Oct. 25

A beautiful cool morning with bright sun and a few clouds in the sky. We decided to travel to the Lost Maples State Park near Vanpool, TX. As usual we took the back roads and saw some beautiful country as well as huge ranch houses located on the sides and tops of the mountains. We saw some Deer as well as Antelope and a covy of quail flew up from along side the road. Very remote only saw a couple of vehicles and a few large ranch entrances. We have decided that you can tell the quality of the home by looking at the entrance gate. Some are most elaboate and others are made like a pickett fence .
When we arrived at Lost Maples we found it crowded with people admiring the Maple trees as they began to turn color. This park is located along the Sabinal River, which is mostly dry except for the area above a small dam whee they tube and swim. At this area, it is mostly spring fed which provides sufficient moisture that this stand of uncommon Uvalde bigtooth maples, relics from the last Ice Age are able to survive. The photo is of a portion of the campground. The trees are just benginning to change color and may not change much depending upon the weather. They need a good frost to bring out the colors and many years that does not happen.
We traveled over the mountains to the west to the town of Leakey, Tx. The road to Leakey is across mountain roads with switchbacks and 10mph curves, a beautiful drive and a fun drive. There were many motorcycles out and it looked as though they were having the ride of their life as they sped around the curves and dissapeared out of sight. What a thrill that must be. Just south of Leakey is Garner State Park. This is a huge park with three camping areas with a total of 513 camping spaces. They are along the banks of the Frio river. There was quite a bit of water in the river, not like most in the area which are completely dry, due to the drought in the area. This is a beautiful park with lots of shade trees and recreational areas as well as hiking trails and water sports.
We returned to Uvalde where we had a late lunch. We found a nice restaurant in hopes of finding some good Briskett, but they did not have any. So we just ordered from the menu and had a nice meal, but not what we had in mind. Next time we want good Briskett we will go to Hondo where we know we can get what we want.
We returned to the park, rested a bit and then went to the rec hall to play Mexican Train until after 9pm. A great day to travel and just be out in the fresh air and take in the beautiful scenery and wonders of Nature.