When we left the Space Center, we stopped for the night not too far west of Houston. We’d been in touch with our Belize neighbors Todd and Tatiana, who were leaving Albuquerque in their camper van and heading east on I-10 on their way to Florida. We decided that we would meet up near San Antonio, probably on Sunday, so when we got on the road in the morning we headed towards Palmetto State Park, which is just east of San Antonio, and wait for them there.
I had called Palmetto State Park in the morning and booked a campsite, so the rangers at the park office were waiting for us when we got there. When I called, they had asked for our license plate number, so they knew we were driving a Belize vehicle. The ranger checking us in told us that his fellow ranger Jeremy had visited Belize and had shown him photos, and wanted to know where we lived and what we did. We started telling him about Moonracer when Jeremy came out from the back and joined in the conversation. Jeremy told us that he’d spent a school project term in Belize with one of the archeology groups. We asked him who his professor was, and he said Dr. Brett Houck, and we told him that Dr. Houck had brought student groups to stay with us. Jeremy started to laugh and asked if we remembered the group when there was a torrential rainstorm, and everybody sleeping in tents ended up sleeping on tables in the dining palapa. We did, of course, and Jeremy got his phone out and showed us a photo of *his* bed that night, which was on our picnic table in our dining palapa.
I had called Palmetto State Park in the morning and booked a campsite, so the rangers at the park office were waiting for us when we got there. When I called, they had asked for our license plate number, so they knew we were driving a Belize vehicle. The ranger checking us in told us that his fellow ranger Jeremy had visited Belize and had shown him photos, and wanted to know where we lived and what we did. We started telling him about Moonracer when Jeremy came out from the back and joined in the conversation. Jeremy told us that he’d spent a school project term in Belize with one of the archeology groups. We asked him who his professor was, and he said Dr. Brett Houck, and we told him that Dr. Houck had brought student groups to stay with us. Jeremy started to laugh and asked if we remembered the group when there was a torrential rainstorm, and everybody sleeping in tents ended up sleeping on tables in the dining palapa. We did, of course, and Jeremy got his phone out and showed us a photo of *his* bed that night, which was on our picnic table in our dining palapa.
After talking to the rangers about Belize and the smallness of the world, we drove to our campsite. The Palmetto State Park campground is very small, but is surrounded by trails that wind through the woods. The rain was almost stopped by the time we were parked and settled, so we took the dogs for a nice walk on the trails.
Well maintained trails run through the woodland. They must have used a ton of gravel making the trails, because there were very few muddy spots despite the wet weather.
This water tower is an artesian well. It used to provide water for the campground, but is now used to maintain proper water levels in the swamp.
Most of the trail runs along a bluff above the San Marcos River.
The park was built by the CCC, and the quality picnic pavilions remain today.
In the morning, Tom got in touch with Todd and Tatiana, and decided that we would meet near where we already were, east of San Antonio. We couldn’t get reservations for both of us at Palmetto State Park, so we found another campground outside of Gonzales, TX, that had room for both of us for a couple of nights, and had full hookups since neither of us was getting enough sun to keep our batteries charged. Plus, cold weather was predicted, so we wanted to be able to plug in our electric heater, which puts a strain on our system even when the sun shines. We left Palmetto State Park and headed into Gonzales, where we went shopping and had lunch at Pizza Hut, which Tom has been wanting to do ever since we drove into the US. The pizza was as good and greasy as we remembered, and miraculously didn’t upset either of our stomachs. Pizza Hut pizza definitely isn’t the best pizza, but it’s one of those nostalgic things that we’d been meaning to do for a while.
After lunch, we headed for the Gone Fishin’ RV Park, where we did what we always do - got settled and took the dogs for a walk. The park is filled mostly with long term renters, but everybody from Mark, the owner, to the camp hosts, to the other campers was super friendly and welcoming. The park is sort of a sad story, because it was created as a fishing camp, but in August 2021 the dam downstream broke, and now the river is dry. The boat launch, the docs, and all the formerly riverside homes now line a dry gully. Residents are trying to get the government to fix the dam, but apparently that project isn’t high on Texas’s list of priorities.
After lunch, we headed for the Gone Fishin’ RV Park, where we did what we always do - got settled and took the dogs for a walk. The park is filled mostly with long term renters, but everybody from Mark, the owner, to the camp hosts, to the other campers was super friendly and welcoming. The park is sort of a sad story, because it was created as a fishing camp, but in August 2021 the dam downstream broke, and now the river is dry. The boat launch, the docs, and all the formerly riverside homes now line a dry gully. Residents are trying to get the government to fix the dam, but apparently that project isn’t high on Texas’s list of priorities.
Todd and Tatiana pulled in shortly after dark, and we had a grand reunion as we crammed into our camper for dinner. We hadn’t seen Todd since May of last year when he left for their Albuquerque home shortly before we left Belize, and we hadn’t seen Tatiana for close to a year before that. We all stayed up way past our bedtime, especially because Tatiana was scheduled to work online in the morning.
Our original plan had been to visit with Todd the next day, Monday, and have another dinner before we all departed Tuesday morning. While Tatiana worked, we got out for another walk in a nearby neighborhood, and tried to walk to the broken dam. We found that the dam is gated and deemed a hazardous area, but it gave us a good excuse to get us and the dogs out to get some exercise. Overnight, the weather had turned cold, so we were bundled up and Kismet got to wear her jacket gifted to her by our friend Amanda for the first time on this trip. We’ve tried hard to stay ahead of the cold, and have mostly done it, until now. While we’ve seen temperatures around freezing at night and in the morning, this is the first time temperatures have stayed that cold all day.
This is at 3:00 in the afternoon!
Overnight on Monday, the weather took a major turn for the worse. When we got up Tuesday morning, we heard the news reports of all the icing in Texas. We were just about to head out and go to San Antonio before heading south to Laredo to try to get ahead of it, when Tom took our garbage to the dumpster and talked to Christine, the camp host. She had just talked to one of her kids in San Antonio, and she told Tom that ice was starting there and driving was dangerous. Tom and I talked about whether we should try anyway, or skip San Antonio and head directly to Laredo, or stay put for another day or two. Caution won, and we decided to stay put until the storm passes. Todd and Tatiana decided the same, so we all settled in for another night or two. Last night we had dinner in their camper, and as of right now Tom and I have decided to stay until tomorrow, and Todd and Tatiana are watching the weather to see if they’ll have a chance to safely head east before the end of the day. At the moment it’s sleeting, so we may be planning another neighborhood dinner - which is a good thing!
When we pulled in on Sunday, we thought we might make good use of that picnic table between our vehicles. Alas, we’ve instead made good use of our heaters in the campers.
Dinner at the neighbors.
This Winter Weather Warning is supposed to end tomorrow morning, so we should be good to go to head towards San Antonio and Laredo.