A Short Stop in Brady Texas

After leaving San Angelo Texas our next stop was at the small Texas town of Brady Texas, We stayed at another nice Passport America (50% off) park called the Rockin R RV Park. The park is located just outside of Brady.

Less than 5,000 people call Brady home. Brady is known as the "Heart of Texas" because it is the closest city to the geographical center of the state. The actual geographical center of Texas is located about 15 miles northeast of Brady. Brady was home to my favorite Aunt Mildred who passed away some years ago.

The community was named Brady City after Brady Creek, which runs through town. Later the name was shortened to Brady when the town was incorporated in 1906. The quiet and quaint downtown area is nice for a stroll to admire the historic buildings

One of the iconic landmarks in downtown is the McCulloch County Courthouse. Built in 1899, this gothic looking building reflects the town's rich history. Its design features a combination of Romanesque Revival and Italianate architectural elements. One thing we love about Texas are the interesting historical court houses.

We also drove out to nearby Brady Lake. There are RV campsites there as well. We will have to remember that in the future. There was a little BBQ event going on at the lake but the big event that Brady is best known for is hosting the World Championship Barbecue Goat Cook-Off every Labor Day weekend. I sure that would be a fun event!

San Angelo State Park in San Angelo TX

After spending some time in the panhandle of Texas we moved on down to a spot we've spent time at before. San Angelo State Park is a favorite stop of ours because we like the solitude of the campground and we also enjoy the town of San Angelo.

We love that the park has lots of trails to hike on and there is also a wildlife/bird blind near the campground loop we stay at .We have seen a lot of different birds there and have seen javalina on several occasions as well. While we did see a lot of birds, we didn't see any javalina this time around,

Temperatures are unseasonably hot this year with highs in the mid-100’s so we hike much shorter distances than normal. One trail we took this year was new to us. We learned that the gate code given to us at check-in opens all the gates in the park, including those in parts of the park labeled closed.

  

There is a 2.7-mile hike where visitors can see dinosaur footprints in a creek bed. Wanting to do this hike we drove up to the north part of the lake using the gate code to get to the trailhead. It was over a hundred degrees, but we did the hike anyway.

Yes, it was hot and there wasn’t a lot of shade, but it was a nice hike. There were still plenty of wildflowers in bloom making it as enjoyable despite sweltering temperatures.

We did a few short hikes in the park to see the lake and the buffalo herd in the park. The lake is the fullest we have ever seen it, and it still is only 2.9% full.

There were grand plans when the COE built this lake including a privately developed airstrip and community. But alas, the lake was last full in 1959 and since the lake is fed by the North Concho River which has been dry for several months and even stopped running over a year ago there is little chance the lake will ever be full again.

We also hiked around the downtown area and re-visited the Lilly Gardens in town.  It’s always great to see the varieties of lilies in bloom and always fun to re-visit San Angelo Texas.