Site 19, Palmetto State Park
The Grill
About the CCC
A CCC Built Shelter
The San Marcos River Back in its Banks
2011 Trip across the US
2012 Trip across the US
Other Trips
I waited until 9:00 to head out, hoping the morning rush hour would be over heading into Houston. While the traffic was heavy, no stop & go, so maybe it worked. I got off I 10 after getting past the city & continued west of US 90 alt. Much more pleasant driving, and according to the GPS, only added 1/2 hour to the drive. Well worth it! I saw my first Texas Longhorn, but it was too far away for a photo.
Another reason for never completely trusting a GPS - I had entered the park coordinates listed on the Palmetto State Park web page & Matilda (the voice of the GPS) tried to take me down a one lane, dead end dirt road for the final leg of the trip. Luckily, I met someone coming out of the road and they gave me better directions.
A very pretty park, although it looks like they had a heavy storm recently - lots of large branches piled around the trees, etc. I wonder if this is the part of Texas that had the terrible Halloween rainstorm? In any case, you can tell you're in Texas - most of the grills in the park are built like a small smoker. Of course the other way to know you're in Texas is by the interstate exit markers. Unlike NY (about the only state left that still does this) where they are consecutive numbers, exits are identified by miles from where the interstate enters from LA, and starts with mile marker 880!
The campground was built by the CCC, like many of the state parks around the country. They have a sign at a picnic shelter describing the project.
|
|
|
|
Site 19, Palmetto State Park |
The Grill |
About the CCC |
A CCC Built Shelter |
|
|||
The San Marcos River Back in its Banks |
I met the campground host & he confirmed that the campground had a flood Halloween night. Parts of the campground were underwater, along with the roads into it. Most of it is back to normal, although there is a low water bridge across the river that is still underwater.
If I can figure a good way to warm it up, dinner will be orange chicken. The grocery store had a 2 for the price of 1 Chinese dinners, so I gave them a try.
Later - Well, I found that using the vegetable steamer is a good way to heat up a refrigerated orange chicken with rice dinner. Unfortunately, it really wasn't worth it - didn't taste like any orange chicken I've had before, and the clean up of the steamer was a real project! Still, I'm fed. I don't expect to spend time sitting out in the lawn chair. No sun, and it is already down to 63°F with a cold wind. I checked the weather reports for the next few areas I will be camping, and it sure looks like cold nights. I may hurry through New Mexico faster than planned!
Until next time -
This page is maintained by: vermilye@oswego.edu
Last Update:
November 27, 2014