Friday we did a drive to check out some state parks in the area for our next stop. Lockhart state park has
a golf course, but no wi-fi and small sites. Palmetto state park has wi-fi at
the office, decent sites and lots of hiking.
Saturday was laundry day. Then we walked around the campground, and John watched playoff
football, while Joan did some surfing for future campgrounds.
Sunday we went on a money hunt. The San Marcos Bank of America only had drive-up ATM's, with a sign telling us they could only be used by BofA account holders. We looked for the next closest one, toward Austin, and it turned out to be the same. Not too far from it, on the south edge of Austin, we found a stand-alone ATM in the parking lot of strip mall, which worked for us. We then made a trip
to Buc-ees for diesel and some traveling candy. They have a huge wall of sugar-free candy, so we got a couple of types to try out.
Monday we moved to Palmetto State park for a week. The weather has turned
cold again, down to -3 C this morning with a high of only about 5. The low tonight is forecast to be - 4 C. The good news is that the
high tomorrow is supposed to be 17 C. We were put in a site just across the road from another
Titanium. The people that own it are from PEI. We had a visit with them and exchanged tours to compare our trailers. Theirs was laid out quite differently, as they only have a slide-out on one side, and had converted a bunk-bed area in the back into storage spaces. They were the second couple we have encountered who found it cheaper to get a second-hand semi-tractor rather than a pickup.
Our first morning at Palmetto dawned a chilly -7C. What's up with that?!!. The park attendant had come by late the afternoon to set the water taps in the park to a slow drip.
The chill didn't stop the deer from coming to have a breakfast snack at the meadow behind
us, or the cardinal from perching on a tree to watch the Calgary Global
news through our window.
The buzzards were sitting in the trees with their wings
spread out in the sun a bit later, still - 3 at the time. I really don't think they
would be warming up very quickly. Once breakfast was over we drove in to San
Antonio to visit the Alamo. What a difference it was today from a couple of
weeks ago. We were able to enjoy the sight better with very few people, and no kids now that they are back to school.
As we were admiring a
papaya tree, with the leaves and fruit frozen, a lady from Ontario came over to
talk to us. She was enjoying her trip away from the frozen weather in Ontario.
On our way back to Palmetto we stopped in Seguin at El Charo, a
Mexican restaurant with pretty decent food. As in all Texas restaurants they
serve enough for 2 meals, so we set aside half for an instant replay for dinner.
After a stop at our second Buc-ees for diesel we returned campground. Our stop at the
campground office to pick up our email proved futile. The wi-fi is very poor. In fact in our opinion might just as well not exist, so we will have to do email and the blog when we are in a town.
Wednesday the weather finally changed, and temperatures are more
normal for the area. In fact we are not expecting any more below zero nights as far out as the forecast goes.
We spent the day in the park walking some of the trails. There are cactus and
palmettos growing within a few feet of each other.
A close-up of some palmetto plants.
It was hard to believe that
desert and swamp plants reside next to each other. We are enjoying watching the northern cardinals play around the back of the trailer. There are also huge flocks of buzzards, covering the branches of several large trees, which are interesting as well, but not as attractive as the other wildlife.
Thursday we awoke to a herd of deer eating in the meadow behind the trailer. We
decided to do another historical day, and perhaps pick up some groceries as a bonus. We drove a few miles south to Gonzales, a town of about 7,000 people. It was the first capital of Texas, and the town where the Texas Revolution actually started, the year before the battle at the Alamo. The town had picked up a small cannon from the Mexican garrison in San Antonio to help scare off Indians in the area. When the government heard rumours of revolution in Texas, they requested that the cannon be returned. The town challenged them to 'Come and take it', which the troops were unable to accomplish. The town has an annual festival celebrating the event.
The original capital building, which was later the courthouse, is very beautiful.
Our first stop
was the visitor information center, which turned out to be very fortunate. We were looking for the guide to the historic driving tour of town, and found out that they provide free guided tours from volunteers who are experts in the local history. Leon has written a pamphlet 'Ghosts of Gonzales'. This
is a remarkable little town with a history routed in the cotton industry and
cattle. Many of the cattle barons and cotton planters vied with one another building mansions in town, in addition to their homes on their
ranches. Most of the houses are still in wonderful condition. We didn't get a chance to take pictures during the drive, but will get some later today and post a few in the next blog.
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