Wednesday, March 31 - Day 21
Junction, TX to San Marcos, TX
For the first time since day one of my journey, the sun did not come out at all. Somehow, nature's scenic beauty just isn't as sparkling under a cloudy sky as it is when the sun shines.
Woke up quite early, 5:30 AM and couldn't go back to sleep. Started breakfast and watched the birds scampering around on the picnic table. I am ornithologically challenged, probably couldn't tell the difference between a sparrow and an eagle -- so I always appreciate the appearance of a Cardinal, the one bird I recognize. And there were several of those.
After unhooking, cleaning up the campsite (always take a bit more garbage out than was there when you set up camp!) and draining the gray water tank, went over to the camp office. Diane, the lady in charge, let me hook up the laptop and get my messages and upload. I had over 85 messages since the download the day before! Turns out that a mailing list I subscribe to had some autoanswer problem and sent out the same message 65 times. Y2K? - I don't think so. Anyway, South Llano River State Park is a really beautiful park, well worth making a detour for.
Put an extra $ in the donation box as a way to say "thank you" for letting me use the phone line. All the state parks I've visited so far have a donation box for people to drop small change. Resolved that from now on I'll put a $ into the box whenever they let me use the phone line.
Was on the road by 9 o'clock. For those of you who want to follow my exploration of the Texas Hill Country, here is my routing:
Took I-10 east to Mountain Home and TX 27 to Ingram. TX 39 along the South Fork of the Guadelupe River and south on TX Ranch 187 to Vanderpool, Ranch 337 to Medina, TX 16 to Bandera, TX 173 to Camp Verde and Kerrville, TX 16 to Fredericksburg, US 87 and 290 to Blumenthal, and then various back roads to Blanco, Wimberley, and San Marcos.
Fredericksburg is an old town founded and settled by German immigrants. Was amused to see a building directory with a very familiar last name - a distant relative maybe?
Stopped at the Wal-Mart in San Marcos to buy some camping supplies and also picked up some fresh strawberries for tonight's dessert. Then about 15 miles south on TX 80 towards Fentress found the Leisure Camp & RV Park - my planned stop for the night.
An internet acquaintance had recommended this park because of its beautiful setting on the banks of the San Marcos river and because of its friendly owners. She was right, on both counts. It's too early in the year for all the leaves to have come out, but what green there is already - it's beautiful. The CG is modem-friendly, so I'll be able to connect tomorrow morning.
Cost for the night, including electricity and water is $13.50, well worth it, especially since I could grab a good hot shower. Prepared a cheeseburger on the grill for dinner and ate the strawberries. Drove 277 miles today and was on the road for 6 1/2 hours. Bought gas at $1.039.