ranger told us to check out The Chicken Coop. We did and shouldn’t have. The only reason we did is the dogs were allowed to sit with us on the outside patio. We had a burgers, fries and beer each. While we were eating a biker couple from Oklahoma sat next to us on the patio, before them, we were the only ones there. Well he was very chatty and wanted to know everything about us, He was a nice guy, but….. Check Please. We were out of there.
We walked the streets to a Meat Market Gina noticed driving in. Gina went in for what seemed like an hour while I was out on the street with the dogs. Next to the meet market was supposedly a famous “Cowboy Bar” – I stuck my head in but there were just a few construction workers sitting at the bar. It was about 1 o’clock, so maybe the place gets hootin and hollerin later. Gina finally emerged with some meat and commented that the “kid” selling was not the sharpest tool in the shed, he had no idea about where the eggs were from, pasture raised, free range, no details on his meat, etc etc. She ended up buying sausage, Pork Chops and a couple of steaks anyway.
We then stopped at Lowes Market for groceries. They seem to be a large chain out here, but they are not a Whole Foods for sure. We got some essentials but have stayed away from them on future grocery runs.
The drive back to Lost Maples was Wet. The misty rain never went away. We stopped again at the local Lost Maples Store to re-fuel and skipped the Doritos this time. Back to the RV and Gina did a Sauna while I took Remi for a bike ride. We first went to an open field in the picnic area. No one was around so I threw the ball with him off leash, then rode down to the River on the outbound section of the East Trail. I let him off leash and threw the ball with him in the water. We headed back to the RV in time for Dinner. Gina had made a Zuppa Tuscana with the sausage she bought from the meat market. As always with her cooking – It was magnifico!
I was so exhausted from my “party sleep” the night before, that I had a fairly minimal “noise” night.
All in All, despite the weather, Lost Maples is a beautiful and quiet State Park.
