Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, 2/9/14

8. Part 2 of Ginsie's birthday weekend - we hiked up, then bouldered down the side, walked around to Moss Lake and the primitive camping areas, and back out to the tent camping area.  Enchanted Rock is a giant pink granite dome 425 feet tall.  The park is a great place to try out backpacking, as the sites are about a mile away from the parking area.  The tent area is in a beautiful meadow.  If visiting for the day, it's recommended that you arrive pretty early because there are limited numbers of parking spaces and this is a very popular park.

Fredericksburg is a wonderful touristy town, with tons of shops, cafes, hotels, the Admiral Nimitz Museum and 2 interesting courthouses. During the winter holidays, Fredericksburg lights up its central park area.  Highway 290 east of Fredericksburg is known for its ever-increasing number of wineries and vineyards.  Texas wine was recently called "the best wine you'll never drink" by the New York Times because we Texans drink it all here in state and there's nothing left to ship out!  The county airport operates a wonderful diner and hotel and there are 2 breweries in town as well.

Enchanted Rock is also close to Llano, another county seat.  The courthouse is beautiful, the old jail is still nearby, it's a Main Street City that has several restaurants and antique shops on and around its square.  There are also at least 2 wineries outside of town and great barbecue too.

"The Rock" 

Looking back up the side we skittered down.

Old Tunnel State Park, 2/8/14

7. This is a day-use park.  We brought our friend Ginsie along on her birthday weekend as a surprise.  It's a short walk down the hill to the old railroad tunnel, which is now a protected bat colony (warm months).  It's fenced off to discourage people from entering, if the smell didn't already.

View from the top.

View from outside the tunnel.

Bastrop State Park, 2/1/14 - 2/2/14

6. This was another weekend where we just needed one night away.  Once we got to our site, #55, we set up and took the dogs on a long hike through where the pines used to be (gone due to the 2011 wildfires).  The area where our site was, Copperas Cove, was the only camping area that still had trees.  Piney Hill was pretty barren.  Bastrop SP has lovely-looking cabins though, especially #1-5 (we only saw the outside, not inside), 12 and 14, most of which were built by the CCC in the 1930's.  There are still trees by the cabins too.  There is a swimming pool, also built by the CCC.  The historic golf course is no longer in operation, currently awaiting new operators.  In May 2015, floods damaged the dam to the main lake and caused it to drain, so fishing may not be possible right now.
Bastrop is a lovely town, with a beautiful courthouse.  There are numerous shops, cafes, parks, and access to the Colorado River as well.

Saplings planted after the wildfires of 2011. 

Our Scampsite #55. 

Goose Island State Park, 11/27/13 - 12/1/13

5. Thanksgiving at the Coast!  Mom and Dad drove out from Colorado in their camper van and we all camped at Goose Island for the holiday.  We had site #142, they had 143 right next to us. Aaron's parents, brother and sister-in-law also drove down, but they opted for a B&B in Rockport instead.  We walked all over the park - it was the first one I'd noticed bird blinds and feeding areas set up specifically for birdwatching!  Very cool!  Some of the sites are on the water - more like a spit of land just wide enough for 2 rows of RV's, but ours was inland, in the trees.  Goose Island has wonderful, big oak trees, not to mention The Big Tree nearby.  It can be buggy in the summer though, according to my parents' memories!   The CCC used the beach shells to pave roads and built the Concession Building with them from 1934-35.  They also took the first steps towards fencing and protecting the Big Tree.
While at Goose Island, we took full advantage of the area: we went to Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Rockport, Fulton & Port Aransas.  We had Thanksgiving dinner at The Roosevelt at Tarpon Inn (Port Aransas), and also ate at Moondog, Shemp's and Cheryl's On The Bay.  We went to a Larry Joe Taylor concert at Third Coast Music in Port Aransas and he was wonderful.  In Fulton, we did the birding boat tour and saw Whooping Cranes (wow!) and also visited the Maritime Museum.  There's so much to do in the area and Goose Island is such a lovely park.

Sunset at Goose Island.

The Big Tree.

Scampsite 142. 

Whooping Cranes from our boat.  

Lockhart State Park, 9/15/13 - 9/16/13

4. We needed a quick getaway, this park is perfectly situated from Austin!  Our friends even came to our site and the 4 of us went into Lockhart for world-famous BBQ.  We took it all back to our Scampsite to eat it.   We also hiked all over the park, including up to the recreation hall at the top of the hill, which was built by the CCC in 1933.  There are only 20 sites, so it's a pretty small park, but it does boast the only 9-hole golf course entirely run by Texas Parks and Wildlife!  The creek was pretty dry when we were there.  There is also a swimming pool, open Memorial Day through Labor Day, a basketball court, sand volleyball court and several short trails.   Scampsite #15.
Lockhart is a really cute town, worthy of a visit other than for the BBQ.  The courthouse is lovely and they do holiday tours in the winter.  The square has nice shops and cafes.

Scampsite 15.

CCC Recreation Hall.  

Picnic area at CCC Recreation Hall.

