We left Belton a day earlier than planned to avoid the probability of severe weather and headed north to Mineral Wells Texas. After about 150 miles we pulled into Lake Mineral Wells State Park and were allowed to pick the site of our choice. Driving into the park is quite an experience as we had to cross the spillway since the lake that was “OVER FLOWING”!
It was a bit of a surreal undertaking and Sharon really was fascinated with the whole spillway experience. We did make it across and we settled into site 54 as it was level, next to a bathroom, and a trailhead. Although the bathroom didn’t have showers at least we were one of the few in this loop. The site was 30 amp with water and no sewer.
It rained off and on most of our first night but that didn’t stop us from getting out for a couple of miles hiking around the lake trails. Mineral Wells State Park is actually quite pretty and I say this as I wasn’t expecting it to be. This is an area that seems to be a mix of of the Texas Hill Country and the Cross Timbers regions of Texas. It is very hilly with fairly dense stands of oak and elm and there is a lot of exposed sandstone around. We thought it really was a very pretty park. The best part was that there were roadrunners all over the place running around and making lots of noise… We didn’t see the coyote but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t there!
We also slipped off to visit the town of Weatherford Texas and found the town square quite interesting. The courthouse was quite a cool structure that appeared more colonial in architecture than any I have seen in Texas. Lots of buildings with large blocks of chipped sandstone were all around the the town square.
After walking around the town a bit we found a nice little tavern called the Antebellum Ale House that served craft beer. The Antebellum Ale House was welcoming and a really neat little spot we certainly didn't expect to find in a small town in Texas. They had a really nice patio and we played some bean bags while enjoying some nice craft brews.
We did some more hiking between intermittent showers at our park the next day and were certainly glad we came to Mineral Wells as the weather south of us (where we were) was pretty nasty with torrential rainfalls. It was really quite an enjoyable stay at this park but with more nasty weather pending we decided to move on the next morning over to Wichita Falls, Texas…
That spillway is almost always over flowing. At least all the times I've been there.
ReplyDeleteTry that spillway on a fully loaded Harley! LOL It gives a whole new meaning to "Slipin' & Slidin'. WhooooHooooo
I can't even imagine crossing it on a Harley...
DeleteI hate driving across those crossings... especially since we saw an RV had slid off one into the river at one in Sommervell County... One of our granddaughters works at the Lowe's in Weatherford, - guess next time we're there we'll have to check out some of the things you're seeing. By the way... there are tons of geocaches in that area.. some of those that are every 10th of a mile for 40 or 50 caches.
ReplyDeleteI watched a few trucks cross before I ventured across...
DeleteGotta love the small towns, and that spillway sounds like an experience.
ReplyDeleteI just caught up with your blog and wow, what a great time you've had since leaving College Station! Great wildlife, wildflowers, beer, and family time. We miss you guys and hope to see you again this year. We'll be entering Colorado and crossing over to Missouri on our way to Ohio, but it looks like you might get there before us. Let's touch base!
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