Spring 2014 Texas Road Trip - Letter to Texas TPWD Magazine Editor

After reading in the letters to the editor in your June 2014 edition wherein Carl Andersen writer asked that your magazine “give us all the parks of Texas”, I decided to tell you of my experiences with Texas Parks on a recent road trip that I took in mid April, 2014. I experienced one national park, two city parks, two state parks, a Scenic Natural Area, and one county park. 

 

My first Texas overnight was in Lubbock, located on the Llano Estacado, the largest mesa in the USA. Only recently learning of this geographical feature, I wanted to explore the Llano Estacado from as many aspects as possible.  I drove into Lubbock from the North-West on US 84 wearing my Billy the Kid t-shirt for a three night stay. I stopped at the Billy the Kid gravesite and Museum near Fort Sumner, New Mexico on my drive from Colorado Springs.

 

While in Lubbock I happened upon the Lubbock Memorial Arboretum, a city park botanic garden. As described on its website, the “The Lubbock Memorial Arboretum is governed through a private/public collaboration between the Lubbock Memorial Arboretum Foundation and the City of Lubbock through its Parks and Recreation Department.”  Furthermore, “The Lubbock Memorial Arboretum is located in Clapp Park and is an exhibit of the best trees, shrubs, vines and other ornamental plants which can be grown in this area. The Arboretum also offers a laboratory for studying existing plants and testing, evaluation and experimenting with new plants, and a tranquil area with walkways, paths, vistas, and rest sites for the pleasure and education of local citizens and other visitors.”

 

I went there twice, it is indeed a pleasant place to wander and relax.    On my second visit, the park was undergoing a thorough spring house cleaning and the groundskeeper’s machines were quite noisy, a momentary inconvenience that kept me moving from spot to spot.

 

While in Lubbock, I went to the beautiful Texas Tech Museum, the adjacent National Ranching Heritage Center, Buddy Holly’s Plaza and Museum, City of Lubbock Cemetery (Buddy Holly’s grave site), and the Llano Estacado Winery. At the winery, I purchased a wine club bottle of the High Plains Texas Malbec grown by the Newsome Vineyards located nears Plains.  It was delicious.

 

(I recommend the Ranch House (breakfast) and Christakis (hamburgers and fast food) for local flavor Lubbock eateries. I used the social media web site Yelp extensively to research dining options.)

 

Regarding the Llano Estacado, the National Ranching Heritage Center featured an exhibit on Karl Friedrich May (1842 – 1912) , a noted German novelist whose works included adventure stories situated on the Llano Estacado even though he never visited the area.  The exhibit included several large posters of his book covers which are as colorful as Karl May apparently was in real life. This was an unexpected discovery.

 

From Lubbock, I headed to Big Bend National Park driving US Highway 385 along the Llano Estacado. The terrain gradual changed from flat red irrigated fields of agro-centric industry to rolling hills with intense oil production, I could smell oil fumes in the air at one point, before finally becoming mostly mesas and mesquite brush.  Along the way,  I noticed that Terry county’s sign stating that it was the #1 producer of cotton, peanuts and oil.

 

I really like the Rio Grande Village Campground at Big Bend.  There are many tall cottonwood trees with open grassy camp sites as well as more secluded coves hacked into the surrounding brush and cacti.  Birdsong serenades abound.  Gorgeous sunset views of the Rio Grande River shining in the foreground as the Sun sinks behind the Chios Mountains can be seen after a short hike to a nearby view point. I am fascinated by this desert area, it seems that the drier it is, the bigger and more abundant the cactus and desert floral are.  I also believe I saw some early small Bluebonnets blooming along the roadside. 

 

From Big Bend, I headed to Seminole Canyon State Park along US 90 on a blustery cold day where I discovered a small world class museum detailing the life of early man in the nearby canyons.  Hikes along the canyon rim lead to official TPWD geocaches.

 

Perhaps your magazine may consider publishing a feature on geocaching in the Texas State Parks. (Maybe you already have, I have only subscribed for about a year.) The free Wii-Fii at the Texas State Parks supports this endeavor very nicely as one is able to easily determine what geocaches are nearby. The officially sanctioned TPWD geocaches also support for activity as do the official contests. The individualized path-tags available at the gift shops are also nice collectibles. Such an article may introduce more people to geocaching and give them additional reasons to visit Texas State Parks.

 

(The free Wii-Fii did not support my email.  I wondered if this was unique to my iPad and Samsung Galaxy S III phone or a system limitation?)

 

On the return from my hike along the canyon rim by way of the park roads, I noticed a large cluster of blue flowers at an intersection.  Probably not Bluebonnets though, they looked more like Texas-sized phlox.

 

With the assistance of the park rangers at the Seminole Canyon visitor center, I was able to arrange for a overnight at the Kickapoo Caverns State Park, one of the newest and smallest of the Texas State Parks. 

