Aub celebrates her 8th

We left Lost Maples in time to get to SA and comfortably make it to Auby's "American Girl" themed party. All her guests brought their dolls and they formed a doll pile on the dining room table.

Dave channels Bruce Jenner

In solidarity with the former gold medal decathlon winner Bruce Jenner, David shows us his feminine side.

Lost Maples II

Pretty dramatic thunderstorms Last night. It's been foggy and misting all day. We did a 4 hour hike anyway. We had our rain gear and umbrellas but we only needed our umbrellas for a few minutes. This park is really unique in that it is lush and rugged and it's in Texas. This is also a birding destination. Most people seem to have binoculars hanging around their necks. Public WiFi here won't allow me to post pictures. I'll add them later. San Antonio tomorrow.

Lost Maples State Park

The Sabinal river flows through a shaded narrow canyon here and the conditions are just right for Big Tooth Maple trees to grow. This time of year the Big Tooth Maple isn't particularly noteworthy, however, in the fall the foliage turns a colorful red or yellow. At that time of year the park fills up with day hikers from Austin and San Antonio. It's a beautiful place. Very peaceful. We will do a hike tomorrow if the weather looks ok. I'm sending this from the visitors center, using Texas state WiFi.

San Angelo day II

We went into town and visited one of the string of pioneer forts that line up across Texas. Fort Concho. Named after the river that flows through town. One of the old buildings contains a museum of "Telephony" We had no idea there was such a word much less a thing. We ate in town and then played some disc golf. After we got back to the MP I did a bike ride and came upon some Longhorns. This park is home to the states official herd. Tomorrow is lost Maples State Park near Vanderpool.  We really aren't expecting to have any connectivity there. We will be in SA on the 25th.

San Angelo state park

You'll never guess where this park is. The park is built around a lake that has been dry for probably decades. There is infrastructure that was built to access the lake that is actually funny now. There is absolutely no lake. There are some bike trails but after Palo Duro they are pretty tame. I have an Aggie buddy who lives here but we found out today he & his wife are vacationing in Belgium. We have been trying to get a hold of him for a few days and finally an email got through. Belgium? I hear they have good waffles. Here's a bike ride pic.

Last day at Palo Duro

Pretty busy today. I had another epic ride, we drove into Amarillo and visited the RV museum and then drove out to Cadillac Ranch on I 40 just outside of town. We hit a liquor store and that was pretty much it. Tomorrow we move, probably to San Angelo.

Palo Duro day II

We had to contend with Texas panhandle winds today. We did a long hike from the canyon bottom to the canyon rim and nearly got blown off our feet a few times. We always carry a lunch so we had to find something to block the typhoon or our sandwiches would have become Frisbees. We climbed a little below the rim and ate next to a cliff. The bike riding here is superb. There are a couple of museum's fairly close by that we are going to visit. We have to drive up to the top to get any cell. Even with that we have to use our Wilson Sleek signal booster to get anything other than 1x. Here's a couple of pics.

Palo Duro Canyon State Park

We had a short drive today. This canyon is second only to the Grand Canyon in size. We were accumulating laundry at an alarming rate so we have dedicated today to administration. We are running a little short of groceries and I'm just about out of bourbon, however there is not one single liquor store in this small town outside the canyon entrance. We will be here for three nights, at least, we're going to need to head towards San Antonio soon. I'm posting this from the laundromat, hence the picture. 

Last day at Caprock

We had a pretty robust storm blow through early this morning. We raised the blinds and watched the light show. It was like being in the middle of a fireworks display. Our hike this morning looped around the north end of the park. It was quite challenging in places. We have, at Jenny's insistence, hiked the 2 most difficult trails in the park. These collages are of some of the trail & some of the scenery.

Day 2 at Caprock

Had an epic bike ride this morning. Weather was preemo. We are going to stay here 1 more night so tomorrow will be an epic hike. The park is in the path of a big storm. 2" hail is possible. The sky is looking pretty ugly at the moment. I might have to take down the satellite dish. Oh no! This park is the home of the official state herd of Bison. They are pretty lethargic. This area was under a warm mineral sea at one time. There is a lot of gypsum laying around in layers. I saw this little gypsum dome during my ride this morning.

Caprock Canyon state park

We are near Quitaque, pronounced, "kitty quay", Texas. I have been wanting to visit this park for a few years. Today was Clear and windy so there was some good drying of the mud. Consequently, I had a great bike ride after we got set up. When I returned from the ride Jenny & I did a pretty aggressive hike to a look-out, high above the canyon floor. I'm not sure how, or if, I will be able to send this post. We are in a cellular wasteland.

Day 2 Copper Breaks

After the muddy bike ride we decided biking was not really an option. We did a couple of hikes. The park is something like 1900 acres so we got a pretty good feel for it. The Plains Indians lived in this area before we showed up and there is a lot of interesting history around here. Also, this park has been designated a "dark sky" something or other. There is very little light pollution. Tonight's sky is Clear so if I can stay up I should get a good view of the Milky way. 

Rain + dirt =

Copper Breaks SP Texas

We have a pretty good Verizon signal here. The reviews we read about the park must have been old. We broke camp in the rain and it has been raining all day. We drove here on Hwy 6. That road goes through College Station. I had no idea it went into Oklahoma. We are here for 2 nights. Jenny & I took a short rainy bike ride to get this shot into 'Bull Canyon', which is the central feature of this park.

