Canyon Lake and scenic drives abound…

With the slide issues behind us we were now able to enjoy our stay at Canyon Lake in the hill country of Texas. We have visited this park many other times including our extended stay when the Corps of Engineers closed down the park during the early Covid scare allowing us to hide out here for many weeks.

What makes this a special place to stay (besides the super low nightly rates for those of us over 65) is the turquoise blue lake and all the walks available inside the park seeing deer, birds and other wildlife. This park gets really crowded on the weekends but since they don’t allow any day use, the park is normally very quiet even on these crowded weekends.

There are lots of scenic hill country drives to take from this park and this time of year the wildflowers ae usually abundant. Not so, this year as the wildflowers have been sparse and the grass mostly brown because of the drought this year.

Our absolute favorite drive from our camp is down the Old River Road which creeps slowly alongside the Guadeloupe River on the way to the town of New Braunfels. When driving along the old river road there are several bridges crossing back and forth over this beautiful river making for some scenic views downstream. This river is very popular for fly fishermen and for toobers. What's a toober, you ask? It’s someone who uses and innertube or some other floating device to float down the river.

If we were to drive this road on a summer weekend it would be packed with mostly college aged kids and young families flocking to float their way down the river. One of the main reasons is that the temperature of the Guadeloupe River is constantly cool since all the water comes from the deeper waters of Canyon Lake as they let water out all year long.

Besides the river road we like to drive the countryside looking at wildflowers and checking out such destinations as Luckenbach, Austin, New Braunfels, San Marcos and Fredericksburg. There are also quite a few breweries located in this part of Texas with the Real Ale in Blanco and Rough Diamond Brewery in Spring Branch.

We won’t be able to drive to a lot of the places we normally visit here since we plan to spend a week at our son’s house visiting him and his family…

NOTE: We are now at Canyon Lake State Park until April 11th…

Where the heck is that RV park?

Leaving Waco we headed further NW with our next stop at a COE park near Coleman Texas. We sure didn’t know that this day would be an adventure but it was…

I put the address to Flat Rock Park Campground into the GPS and off we went. I checked out the roads on Google Earth figuring that even though the roads were smaller and narrow it shouldn’t be a big deal to get there. Little did we know…

As we neared Brownwood Texas we found our route north on TX 279 then on to CR 2632 where we finally found Flat Rock Campground. I parked and disconnected the CRV since the office was apparently further down the road than the turn into Flat Rock Campground was.

Sharon drove down to the office and when she got back I could tell by her body language that something was wrong. As she entered the RV she informed me that the lady said the campground was full for the summer and we had not reserved a site. Confused I got back on the laptop to check out the park only to discover there are two parks called Flat Rock Campground and we were at the wrong one.

After travel planning for ten years I have never encountered two campgrounds in relatively close proximity with the same name.Anyway,we entered the new address to Flat Rock Campground noting it was an additional 43 miles west of where we were. Now we were following the route of small roads I hadn't had time to check out on Google Earth as we hit the road.

Fortunately, other than a few hills will narrow roads we found Hord’s Creek Lake but couldn’t seem to find Flat Rock Park Campground. We did find an entry to the COE park named Friendship Park. I drove in and asked the gate attendant if this was Flat Rock Campground and she said it was even though it is called Friendship Park on the sign. Gee whiz!

We drove a good ways into the park and passed another defunct entrance gate with a sign bearing the name, Flat Rock Park. It apparently once had its own entrance road to the gate which is now closed. It has thus become part of Friendship Park.

Our site was incredible as it even had it’s own screened in shelter on it. We certainly enjoyed our waterfront view and our 50 amp power on these warm days. We walked down to the lake and discovered a large field of Texas Bluebells. We also drove into the town of Coleman to check out Teddy’s Brewhaus which was housed in a historic building. The inside of it was really cool and the draft beer was pretty good too  Thank goodness as the saying goes, “all’s well that ends well”.

NOTE:  We are currently in Big Spring, Texas until June 30th…

Vero Beach, Voting and a Change of Plans…

Leaving Flagler Beach, Florida we made a longer than normal drive of a bit over 150 miles to our next stop at Vero Beach, FL. We will be here for two nights as we plan to visit Sharon’s cousin John and his wife Penny who retired in Vero Beach after spending many a cold winter in Michigan.

John and Penny have been extremely careful, as we have, dealing with Covid so we decided to do some activities while paying attention to socially distancing and staying outside as much as possible. We pulled into Tanglewood Village Co-Op, a Passport America park which we have stayed at before.

