Wednesday 12-8 Internet & Garner State Park

Camping at Garner State Park

We said good-bye to Lost Maples after three days of camping there. Our next destination was Garner State Park, which was 30 miles away. We took our time getting ready because we didn't want to be too early. Check-in time is 2:00 but if no ones in the site the park will let you in. We left about 9:00.

The highway we took was two lanes through rolling hills with tight curves. The signs said you should take the curves at 15 to 20 mph. One sign said that since 2007 13 motorcyclist were killed on this road. At one point it was scary, we were going around a tight curve and vehicles were coming from the other direction, we were by the guardrail and they were by the hill so if anyone crossed the line you would be in trouble. But it was a gorgeous drive. We saw a couple of deer. When we got to Leaky we found a church to park at so we could use the internet. We didn't know for sure if we would have internet at Garner State Park. After checking email and the weather we continued  on.

We have camped at Garner State Park a couple of times many years ago. Larry had checked in online but we still stopped at the office. He asked the gentleman if he had to stop and he said yes at this park. Some of the other parks you don't. The gentleman was very friendly and Larry thinks he was the same person who checked us in the last time. After getting the trail map and park information we went to our site. Now days when you register online at a Texas State Park there is a picture of each site so you'll know what it looks like. Larry decide on our site because it had a small ramada with a picnic table. The site is very nice. We plan to be here for four nights.

Our cell phone uses Verizon and while it does not have service our hotspot is on AT&T and it does. I'm so excited, now I can play my Solitaire and Mahjong games. I spent the afternoon catching up with the Daily Challenges of Solitaire and Mahjong. I couldn't do the Event games I missed but I could do today's. The event today was Event: Hard Road Mini of 5 games. It took me 22 minutes and 37 seconds, which put me in 6th place in my group.

 

Jumping for joy I have internet

While I played my games Larry read.

I walked around for an hour and a half. During my walk I walked to the CCC Dance Hall, which is now used as a gift shop and ice cream and candy store. In the same area they have a food truck, which is a grill. I walked the Monroe Trail, which runs along the main road from the campground. There was an overlook along the way, I stopped and took pictures. The view was beautiful. When I got to the CCC Dance Hall I walked the Monroe Walkway, that took me around the Dance Hall and had signs about the history of the hall and the CCC. After walking around a little bit I walked back to the campground. I walked around Shady Meadows Camping Area and the River Crossing Camping Area. River Crossing has sites by the Frio River and it has the screened shelters. As I walked around I said hi to the other campers. One lady had a few kids and loved it by the river because the kids played in the river all afternoon. I also met a gentleman who was 78 years old and was very interesting, he's very athletic, he free-style rock climbs, kayaks, sails, hikes and camps in a tent. He also did search and rescue for the National Parks for years. I talked to him about a half hour.

 

The CCC Dance Hall

 

A cardinal I saw while walking

 

One of the shelters

 

The playground in the campground

The Frio River from the overlook

Larry has already finished five books so while I walked around he wrote reviews on the books on Good Reads. Everytime he finishes a book he writes a review. He does this so he can look back to see if he has already read a book or if he liked the book or the author. It helps him decide if he wants to read other books by the same author. He has had a few authors thank him for his review. This always surprises him because he writes the reviews only for himself, while other folks can read the reviews they are short and contain no information on the books story. They simply indicate how well he liked or didn't like the book and what he thought of the authors style and ability to write.

I barbecued burgers for dinner. After dinner I walked around for 45 minutes. I had to stop because it was getting dark. I finished my steps in place at the campsite. I ended up doing 27,000 steps, which put me in 4th place in my group.