This was my second trip to Buescher State Park in Smithville, Texas. My first trip to Buescher SP was cut short due to impending thunderstorms (which of course never materialized).
I honestly didn't realize last weekend was Memorial Day weekend until I was checking site availability. I saw a spot come up for Buescher, double checked with boss to confirm that we were indeed off on Monday, and then I reserved Saturday and Sunday nights. I would like to have done three nights but this was the least hassle way of doing it since I still had to pack, run errands and even mow the yard before I could leave.
I left the house around 1pm, got on the freeway, and traffic immediately screeched to a halt. I was concerned about how heavy the holiday traffic was going to be, but this turned out to be an accident instead. It took about 30 minutes to travel a mile or so. If I wasn't towing a trailer I would have exited the freeway and tried an alternate route. Instead I choose to inch along, along with everyone else, until traffic opened up.
Even with the traffic delay I still managed to get the park in pretty good time and had camp set up by about 3:30pm. The park was mostly full when I got there as it seemed everyone else had arrived on Friday, the day before. Interesting enough, when I was checking in at the HQ there was a group of dune buggy enthusiast (like old-school 70's dune buggies) lining up to enter the park. There must have 15 or 20 of queued up. I didn't think to take a picture of them at the time.
It was HOT and HUMID. I was soaking wet all weekend, but I've found that once you accept you are going to sweat it's really not that bad. The high temps were around 98 degrees both days.
On Saturday after setting up camp (this was also my 3rd time backing into a camp site!), I just hung around, did some reading and got the grill going. I don't like the fire pit/grill situation at Buescher since they don't have stand alone grills. The problem with their setup is that the grate on the grill that's part of the fire pit doesn't go low enough to be just above the coals. It's too high, which means you have to put a TON of charcoal in the fire pit, or build a proper fire, just to roast some weenies. Seems like a waste. Fortunately, I happened to have some foil pans and a random grill grate that fit perfectly on one of the pans. I poked some holes in the pan, but a single layer of charcoal down and it made a perfect portable grill.
While the burgers were grilling I made some Velveeta Mac & Cheese (you know, the kind with the liquid cheese packet) and tossed in some diced jalapenos and red onion. I don't normally eat like this, but I've decided that the rules don't apply when camping. After dinner I retreated into the camper (and the AC). Cell reception was much better this time around and I was able to stream some youtube videos before bed.
Sunday morning breakfast was potato, egg & cheese tacos and coffee. BTW, if you like a dark, strong coffee I highly recommend a brand called Mauds and their espresso roast for the Kuerig. Anyway, around mid morning I found my way over to the 25 acre lake and spent a couple of hours fishing. Nothing was happening though. I tried my old faithful tiny torpedo but it was too windy and too weedy for the top water lure, so I switched to a weed-proof plastic worm for less headache but still no luck. My idea of fishing isn't so much about catching stuff as it is just standing by the water, getting bit by bugs and sunburned. Ahh...
After lunch, I decided to break out the mountain bike and go tool around the park. Got in some road miles and some nice woodsy single track miles as well. At one point the single track pops out onto one of the nearby roads and the dialogue in my head goes something like this:
"What a nice landscaped drive, I've never heard of this park before, I wonder what's up here..."
"Oh, wait, is that the theme music from Stranger Things I'm hearing?"
"Run away! Run away!"
So I rode around a bit more, before heading back to camp. This time I used the portable propane grill to heat up the left over Mac & Cheese and grill some hot dogs. I got the really big "man sized" hot dogs that are like $12 a pack and I can honestly say they were worth it. I used hoagie rolls for buns, recommend that as well. The grill can get really hot, but did an awful job on heating up the Mac & Cheese, which was in a skillet. I was trying to use the grill as a grill and as a stove but I just don't think it was made for that as far as the heat distribution goes.
Now that it was getting dark and I certain I was going to be staying inside (and in the AC) I went over to the bath house and used one of the showers there. It was pretty awful. The bath house isn't air conditioned, or even ventilated. The water came out of a pipe in the wall (no shower head) and I stood on a t-shirt the whole time because I didn't want my bare feet touching the floor. It was like something from the movie Midnight Express. Next time, I'm just going to use my camper's outside shower.
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