Magnus Goes Beaching, Day 6

Sunday, December 8 2024

Still wet and chilly, but only a bit of rain. Had a breakfast at Hermano's Mexican in Luling. I thought the food was great although the coffee had a nasty whang, like someone had brewed chicory coffee in the pot and not cleaned it well.

Ed didn't like his food much, but that's normal for him these day. His diet is so restrictive that he can't really enjoy much except meat, eggs, and non-starchy vegetables. He ate the tortillas but probably felt guilty about them.  I thought they were fresh and yummy.  And nopalitos!  Yum.

Ed and I took a few walks (with Molly, of course!). First to check out the CCC water tower and the little pond it fed.  According to the sign, it was being used now to maintain the water level in the park and keep the Palmettos and other wet-loving species happy.  They certainly seemed so!

 

Palmettos, yoo-hoo.

Then I wanted to go walk around the oxbow lake but didn't want to wear out Ed's hip on the long road walk to get there. The map indicated a faster route involving a "low water crossing" on the San Marcos river. With all the rain of the last couple of days, I didn't expect a low water crossing to be crossable, but we walked over to see.

Lovely!  It was a wide concrete bridge across the river. There were a few puddles in it, but the water itself was at least a couple of yards down below.  I don't remember exactly--maybe a couple of feet.  But still plenty down.

 Birds at the dry lake: two Black-Necked Stilt and an American Egret.

Molly found a snake but it was too cold to be very active

A Palmetto that made it? Weird.

After crossing that, it was only a short walk through a tent camping area to the lake.  And a short half or three-quarter mile walk around.  No interesting birds and no alligators, but still a very pleasant walk.

Returning, Ed had a long conversation with a park host who was taking his exercise by bicycling through the park.  They both had leg/hip problems of some sort, so they chatted for quite a while while Molly and I wandered around and checked out the "Refectory".  I thought it was an actual restaurant, but it was just a very old CCC-era building with eating tables in the middle and closed off areas on either side, possibly where they once cooked meals.  I wish now I'd tried to go inside them, but didn't think about it at the time. I just assumed they were off-limits.

I don't remember much else of excitement about the day. It was nice enough that it was finally not raining.  I tried to repeat the Palmetto trail walk in the evening, but Molly smelled a varmint and nearly took my arm off.  After she calmed down, we continued the walk, but cautiously and carefully.