Tuesday 2-8 Mother Neff State Park

Awesome day

We had an awesome day. 

We started the day out by finishing up getting the Minnie ready to go camping. We didn't leave until noon because we only had 25 miles to go. We going to Mother Neff State Park. 

After getting the Minnie ready I played my games. I did the Solitaire and Mahjong Daily Challenges and Event: World Tour Mini of 10 games. It took me 1 hour, 1 minute and 43 seconds, which put me in 17th place in my group.  

A lady from Mother Neff State Park called to verify our reservation. Larry answered her questions and she said when we checked in there would be an envelope waiting for us. In the envelope there was information about the park and maps of the trails and camping area. This was the first time anyone called to verify our reservation. This was very nice.

Mother Neff State Park was one of the first state parks in Texas. When Isabella Neff (Mother) died in 1921 she left a small piece of land to the state. At the time her son was the Governor of Texas. There was no money to develop the land so it sat until the 30's. Mother Neff's son was no longer the governor but he now sat on the board of the Texas State Parks, the CCC was developing many state parks around the country, however, Mother Neff had not given the state enough land to meet their requirements, her son and another neighbor donated enough connecting land to meet their requirement and he was then able to get the CCC to develop the park. 

The developed part of the park is vastly different today from what the CCC developed. Much of the developed part of the park was near the Leon River and due to flooding issues the state eventually closed the campground. About 6 years ago the new campground opened.  

This is the first time we have been to Mother Neff. Larry tried a few times to get in but it was always full. It's has a small campground with only 20 sites, from that there are 2 camp host sites and 2 handicap sites leaving only 16 sites. All sites are full hookup. It a gorgeous camping area. All the sites have concrete pads for your RV, fire ring, grill, electric, water and sewer dumps. The sites are either pull through or back in. We got a pull through. The sites are huge. The hiking trailheads are right at the camping area. The area has a playground that has two sections. One section has an armadillo, tee pee, logs, slide and cabin. This section kids can play in the dirt and explore. The other section has swings, slide and jungle gym.

Cabin in the playground

The old playground

 

 

Armadillo and logs

After setting up the Minnie for a few days we setup our chairs. Then Larry relaxed in his chair and read. I didn't last too long in my chair because I got cold so I went inside and read.

After reading about an hour I decided to go for an hour and a half walk. I hiked the Pond Trail (.6 mile) and Prairie Loop Trail (.6 mile). The first half hour I walked to the pond. When I got there I was surprised the pond had some water in it considering we haven't had much rain. There was a nice bird watching blind. Then I walked the prairie loop trail. The trail was mainly in the open but it did take me through some Juniper trees. I walked the trail to the playground trail. I crossed the park road to get to it. I walked around both sections. While I was in the armadillo section I met a lady and her dog. She had a little girl but she was busy playing in the dirt. After walking around for a half hour I went home. I rested for fifteen minutes and then I went on another walk for an hour. I hiked the pond trail to the prairie loop trail. I walked the prairie loop trail three times and went back to Larry.

 

The pond

 

Hiking trail through the trees

 

The pond bird watching blind

While I did my walking Larry read.

By the time I got back it was dinnertime. We had tacos. After dinner we went for an hour walk. Larry walked with me for a bit. We walked around the camping area. As we were walking we saw deer in the fields. The sun was going down so they were coming out. After dropping Larry off I continued the walk to get some of my steps before it got too dark. I saw a few people walking their dogs and walking around the area. When I got back I made sugar cookies for dessert. 

By the end of the day I did 27,500 steps, which put me in 6th place in my group. We spent the evening reading and relaxing in the Minnie.