Texas - 2021

 

 

We departed Carmel, IN  Friday March 5th and head to our first stop, Lincoln State Park.  We stayed here in June on our way to the Natchez Trace Parkway.  We booked  2 nights and virtually had the campground to ourselves.  There were 4-5 other campers. We hiked along the lake after we arrived and hiked around the lake on Saturday.  In the afternoon we hiked to the National Park, Lincoln's boyhood home.  The entrance area was being re-built so you couldn't hike back to the log home.  We elected not to go into the visitor center since we were just at our two week period after our second Covid-19 vaccine.

 

 

The Wapanocca National Wildlife Refuge is located in Arkansas, just Northwest of Memphis.  We had a fun drive back into the refuge viewing numerous turtles and ducks.  The Cyprus trees were amazing.

Sunset at Mississippi River State Park in Arkansas

Lake Livingston State Park, TX

We decided to give the new Corpus Christi KOA a shot and it didn't disappoint.  We had a corner spot on the inland waterway and Laguna Madre

Sunrise over the bay

We got to view many turtles that were being rehabbed. Some of these are permanent residents due to severe injuries.  During the freeze this facility, the convention center, and Padre Island National Seashore kept thousands of turtles inside

Fresh Red Snapper

USS Lexington Aircraft Carrier

Galveston, TX

Fresh shrimp for dinner

The Strand in downtown Galveston

Saint Patty's Day at Susan's sister's house

Sunset

Sunrise

Sea Wolf Park & the Galveston Naval Museum

The USS Stewart was an escort ship.  It was commissioned on May 31, 1943 and conducted 30+ missions in the North Atlantic.

USS Cayalla was commissioned on February 29, 1944.  It sank the Japanese Navy Carrier SHOKAKU that attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Sunrise over the Gulf

Ocean Star Rig Museum

We visited the Ocean Star Rig. There are three levels and outside areas to explore. We spent a little over an hour and with a video and history of oil drilling in the sea, we found this to be a great stop along the Galveston Waterfront.

Bluebonnets

Ink's Lake

Fresh Red Fish on the grill

Sunset

Blue Bonnet Cafe for fresh pie

Susan's nephew Chris stopped by on his way back to Austin. Just in time for a couple of beers and dinner

Longhorn Cavern State Park

Sunset

Pedernales Falls State Park

Pedernales River

 

Sunset above the Guadalupe River

Bryan and Sarah Mayo visited us to grill out.  Bryan and I were baseball teammates at Trinity University in San Antonio.  Both were in our wedding.

We drove into San Antonio tat Sunday to visit Susan's older sister Bobbe and brother-in-law Artie, and to go out to lunch

Frio River

Garner State Park is the fourth state park in the Texas Hill country.  We took a scenic drive to the North reaching an altitude of 2,200'.  Garner State Park is part of the Edwards Plateau, rich in limestone. The Edwards Plateau is a georaphic region at the crossroads of Central, South, and West Texas.  It is bounded by the Balcones Fault to the South and East, and Llano Uplift and the Llano Estacado to the North, and Pecos River and Chihuahuan Desert to the West

During our drive we stopped at the Lost Maples State Natural Area to hike and do some birding.  The Maple trees are beautiful in the fall.

Frio River

Many Cyprus Trees

Limestone as far as the eye could see.

Mount Baldy

The turkey's greeted us as we left the park for Dallas

 

Heading North and Home

 

 

Lake Tawakoni

We spent the day Friday with my sister and brother-in-law, and visited my soon to be 96 yeart old mother at her nursing home.  The dogs spent the day around the pool.

Our last stop was in Memphis to visit Susan's older brother Jerry. We spent two days there and had a great visit.

Sarah and Molly became best of friends and for two days after we left Molly looked all over for her friend.

We departed home on March 5 and returned home on April 5th.  The weather  was sunny every day, except light rain between Corpus Christi and Galveston.  It was sunny by the time we reached Galveston.  We had a bad storm at Inks Lake around 9:30pm one evening, with heavy rain and 50-60 mile winds.  It ripped our screen shelter out of the ground and deposited about 300 yards away on the campground road.  All things considered, it survived, with some minor repairs required.

This was a fun trip, giving us some time with family.  Thanks for tagging along.