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| Who the heck calls it: "microsleep"? |
I love naps. Intermissions. A snooze. A respite. Camping provides plenty of opportunities to do just that: pause. Not that you ever need a *reason* to take a nap, but this past week RDB drove from Houston to Dallas to Alabama and back (and I just drove to Dallas). The week before we terminated a 2-month-long saga into real estate - and I won't go into the details, but: 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 1.2 acres, 3 negotiations with the seller, 2 different lenders, 2 appraisals that came in under value, 14 thousand documents signed and sent back and forth, one pool table, lift and John Deere mower, and a partridge in a pear tree....
Anywho, back to camping.
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| Yes, that is our F250 sans tailgate. Somebody stole it in June. Add that to the list... |
We took a short trip over to
Steven F. Austin State Park in San Felipe. It was just a little over an hour from the house, we were able to get there early enough to have a decent choice of spots. Headquarters at this campground has gone high-tech: they've got a huge LCD TV behind the counter showing what spots are taken and what's available. I walked in and almost immediately the Ranger said: "Wrong shirt!" - I was wearing my Brazos Bend SP shirt. Oops!
The campground is beautiful kept - lots of natural area between each spot, creating privacy. Huge old mature trees, and lots of moss/air plants. We had deer in our site both mornings. It was fun to watch Diesel who was completely oblivious to them until they sprang off in another direction. Needless to say, he's no hunting dog.
Saturday morning we got up (late) and dropped in at the San Felipe De Austin historical site (its less than a block north of Park Rd 38). This was the location where Steven F Austin started his colony in 1823. As RDB and I camp across the southern part of Texas, it's amazing to learn about the tumultuous times that surrounded our State's birth:
"After the fall of the Alamo, Gen. Sam Houston's army
retreated through San Felipe de Austin. On March 30, 1836, the small garrison
remaining at San Felipe to defend the Brazos crossing ordered the town
evacuated and then burned it to the ground to keep it from falling into the
hands of the advancing Mexican army. The terrified residents hastily gathered
what few belongings they could carry before fleeing eastward during the
incident known as the Runaway Scrape. " -http://www.visitsanfelipedeaustin.com/
A little later, we made our way over to Sealy (two exits west on I-10). They were hosting their 6th annual
Sealy-bration, with live music, a BBQ cook-off, tractor parade and car show.
Ye-haw! We missed the tractor parade, and I almost gave up after realizing parking the truck was going to be such a task, but then we found a spot and low-and-behold, it was right in front of where all the tractors were parked and the car show was being held!
We wandered around for a bit, but with the heat and humidity we called it quits pretty quickly and went back to the camper for a nap (or two. Or perhaps three, but who's counting?)
I made cast-iron queso for dinner (recipe coming shortly) and we turned in after a little bit of play time with Diesel outside once the sun went down - even though it was still 90* after sunset. The unfortunate thing about camping in Texas, in the middle of July, is that it's darn near too hot - even with the A/C and hard sides - to bear the heat of the day. Besides, that's just another reason (not that you need one) to take a seista!
This will probably be our last (and only) trip of the summer. But soon enough, we'll be right back in the swing of things!
We were in site #1 at
Steven F. Austin State Park - an easy pull-thru, a few trees perfectly spaced for a hammock, and facing out - so you're seeing the swing-set and the road heading in to the rest of the campsites. It's right across from the camp hosts (who happen to share my maiden name!) but it's a hike to the nearest facilities.
For more camping photos, like this cute one of our napping pup, go
here.