 

Leaving Seminole I continued East on US 90 passing through Del Rio where I stopped at the Wal-Mart to refresh my camping supplies.  Along the way, I passed by Amistad National Park, a huge reservoir that straddles the US and Mexico borader. I did not stop, perhaps I’ll adventure there on a future trip. Approaching Kickapoo Caverns State Park from the South on Texas 674, the Hill Country flavor of the country side came into view.  The night at Kickapoo was peaceful, the night sky bright with stars, the morning sunny, the camping facilities new.  I did not locate the authorized Geo-cache.  I was not up for a mile long trek up the rocky country road under the bright morning sun.

 

I pressed onto Garner State Park via Texas 674, 335, 337 and was awed by the dramatic green rolling hills scenery along the way. Garner State Park was quite a contrast to Kickapoo as I went from one of the smallest, newest, and least visited to the largest, oldest and most visited.  To deal with the crowds, Garner incorporates a “take a number” system to facilitate registering in air conditioned comfort. I arrived on a week day before the Easter weekend so the park was not yet overwhelmed.  I camped with view of the Rio Frio and waded across it searching for a Geo-cach that I did not find.  I found others in the area though including the largest one I ever encountered – it was a startling piece of camo’d PVC pipe four inches diameter and two feet long nestled in the crotch of a cedar tree.

 

I headed off the next morning on Texas 1050 heading to Lost Maples S.N.A passing through Utopia along the way.  I admit to chuckling at the name.  The previous evening, I saw a small ad on the back of the Garner State Park map for a golf course in Utopia that offered special rates for seniors.  Thinking I might play a round, I kept my eye out for the place as I passed through Utopia but saw no signs. I discovered later that the golf course at Utopia is famous in its own right being the subject of a book and movie. I recall seeing the Lost Maple Café as I passed through which was prominently featured in the movie.  Perhaps I’ll try harder to find the place next time.

 

Lost Maples was a pleasant camping, birding, and Geo-caching experience.  In addition to finding the authorized Geo-caches, I headed up the long East Trail in search of a Geo-cache near the top and eventually found it.  This trail is posted as being steep and difficult and indeed lives up to the billing.  The changing countryside and open views are worth it.  I’m not sure about the distinction between a State Natural Area and a State Park. They both seem to offer the same facilities.

 

My next stop was near Fredericksburg at the Lady Bird Johnson Municipal Park. The occasion was the Annual VW Classic.  Coinciding with the Easter weekend this year, this gathering features all types of Volks Wagon vehicles. I decided to show up in my ‘95 VW Eurovan Camper; not considered quite as cool as a VW Westfalia Camper, but highly functional.  There were hot rodded VW Bugs, dune buggies, campers from all eras including both pristine, restored and rat rod vintages.  Lots of VW parts for sale as well.  The campground rules appeared to be suspended for the weekend highlighted by what sounded like a diesel generator that roared throughout my sleepless night. I also drove and walked the main drag of Fredericksburg proper and found it overwhelmingly crowded and busy on this Easter Good Friday. Geez, I would have loved to have seen the place fifty years ago.

 

My driving motivation often seems to be “Can’t wait to get there and can’t wait to leave” so I left a day earlier than planned and was committed to driving on Easter Saturday with the likelihood of finding another camp site being absolutely nil.  I headed for what seemed like the most remote State Park imaginable, that being Balmorhea, a mere 310 miles West on I-10 more or less. I spent this Easter Saturday doing what I like best, road tripping.  Along the way, I stopped to view the statue of Davy Crockett at Ozona. Exiting the Interstate, I found myself thumping along a well maintained concrete slab street bordered by Mac Mansions of the day that appeared to be at least 50 years old, each one unique.  The statue of Davy Crockett was one of the focal points of the grassy tree shaded town square. Little changed in 50 years or so I surmised.

 

When I finally arrived at Balmorhea State Park, I found the campground full. The ranger mentioned other camping possibilities nearby including nearby Lake Balmorhea for which I had noticed signage.  I was forewarned that it was noisy there, no quiet hours.  Before leaving I went for a swim with the fishes in the world’s largest natural spring fed swimming pool.  

 

 I headed to Lake Balmorhea, a county park according to my web site searches.  There are some primitive camp sites, in general its $5 to camp and fish wherever you want along, including the shoreline.  A friendly non uniformed entrance guard took plenty of time to explain all the possibilities.  There were large groups of RVs and 5^th wheels clustered close together. I opted for a spot below the dam which proved fortunate as it offered some shelter from the wind when a severe evening squall blew through soon after I parked.  It was severe enough to knock down some trees in the Balmorhea town and send a lot of campers home early Saturday night. A steady stream of pickup trucks loaded up their grills and exited the park late into the darkening night. Turns out there was a severe storm advisory for that night.

 

Easter Morning at Balmorhea Lake dawned with low hanging dark clouds overhead, a band of misty light on the horizon beneath the cloud bank.  I moved to a lakeside spot and fixed some breakfast.  The place suited me just fine, quietly serene and picturesque with its own trashy style.  I’ll definitely keep Lake Balmorhea in mind as a camping possibility when I venture through this part of Texas again.

 

That’s all the camping in Texas for this road trip. I passed though Pecos later in the day and discovered another Judge Roy Bean Salon and Museum.  The fellow had quite a range.

 

And, discovered another interesting site in New Mexico; that being the UFO Museum in Roswell, New Mexico.  Posed for a picture with the Aliens, ha!