McKinney Falls State Park, Austin TX (Nov. 2024)

 McKinney Falls State Park is located in Austin, Texas, and became part of the State Park system in the 1970's. It sits on what was the land of Thomas McKinney a racehorse breeder and entrepreneur who bought the land in 1840. The park contains a part of the Camino Real (King's Highway) and wagon ruts can be seen from when Texas was owned by Spain in the early 1700's. McKinney also farmed/ranched the land and built a grist mill (which the some of the foundation can still be seen) along the creek. He built a large stone house, also of which the ruins still exist. The park also has several native American historical sites that date back to 5,000 years ago.

I've been to this park many times and it is a very popular spot due to its location in Austin, and it's only 10 miles from my house. Weekends and holidays means lots of day visitors and often the park has to turn people away. I've never been able to camp here because the park is always full/completely reserved. There is lots to do as far as hiking, swimming and mountain biking. There are also a couple of Geocaches hidden in the park although I didn't think to look for any, d'oh!

I was happy when a spot opened up at this park and snatched up the reservation quickly. Although, like most state parks, all of the spots will be reserved yet there always seem to be quite a few empty spaces that no one ever utilizes.

Anyway, I had the trailer loaded and hitched up on Thursday so I could duck out of work early Friday. It took me about 20 minutes to get the park and about an hour to get set up. Since it's getting dark now around 5:30 (and since I skipped lunch) I set about grilling some Bison burgers on the portable propane grill. I was really hoping for a wood fire, but the Central Texas area has been under some form of a burn ban or another since last spring. The temperature began dropping shortly after dark (from a high of 73) and the mosquitoes seemed to be enjoying the cooler weather (and enjoying me) so I retreated into the Aliner. It got down into the low 40's overnight, but radiator kept the Aliner comfortable.

Saturday it got up to around 76 degrees and was a picture perfect day. I almost brought my mountain bike but was glad I didn't. Trying to ride on the trails would have been impossible with all of the people out hiking. It wouldn't have been prudent.

My goal for this trip was to do some maintenance on the trailer, complete some chores and try out a few things I have never needed to use, but thought it'd be good to see if they worked before I actually need them. Also something in the vein of "use it or lose it". So, Saturday afternoon after a brief hike (and the required brief nap) I decided to see if the water heater actually worked. I've had the trailer for 2 years and have never used the water heater, or even turned it on. Now I can say that it does work. At first I was concerned because it would light and then turn off and then light again multiple times but eventually it sorted itself out. I let it run long enough to produce hot water and then turned it off.

My other goal was to set up and familiarize myself the camp stove. I've had it for years but have never needed to use it since the camper has a propane stove. I figured it'd be nice to be able to use if I had something I didn't want to cook indoors, like bacon. It works also. In fact I used it to make green chile mac & cheese while I had one of the thickest pork chops you've ever seen grilling away on the portable grill.

Saturday night was very pleasant (in the low 60's) and I didn't need the radiator at all. Sunday morning I packed up and headed home. The park was very busy, lots of people out and about, lots of tent campers taking advantage of the mild weather, lots of RV'ers too. I didn't see very many pop-ups, if any, as I recall. I did see quite a few van campers, more than I normally do.

As usual, random pics to follow...

Pedernales Falls State Park - Texas (Oct 2024)

This is the 3rd weekend of camping in a row. Last weekend was Bastrop SP and the weekend before that was Inks Lake SP.

On Tuesday I was contemplating "what if?" and a ton of campsites came up on Reserve America for Pedernales Falls SP. I was surprised since the park has had limited access all spring & summer due to construction on a water line or sewer line or something. I snagged a spot that was nestled in the trees immediately.

On the way to the park I kept getting a "kerklunk, kerklunk" action every time I slowed down while braking at low speeds. It seems that the trailer brakes were grabbing hard and then releasing as I came up to redlights (or in stop & go traffic). Of course, once I got to the park I only had one-bar of cell service which meant any kind of internet research on the possible causes/solutions was impossible. Naturally I obsessed over the issue all weekend long, but I didn't let it ruin my fun.

