Thursday July 16
Written
at the time:
Why are there so few people camping? At Sea Rim there were only five or so
other people who came and went. The two women across from us left the day we
did.
Here, there is one other group of two campers plus a little truck camper that
came in last night. And that's it. What is the deal?
We are being pestered by a feral cat. It wants to be friends but Molly is a
no-go on that.
Review Mission Tejas
Quiet retreat in the big pines.
Our pull-thru site 7 was long enough for us, but very unlevel. 50-amp electricity and water; no sewer but the dump station was nice.
The trees made for nice shade but challenged our Starlink. But it worked well enough, on the ground
between our motorhome and the electric box. Sites 8, 9 or 10 would be better
for Starlink. Orher sites on this loop are really shady except the just across
from the bathroom. But it looks like a site that should be left for wheelchair
users.
It's a very peaceful park with all the big pines. Quiet...but that's because
there's no one here. When we were there--midweek in July--there was only one
other small group of campers in the loop. The park has lots of little trails to
walk. And it's all very clean.
But of course, since this is East Texas, you can hear guns firing and dogs
barking in the distance.
- -
I tried to jog but since I can’t jog on a rough trail, I ended up walking
mostly. We took the trail to the CCC bathtubs, an interesting couple of pits
lined with big stones just downhill from a small spring, which was also lined with
stones. Not mortared. No one knows why they were built.
To get there we went up Steep Stairs Trail. It was seriously steep and had
a lot of stairs.
On the way back we took Cemetery Hill Trail, which did indeed go to a cemetary
but it was outside of the park and appeared to be still in use. So we didn't explore
it. Then to Chimney Trail which did indeed go to a chimney. It was also not
super old--the bricks had unreadable numbers on them but they looked exactly
like modern bricks. It was probably from
the 1930s or 40s. Then we tried to walk the whole of El Camino Real from the
marker into the park, but the road disappeared in a creek crossing that was really
washed out. So sad.
Later (after lunch and a nap) we tried again, going from the marker away from
the park. It went a ways and then
stopped at a fence marking the park boundary.
So, still having time on our hands, Molly and I went to find the Old Pine. It
turned out to be right by a trail we’d already taken. Long before! But it was a cool big old tree. I forgot to
see what kind of pine it was, but since it was supposed to be pretty old, I
assume it was a Shortleaf Pine.
It sprinkled a little after supper. But we got our bedtime walk.
Magnus Takes a Short Sea Rim Break, Day 9
Friday, July 17
Leaving day. This is a very nice place. Not a lot of birds--Summer Tanager, Titmice, Robin, Mourning Dove...the usual. I heard Wood Thrushes yesterday evening.
And home it is!
I don’t think I have any “lessons learned” from the trip. Except maybe that it can indeed rain every day of a four-day stay at the beach. Sigh.
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