Last day in Oklahoma

I did the bike trails this morning. I was out there for 3 hours and I was lost for an hour and a half. I have included a map to indicate how easy it was to become disoriented. Tomorrow we enter Texas. The plan is to visit Copper Breaks SP for a 2 day stay. This park is near Quanah TX. The cell phone companies have bypassed Quanah. WiFi won't work either so I will send a SPOT to let everyone know we are in one piece.

Lake Thunderbird State Park Oklahoma

The last 2 nights we have been in earshot of I 40. We wanted to avoid road noise tonight. This park is supposed to have awesome mountain bike trails. A quiet night and a bike ride tomorrow. Sounds good to me. We will probably be here 2 nights. There is another SP near here that we might visit. Don't know yet. We are not going to make it to California this trip. We have decided to slow down a little and smell the roses. Here's a pic of our camp.

Fixed

We made a few phone calls this morning and found an RV service center in Jackson TN. That town was conveniently located near our route. We gave them the MP at 10:30. Jenny and I pretty much did Jackson for a few hours until we got the call that all was well. The AC had a disconnected wiring harness do dad. No parts were required. When we dropped off the old girl I mentioned that the awning was busted. They fixed that too. We got back on the road and drove through Memphis. We are in Arkansas east of Little Rock. Lindsay sent us this pic. This is a mini-Nobel.

Buffalo\Hurricane Mills TN

This place is unincorporated and there is no one in authority to decide what to call it. Loretta Lynn has got something going on here. I'm pretty sure she is no longer with us but her legacy continues here. We are in a KOA. RVers would call it a Kowa. You probably don't remember but last year, all during our Alaska trip, the furnace in the MP didn't work. We had a space heater so we got by. This afternoon, just for the hell of it, we turned on the MP AC. The compressor doesn't come on. We get nothing but ambient air. So last year we go where it's cold with no heater and this year we're going where it's hot with no AC. I really do love this lifestyle. We must have this taken care of. We'll have to find a repair place. This pic reflects my current attitude.

Barn construction progress

Got 1\2 the roof on. Ate nachos. Drank beer. Played ping pong. Pretty productive really. Tomorrow we are heading West. Don't know where yet.

A visit with Pat & Steve

We drove 2 hours west and arrived here around 12:30. They have been doing a lot of work on their new home. One major project is construction of a barn\stalls for the horses. I pitched in and we made a little progress on the roof.

Table Rock

There is a State Park at Table Rock. We got the Table Rock stamp and headed up. It's a good trail that was built by the CCC. It is obviously well traveled but today we had it pretty much to ourselves, at least, on the way up. This first set of pics were taken of the trail. It was pretty knarley in places. The next set has the view from the bottom and then the view from the top.

2 hits, one strikeout

We were trying to get 3 stamps Today. The last park we hit had one of those ranger stations only open for 2 hours a day. We arrived at an inappropriate time. Damn the luck. Tomorrow we are planning on climbing an iconic escarpment in South Carolina. It's called Table Rock. It's an hours drive and we figure, a 4 hour round trip hike. So, all day. There's a 70% chance of rain so we'll have to hike with our umbrellas. RVing in not for wimps. We visited a couple of waterfalls during our stamp collecting. We are in the foothills and all the little creeks hit the fall line and make a waterfall. There are hundreds of them and many are tourist attractions.

Oconee State Park

We are now in the Upstate. When we got here and saw the campsite we had reserved, we were not overly whelmed. We are starting to recognize a pattern when it comes to SC State parks. The Web site description of the site we reserved didn't jive with reality. Anyway we swapped and are in a site that is better. We did a long hike after we got organized so we have a feel for the area. There are a couple of parks, sort of, in the vicinity, so tomorrow we will try and get  some more stamps in our book. I'm not convinced this endeavor is worthwhile. I've got a bunch of t-shirts. We have taken a small bite out of the book so that might be a commitment. This pic is Jenny sitting in a patch of Galax. Galax is a floral green that CFG sells? Used to sell? I am completely out of the loop.

2 more stamps

Strom's reservoir has 3 state parks on it's southern shoreline. We're camped in the middle one. We hit one of the other ones this morning and the other one this afternoon. We did a hike in both parks we visited and I rode a spectacular 7 mile single-track trail this afternoon. Here's a view of the lake. The background is pretty as is the foreground.

Baker Creek State Park

We have left the coastal "low Country" and are now in "the midlands". This park is 1300 acres and is on the shore of Strom Thurmond reservoir. I had no idea Strom had a reservoir. It is apparently the home of some really, really, old fish. When we got here we discovered that the site we reserved was unsuitable. It was narrow and tilted. After some consultation with the campground host we moved. She told us that our move was 'probably OK'. Not a strong endorsement. The sun is setting and we haven't been run off yet, so that's something. We still haven't seen a ranger. I did a bike ride on some trails that were in critical need of maintenance. I'm wondering if this park runs itself. It's probably a budget thing. We are here for 1 more night. Pat, I'm thinking we'll be in your neighborhood on the 7th. Will that work for you?

Surprisingly busy

I have conflicting feeling about revealing our first objective today. I will anyway. We forgot something that is pretty damn important at our home in Beaufort. We had to drive back and get it. I will reveal said object at the end of this post. After our Beaufort side trip we drove to Givhans Ferry state park in order to get our book stamped. Simple enough. Well, turns out, the ranger station is only occupied 2 hours a day. It was 2 and it wasn't scheduled to reopen until 4. We rode bikes and did a hike and tossed the Frisbee. The ranger arrived at 4, which was surprising. We hit a grocery store and returned to the MP pretty late in the day. Tomorrow we move a little further north. (The TV remote)