Got the park Friday evening just before 5pm and I was happy that the office was still open for check in. In contrast Bastrop SP closes at 4pm(!) which means when you arrive after work (even though you've registered and printed out the passes/receipts) you still have to get up and go the office the next morning and officially check in, which is inconvenient. What's more insulting is that someone comes by bright and early in the morning and leaves a "ticket" on your windshield telling you to come check in as soon as possible... and I'm like you can't check in until 2pm anyway so why not eliminate the morning person and just keep the office open later??

Anyway... got set up in a mostly empty park and grilled some dijon coated chicken breasts for sandwiches along with some black beans, paired with a nice Mexican clara beer (Pacifico).

Got up Saturday morning and went mountain biking, which almost killed me. Egad, I'm out of shape! I was originally planning on riding, then going hiking down to the river to do some exploring. Lol, that would have been ambitious. Instead, after riding Wolf Mountain trail I went back to the camper and took a nap. The park was still pretty empty and I think Reserve America still has a park alert stating that the campsites are closed, yet they are open for reservation. Which is part of the reason I was glad the office was still open when I got there so I could get that added ensurance that I was there legitimately.

Saturday evening I grilled some adult-sized hotdogs (I have a rule that the only time I can eat junk food is when camping), before making use of the camper's outdoor shower, which is frowned upon by the SP, but sometimes you bend the rules.

The interesting thing this time is that there were only 3 RVs on my loop and the rest of the sites that were actually occupied were occupied by people tent-camping, which led to a moral dilemma. My neighbors on each side of me were in tents and with day time temps into the high 80's they had all the flaps open. It cooled down each night into the 60's, but being able to run the AC for the first part of the night was really convenient. So on Saturday with neighbors around should I run the AC, knowing they would be able to hear it droning on very clearly, or should I just open the windows, run an inside fan and be slightly uncomfortable for a couple of hours until the temps dropped? I chose to open the windows and run the inside fan. Next time I might not be so charitable, though. It's like Robert Redford said in the movie Spy Game, "If it comes down to you or them, send flowers."

Sunday morning I broke camp and drove home without using the brake controller. Since my trailer is only like 1,400 lbs dry and probably like 2,000 lbs loaded I think it'd be much of a risk. Wow, the trip home went much smoother. I'm going to research the controller issue, but I'm also leaning towards not using the trailer brakes at all. Thoughts?

Anyway here's some pics:

 

Inks Lake State Park - Burnet, TX (Oct 2024)

 Definitely my most favorite Central Texas State Park, and lots of "firsts" this time out...

First time towing with the new tow vehicle and first time towing where about half of the trip was on an urban freeway. The Frontier pulled the Aliner along without any problem. The speed limit on the toll road was 75 mph and I kept having to slow down to a respectable 70 mph. This was also the first time I got into some of the rolly hills west of Austin. I tried using the tow/haul mode on the frontier but didn't like the way it would downshift and such. Since the Aliner is less than 2,000 pounds, I turned it off. For reference there is a really good youtuber who explains what the tow mode does and when you should use it, etc, and even the Nissan owner's manual refers (vaguely) to it only being necessary when towing/hauling "heavy loads".

This was also the biggest park I've towed the camper to (approximately 200 campsites).

I got to the park around 2pm, got camp set up and rockin' by 3. I had lucked out earlier in the week and found a spot that came open at the last minute - and it was waterfront!

The spot I reserved was at the far end of the park so I expected it to be kind of quiet. I forgot that that end of the park is also where a popular swimming hole/destination (Devil's Watering Hole) is located. So much for quiet. I've always gone to the swimming hole via kayak so it didn't occur to me how much vehicular traffic there would be. It was a constant stream of cars circling around, dropping people off, picking people up, looking for places to park.

The park is well staffed and well patrolled, lots of restrooms & showers. I like that some of the bathhouses have individual "stand alone" shower rooms which are separate from toilets.

There was a burn ban in effect and I confirmed that I could indeed use my portable propane grill and was told it was no problem.

The park is located along a chain of lakes called the Highland Lakes, and the area that the park surrounds is a "no wake" zone which makes it appealing to swimmers, kayakers, and very slow moving boat traffic. There are also some granite boulders, ridges and outcroppings so you have to be very observant if navigating this part of the lake. It is not unusual to see people literally standing up in the middle of this section of the lake.