When we first visited John and Penny they lived in a smallish condo which was too small for their liking, so they have since found a nice sized home in Vero Beach. It was fun walking around their beautiful neighborhood and seeing their new digs. Not to mention Penny made us a fabulous dinner. What a great day!

The next day we took a nice long 3 mile walk through the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge (the first NWR in America) and later decided to have dinner at the American Icon brewery which has a large outdoor venue. Not only did they have some good brews they had some pretty good food as I had a burger and Sharon had some great blackened mahi on top of her salad. It’s always fun to see John and Penny!

The next morning we headed further south but waited until after lunch since we were  driving less than 50 miles to the Corps of Engineers park, St Lucie South in Stuart, FL. We only planned to stay two nights and move on down to Key Largo. However, tropical moisture was slamming this area with heavy rains and worse there was a tropical disturbance impacting the weather in Key Largo.

Not knowing for sure what the tropical disturbance was going to do we added on a few days at St Lucie South when I discovered someone had cancelled on a waterfront site. Since this site would be $15 per night using our Senior National Parks Pass we added there and cancelled three nights for Key Largo. If we were going to have to sit in rain we might as well pay $35 per night less. We also definitely needed to watch the disturbance in the Caribbean to make sure it wasn’t going to completely wash out our Key Largo plans.

St Lucie South was a great place to wait out the storms. We discovered great walking from this park over to Phipps Park which has some boardwalks to stroll and view the birdlife in the area. We also were able to sneak in a short hike here and there between rain events including a nice one at Savannas Preserve State Park. And best of all was sitting in our front yard watching all the huge ships, sailboats and yachts making their way through the St Lucie Locks.

And while we were here, we voted!!! Don’t forget to vote!

NOTE:  We are currently in Key Largo, Florida. 

Rudds Creek Campground and a hike in Rochichi Wildlife Management Area VA…

After spending only a single night in Appomattox we headed on down the road on a southernly route for a short drive to a Corps of Engineers Park in Boydton, VA. Rudds Creek Campground is yet another great COE park located on the John H Kerr Reservoir. We had a back in site which was spacious and secluded.

We also were happy to see we had a nice view of the lake through our front windshield which was great as the plan was to spend a few nights here to unwind. We set up camp and walked around the park. This park was fairly packed mostly with locals since it is bit off the beaten path. There weren’t many tags that weren’t from either Virginia or North Carolina which is only a few miles south of the lake.

Each morning after breakfast and a little time to digest we would venture out for a 1.5 to 2 mile hike around the park. What is great about COE parks is that they are usually huge with ample places for a nice walk even if it is just inside the campground. The dense Pine and Harwood Forest  has kept us shaded evenl during the heat of the day.

Nearby we drove over to the Rochichi Wildlife Management Area one afternoon to hike the trails in it. The trails here were not maintained at all and were mostly along an old logging road that had patches of coarse gravel here and there making the walking not as fun as we hoped.

What was interesting though was the abundance and diversity of fungi growing in the understory of the woods. We really had fun looking at and photographing the various mushrooms and fungi. After photographing them I spent some time on the web to identify as many as I could and was able to place a name or two on some of them. Note the watermarks in the photos for what species I think they probably are.

Afterward we drove over to the Buggs Island Brewing Company to check it out. Since it had a nice area out front to sit outside we stopped and and ordered a few craft beers to enjoy. Maybe not the best craft beer we have had but it was nice just to be at a brewery during this pandemic and the staff was especially welcoming..

NOTE: We are currently in Raleigh, NC probably until the end of September…

Land Between the Lakes, Kentucky…

After the scary ordeal of crossing those two skinny bridges we were both ‘happy to be at our next campground. Also we were glad we would stay for three days before charging on toward Virginia. We camped at the Canal Campground, another COE Park.

Since our campground is located just a few miles north of the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, we drove down the scenic road to the land between the lakes and man, oh, man, everything was so very vibrant green and lush!

Driving around we found the remains of an old iron ore smelter that had a pull out to a historical marker with tidbits posted about the history. The iron ore smelter is adjacent to a road we then explored and discovered Hematite Lake. We noticed a 2.4 mile hike around the lake and although we didn’t do the hike the day we discovered it we made a plan to return the very next day to do it.

Hematite Lake is so named because of all the ore found around the lake and that is why the smelter was located nearby. The remnants of the smelting process yielded lots of variously colored pieces of hematite along the shoreline of the lake. We found pieces that were glossy black, purple and vibrant blue along our path.

But best of all was enjoying a nice hike in the lush woodlands around the lake. The lake at times was so still there were magnificent reflections of the clouds on the water. About halfway around the lake a 1/4 mile (practically new) boardwalk took us over the swampier parts of the lowlands where we saw many birds and frogs and turtles.

