Palmetto State Park

Ahh, nothing like a cold fall weekend in the woods to celebrate Thanksgiving.  We left Friday morning, the day after Thanksgiving, for a 2 night trip to Palmetto State Park.  The park is just south of I-10 in between Luling and Gonzales.  Luling is well known for BBQ and watermelon. Gonzales is known for its cannon and confrontational battle slogan.  With all the natural gas pumps and truck stops, I was not so sure natural beauty was really to be found here.  But thankfully I was wrong.  Palmetto State Park is really a pleasant surprise.  The park is located on the San Marcos River and also has a 4 acre lake.  As you drive in on CR 261 the layout of the park may throw you off a bit.  The road that goes right through the middle of the park and very close to the tent loop is not a park road.  It is a public road and the tent loop is very close to the day use area.  We were a little unsure as we pulled into site 40, but as the day use visitors left, the area became very peaceful.  Also along the back of the loop there is a lot more privacy.  Oxbow lake is only 4 acres (translation: not big), but is plenty big enough for fishing and canoeing.  The park rents paddle boats, hydro bikes, canoes and fishing boats for much cheaper than Inks Lake or some of the other "lake" parks.  There is a small fishing pier and a trail that goes all the way around the lake.  In the summer, the lake is shallow enough to swim in.  The tent loop has restrooms, but no showers.  To get to the showers located in the RV loop, you follow a trail that takes you across the San Marcos River on a low water crossing.  There is a road off CR 261 that takes you to that end of the park if you are driving.  The view of the river is beautiful and in the summer, you can go tubing through there.  But there was no tubing or swimming this weekend.  The nights were cold, but the campfire was warm and the marshmallows toasty.  We spent Saturday morning geocaching and hiking around the Ottine Swamp and palmetto interpretive loop.  The trail passes by the water tower, built by the CCC in the 30's, that keeps the swamps alive and wet via a natural spring.  The trees and plants here are so unlike anything else in the area.  After lunch, Shawn and the kids went fishing while I hiked around the lake.  I finally saw some of the birds I had been hearing when I spotted about a dozen cardinals hopping around the grasses and palmettos.  I met up with them and we rented a paddle boat.  Normally we prefer canoes, but the kids have been asking for a paddle boat experience.  We saw a few deer, lots of birds, and at least 100 vultures.  Natalie and I spied a woodpecker, but couldn't see close enough to identify it.  Pretty sure it was a downy woodpecker based on size and coloring.  Shawn caught a few sun fish, but nothing worth eating.
This was a beautiful park with lots of interesting hiking.  The playground is great for small kids and the loops small enough for kids to ride bikes.  We would definitely come back to this one again. 

Fuzzy caterpillars

Vultures

Too cold for snakes...I hope

Oxbow Lake

He caught a whopper

On the paddle boat

Our Site

Do not fall in the river please

geocaching

We found it!

Me and my boy

Guadelupe River anniversary hike

Who goes hiking and geocaching on their anniversary?  This girl and her hunky hubbie do!  We headed down to Guadalupe River State Park on our way to San Antonio for a long hike.  I had kind of forgotten about the Texas Geocaching Challenge that started back up on October 1st.  We got a few done in the spring, but were bummed when the challenge ended in June and we couldn't participate on our big summer trip.  But it started again and they tweaked it a bit so that f you find at least 10 caches in any state park and answer the question, you get a prize.  Last time you had to find them all in one region, but now it is any 10 parks.  We also collect path tags, fun little small coins with the park name and a color picture on a key chain, along with our patches.  Not every park has path tags, but this one did and I got a little giddy about it.  So we headed off down the trail and quickly found the cache.  We made a quick stop at the discovery center which had exhibits showing wildlife in the area.  They had a bat skeleton and a few skins to touch.  We continued hiking down to the river and were thrilled to see the cypress trees in full fall color.  Did you know cypress trees change color?  I didn't either, but it was beautiful. We hiked along the river to an area he had fished and swam when we were there last.  We didn't see a lot of wildlife till we hiked back at dusk.  We saw a few deer, a couple birds, small rabbits, and we think an armadillo.  It was a peaceful way to celebrate 11 years.

Williamson County Park Greenbelt "the woods"

Well it has been a slow couple of month.  Slow in the camping world, busy everywhere else.  We had a great trip planned in October to Colorado Bend,  but had to cancel due to weather.  The fronts have been coming through on the weekend and that weekend was hot, muggy, and rainy.  Not exactly great weather for camping on the riverbank.  The mosquitoes have been very bad this year too.  We managed a night away, but that was just Patrick and I at cub scout camp.  Not exactly a relaxing nature experience, but a great way to check out Bastrop.
We have made it out to the greenbelt a few times or "the woods" as my kids call it.  It is just down the street from our house.  Easy to get to on foot or bike and a very manageable size for a kid on his own.  Usually he brings a friend.  There are trails made by county trucks.  It is bordered by neighborhood on the west, park on the east, road to the south and ranch to the north.  Most of the time you can still hear dogs barking or lawnmowers.  But to a growing boy it is a magical wild place for exploring.  This area is undeveloped as it is a watershed for the park and neighborhoods.  When it rains the water flows through here and forms Honey Bear Creek.  The ponds are shallow and dry up in the summer.  But after the rain, a series of marshy ponds just perfect for walking through with mud boots form.  We often see cardinals and hawks, and during the fall and spring migrations it is a stop for wild ducks.  We see deer and tracks of raccoons, skunks, possum, and wild boar.  We see the fur and bones left by the coyotes and have been scared more than once by a fleeing rabbit.  In the fall, the leaves change color and the ponds are more full.  In the spring it is filled with wildflowers and butterflies.  In the summer, there are sunflowers, dragonflies, and lots of (icky) grasshoppers.  For a neighborhood as large as ours, the woods should be filled with dirty children.  But it is not.  Often on a beautiful Saturday, we won't see anyone.  As a child I explored the orange groves near my neighborhood.  We built forts using "borrowed tools" and even tried to make a camp fire.  The worst thing that has happened to him in the hours spent building forts, climbing trees and hunting for treasure have been the chigger bites.  We are blessed to have this space and love it dearly.
On this day, it was cold and rainy, but we had to check out a fort Patrick had been raving about.  He didn't build it, but he had a great time discovering it.  We also discovered the coyote population had been very active.  He found a deer skull and we found a boar jaw with teeth intact.  After some time spend in bleach water, the jaw made a great addition to our collection of found treasures. 
We have a trip coming up over Thanksgiving weekend.  We are hoping it isn't too cold or wet.  We are ready for some outdoor therapy.