Martin Creek Lake day 2

Nothing particularly blog worthy occurred today. This park is only a few hundred acres and there are only 3 fairly short loop trails. I rode them this morning. On that ride I had several views of a ginormous coal fired power plant across the lake. There is literally a mountain of coal next to it. It produces enough energy daily to power over a million homes. There was a wart covered tree along the trail. That sign described it.

We saw those 2 items during our obligatory trip to the local Walmart. 

Martin Creek Lake State Park

We are still in Texas, but just barely. Louisiana is so close we can smell the gumbo. We drove 300 miles on secondary highways to get here. During the trip I got a warning on the dash that said I needed to fill my DEF tank. That's diesel

exhaust fluid. I pulled over and bought some. We went to a Kroger for a few things and when we got back to the MP 3 it wouldn't start. It said I had to add DEF or it wouldn't let me back on the road. Damn Germans. I added the DEF, the engine started and I learned a valuable lesson. There have been several head scratchers on this trip that I needed to have now before we ended up in the middle of nowhere with no cell coverage and no clue. Those first 2 pics were taken here, the other 2 were our campsites yesterday and today.

Inks Lake day 3

We haven't done any serious hiking in awhile so that's what we did this morning. The park covers 1200 acres and we were able to tie a few of the trails together into a pretty long loop. Nearly 3 hours. We had left-over Cooper's for lunch and then visited a winery. The young lady who was our server was feeding us the typical wine tasting bullshit of "your nose will get this and your pallette will get that and the fruity after taste and the hint of citrus" You know what I mean. She was a good sport and we had some fun with her. We did buy 1 bottle and we left her a good tip. Tomorrow we drive to a state park near Longview. We'll be there for 2 nights.

Inks Lake day 2

We were in no particular hurry this morning to get started because this trip, so far, hasn't been anything approaching relaxing. We booked a tour of Longhorn Caverns for noon. It's something like a 20 minute drive from here. The Caverns were made into a tourist attraction by the CCC in the late 30s. It's location was common knowledge but during heavy rains water flowed through it so it was full of dirt and debris. The CCC hauled 3000 dump trucks full of excavated crud to the surface and made the cave accessible. The dump truck loads of dirt were used to build the 14 mile park road which itself is an attraction. Anyway,  the tour was 90 minutes, covered alittle over a mile and was well worth the price of admission. After the cave we drove into Llano and ate some meat at the original Cooper's Barbecue. I can't imagine Barbecue brisket being any better than what we had today. We are here one more full day. Probably hiking and a winery.......or 2.

Inks Lake State Park

We drove about 90 miles north of SA on hwy 281. The lake is formed behind a dam on the Colorado River. There is a caverns a few miles from here that we will tour tomorrow. Also, the original Cooper's Barbecue is pretty close so we might have to go there. Just kidding, we will go there. We are here for 3 nights and will start heading East on Monday. You might be interested in how Larson is doing. He's having difficulty communicating. He really can't walk, his legs just don't work. He's having some difficulty eating and he doesn't drink enough. He's very frail, however, he has some excellent care givers and he is an Everett. Not sure if there will be a 100th birthday but it's not out of the question.

Larson Everett turns 99

By anybodys standard today was a tremendous accomplishment. It's difficult to believe someone born in 1924 is still with us in 2023. In attendance at the celebration were his 3 sons and one daughter, his 2 long time caregivers and other assorted in laws. IE Maggie, Anne and me. The meal before the party and the party itself generated enough food to keep us fed for days. Today is Wednesday. We leave here on Friday. 

Sam Houston Jones SP.

We are just outside of Lake Charles LA. The town and the park were pretty much trashed a couple of years ago by a direct hurricane hit. The campground is devoid of trees and it used to be shaded by old Pines. The remaining trees appear to also have been burned. Those holes in that bridge are burn holes. A double whammy. Should be in SA tomorrow. Don't know about blog posts from Larson's driveway but I'll try to take a few pics.