The most interesting sighting of the day was an American Woodcock. About the size of a robin these short legged stocky woodland birds are solitary and rarely seen so we were delighted to watch this one probing the ground for earthworms. Having forgotten my good camera we were unable to capture a photo of it so we only took our memories of it with us.

Our three day stay at Canal Campground was just what the doctor ordered. What a nice and relaxing place to spend some time. We both would like to return to this area someday for further exploration but it quickly became time to press on…

Exploring SE Oklahoma…

Well it was finally time to leave Texas and our destination would be to Oklahoma just north-northeast of where we were. It would be a bit of a longer drive at 173 miles but as it turned out to be pretty easy going. Oh, I almost forgot to mention our last gas stop in Texas was at a Buc-ees where we filled up our diesel tank for $1.39 per gallon. I simply had to document this is our blog! While I fueled up, Sharon couldn’t resist the urge to don her mask and venture inside to purchase some brisket and kolaches for our last taste of Texas.

We pulled into the Kiamichi Recreation Park, yet another COE park and settled into our site which was another beautiful waterfront site. We have been staying at COE parks since we left Canyon Lake and have done so for two main reasons. First and foremost was to be at a park with a beautiful view. We figured since we aren’t going to be doing a whole lot because of the pandemic we might as well have a nice view out our windshield.

The other reason is cost. Corps of Engineer Parks honor the America the Beautiful Senior Lifetime Pass where all camping is half off making our cost as low as $8 per night to only as high as $15 per night. We figure there is no need to be in a private RV park since we wouldn’t use any of the amenities even if they are open. Also, since we are staying close to the RV and doing less excursions we want sites that are spacious and not as confining as commercial parks can be.

But back to this park… it is huge! There are actually several campgrounds around the lake and miles of roads to walk or bike along with very minimal traffic. We might venture for miles, hiking or biking, and only encounter a few cars slowly ambling along the roadways inside the park. This park is remote with Hugo, Oklahoma being the nearest town and it is a very small town with little charm.

We did take a few drives around the area with the highlight being a drive over to Beavers Bend Oklahoma. We really had no idea how scenic this part of the state of Oklahoma turned out to be all around the Broken Bow Lake. If we had done our homework better we would have found a nice hike there.

Other than a few scenic drives we spent our time at our park biking nd walking around while enjoying more wildflowers before they give up their blooms. I also fished a little and caught a nice bass for dinner one evening. Another day I was trying my luck at catfishing and hooked about a 12 pound carp. I have never caught a carp on a meaty bait before so I thought I had hooked a huge catfish but after about a 15 minute battle I finally landed it and later returned it to the lake. If I had a smoker I think I would have tried smoking it as they do in northern Florida.

We have decided to continue eastward this year so I will need to find some more COE stops since this virus doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon.  Stay well everybody! 

NOTE: We are currently at Bell Star COE Park near Eufaula Oklahoma until June 21st…

Granger Lake near Taylor Texas…

On the road again… yes the song was playin” the back of my head as we drove out of Canyon Lake in our RV and was still playing when we set up camp at Granger Lake near Taylor Texas. The sites here are spacious with 50 amp and water but no sewer. All pads are concrete including a nice covered patio. Each site also has a smoker bbq pit and a fire ring.  You get all this with the senior pass discount for a whopping $13 per night,

The only downside is that only a few of the sites actually have any lake views. There is a bit of a cliff down to the lake and the shoreline is heavily wooded thus making views of the lake few and far between. However it is another perfect stop for us to hang out during the pandemic.

Our first few days found us taking daily walks around the park and enjoying the last vestiges of spring. There are still a lot of wildflowers blooming with even a few bluebonnets and paintbrushes still in bloom! Not much else happened for us the first four days as we were in a weather pattern of rains and occasional spats of severe weather. Most of the bad stuff bypassed Granger Lake but high winds and large hail were in the areas all all around us.

One afternoon we drove into Taylor to check out the quint little town. There are a couple of highly regarded BBQ joints there and even a little brewery. We stopped at the local HEB grocery for some curbside delivery of groceries as we still aren’t going into the stores yet but probably will soon.

After picking up groceries I went online to order two growler fills and two 6-packs of beer form the Texas Beer Company to help support the breweries struggling to stay afloat in these trying economic times. Well, that, and we wanted some fresh draft craft beers! Pretty tasty too I might add!

Weekends are filled with campers but on the weekdays there are only  a few of us. Even though we can’t see the lake from our site this is still a nice park to chill for a week or so while Covid-19 continues to troll around the USA.

NOTE: We are currently at High View COE Park near Ennis Texas until June 10th…