Golf course.

Cedar Hill State Park, 8/8/13 - 8/10/13

3. This park is actually only 10 miles southwest of Dallas and not far from neighborhoods!  August was very slow, as it was also very hot.  But there's a lake that we spent a lot of time in - kayaked with the dogs and swam when we got too hot.  We forgot the dogs' food (oops - we always forget something!) and had to go back into town for some.  Aaron fished a bit and caught a catfish.  We went to a farm that's in the middle of the park, called Penn Farm, which was really cool.  We hiked to the overlook which afforded a nice view.  Our site, #270, was lovely - most of the sites are pretty private, not all are on the water.  Many close to the water have a steep drop-off into the water.  Ants were a big problem - they didn't bite, but they were all over inside our trailer, probably looking for water.  They disappeared once we left the park.

Our site from the paved pad, #270.

Scampsite 270.

View of Joe Pool Lake from our site.

View of our site.

Penn Farm.

Penn Farm.

View of Joe Pool Lake from the observation deck.

Tyler State Park, 7/10 - 12/13

2. Our first Texas state park with our Scamp!  We arrived in time for Aaron to do some fishing and make dinner.   This park is GORGEOUS and has great facilities!  The lake is too small for high-powered boats, but is perfect for canoeing (rentals available), fishing and swimming; the dam was built in the late 1930's by the CCC.  The CCC was also responsible for building bridges, the bathhouse, boathouse, concession, dance pavilion and caretaker's home.  Tent sites are lovely, there are 2 dedicated RV areas, 1 tent area, 1 mixed area.  There are lots of group picnic areas, a screened cabin area and a lighted fishing pier.  There are extensive mountain bike trails too.  We walked our dogs around the whole lake and stopped to swim a lot.  Scampsite #23.

The town of Tyler has a lot to do also: there is the Apache Drive-In movie theater, a Carnegie library, several disc golf courses, the Tyler Municipal Rose Garden and Museum and its Rose Fest every fall.  It is a Main Street City and the county airport still operates an airport cafe.

View from our Scampsite.  

Scampsite 23.

Lake Tyler at sunset.

Tent sites. 

Fishing pier.

RV sites. 

Lake Somerville, Nails Creek Unit, 5/17/13 - 5/19/13

Our first official State Park camping trip!!  It was Aaron's birthday weekend, so Justin and Evie joined us on Friday afternoon at the park.  Our campsite was number 28.  We walked the lakeshore, the Nails Creek Trail, Justin and Aaron fished.  Justin and Evie were only able to stay one night, so Saturday Aaron and I were on our own.  It turned into a brutally hot day and our campsite was in full sun, so we explored the local sights in Dime Box and Burton in the air-conditioned comfort of our car.  There wasn't much to see or do in Dime Box, but Burton was really cute and we found a little store for cold cokes.  Sunday we left.

Lake Somerville is close to Brenham which has a lovely little courthouse in the middle of its square, along with several delicious restaurants, cute shops and the historic Ant Street Inn.  There are several wineries nearby, the Blue Bell ice cream factory, and the county airport still operates an airport cafe.

Campsite 28.

Lake Somerville

Lake Somerville at sunset.

Texas State Parks and Travel Tour Overview

Welcome!  We are Anne Cornell Mason and Aaron Mason and we live in Austin, Texas.  In November 2010, we met (for the second time, but that's another story) online and started seeing each other.  In December of 2010, the city of Austin cancelled it's annual Trail of Lights.  I heard on the radio about a nearby town that has a lovely lights trail in December so I suggested it to Aaron.  We drove out to La Grange, Texas, to view the lights.  We got there a little early, while it was still daylight, and ended up wandering into the county courthouse, which was beautifully decorated for Christmas.  While enjoying the courthouse, I mentioned to Aaron that my parents had started visiting all 254 county courthouses in Texas, but had moved to Colorado before they were finished.  He said, "That sounds like fun.  Let's do that."  And so began our epic courtship while traveling around Texas, searching out rural courthouses, and getting to know each other in the space of a car.  After 1 year, Aaron proposed to me and we added finding a courthouse in which to get married to our project.  2 years later, almost to the day, we finished visiting all 254 Texas county courthouses.  March 11, 2013, we got married in the Ellis County courthouse in Waxahachie, which was documented by KFAA news in Dallas.  The Texas Senate and House both recognized us as the Official Courthouse Couple.   All of this is documented in our first blog, TexasCourthouseTour.blogger.com.

For our wedding present, we "registered" for a small RV trailer from Scamp.  Our 13 foot Scamp is the motivation for this, our newest project, to visit all of the Texas State Parks.   This project will take us a lot longer since we intend to experience each state park to its fullest extent.  We won't visit several in a day as we did with the courthouses.  When possible, we will camp overnight, preferably in our Scamp.  We will seek out the Civilian Conservation Corps buildings and features, hike the trails, fish the lakes, etc.  However, our experience has taught us that weather doesn't always cooperate with plans, so we will list additional places to go and things to do in case of inclement weather.

Happy travels!