Friday evening was burgers, tots & beer (not necessarily in that order).

Saturday was breakfast tacos, reading, fishing, leftover burgers, hiking, replacing a water gauge, beer, listening to a podcast while grilling steak & taters, and more beer (literally in that order). The only "face palm" moment was after I got in the shower and then remembered I didn't bring a towel. Yep, I had to dry off with my dirty shirt - it was either that or the clean undies I brought. Maybe next time it should be "shower first, then beer?"

Sunday morning was coffee, pack up camp, and home by 11:30am.

The park was busy and full of life, in a good way. Just the way I remember state parks as a kid.

Anyway... if you've made it this far, or just skipped to the end, here's some random pics:

 

Bastrop State Park - Sept 2024

Another quick weekend getaway…
 

Booked the last remaining site, took a couple of “personal” breaks during the day as I hooked up the trailer, (working from home), and then snuck out of work at 3pm. Got there around 4pm and was surprised there’s a burn ban since it’s rained pretty much all week - and I really planned on grilling both nights for meals. 

Luckily I brought the portable propane grill “just in case” as I always do. Once I got set up the wind started gusting up to 30 mph and then I understood the fire ban.
Temps during Friday & Saturday were in the low 90’s but the wind, as annoying as it can be, really made it bearable when sitting in the shade. Overnight into Sunday morning it got down into the mid 60’s. And then quickly right back up into the 90’s by the afternoon. But it was still the first teasing of fall in central Texas. It will be exactly one month before it really starts to feel like fall though.

 

Turning Camper Table into Counter Space

 In November 2022 I bought an Aliner Ranger 10. It came with two "beds". The bed on the left side is also the dinette and is 40". The bed on the right side is 32". Since no one will actually use the 32" bed for sleeping, and I'll never use the dinette function, I decided to remove the top from the folding table, cut it down to make some additional counter & storage space and place it at the end of what was the 32" bed (next to the stove).

I wanted to keep it as light weight as possible so instead of using plywood I used Spruce, which is what I believe is what is used in the popups for framing of cabinets and stuff. I didn't even know Lowes had a section of this stuff. It's light, strong, easy to cut & drill.

So I made a three-sided box with a lip along the fourth side and attached it to the underside of the cut-down table top with 3 "L" brackets. I put rubber "feet" on the bottom at the corners so the box wouldn't slide around. Then I disassembled a sliding soft-close drawer I got on Amazon (this was the most expensive part of the whole thing) and flipped the brackets upside down so the drawer would hang under something instead of sitting on top of something. Apparently you cannot get an under-mounted drawer if you want something more than a keyboard tray. They just don't make such a thing.

Anyway, once I got the drawer mounted I set the box in place in the corner of the trailer and ran an extension cord along one side so I can plug in appliances and I have a gap on the other side for storing things like a roll of paper towels and a solar battery and such. Too bad the coffee maker wouldn't fit in that spot when traveling. The drawer holds kitchen utensils (spoons, spatula, etc.) and underneath the in big opening I keep paper plates, bowls, cups. So far, everything has stayed in place while under way.

I took the bed cushions out and put two of the dinette cushions on what was the remainder of the bed space to make a bench seat, and I got a Zinus mattress for the other, now permanent, bed.

The best part is that nothing is permanent. I can pick the new counter up and move it, converting this back into a bed on-the-fly if I should ever have to accommodate a guest.

 

First Time Camping in the Aliner (Bastop State Park - March 2022)

 It's hard to believe it has been over 30 years since I've gone camping... how did that happen? Anyway, this was my first trip in a really long time and the first time I've had my own camper. I bought an A-liner at the beginning of November and it has been sitting in the drive way taunting me for the past 4 months. I got to play with it some: outfitting, stocking, learning how to use everything, etc., but nothing beats actually using it. A week ago I just randomly checked the state park web portal for Texas (they use Reserve America) and I noticed a link "go camping this weekend" that lists all of the available spots in various parks for the upcoming weekend. Has that always been there? So, I noticed a park within 30 miles of the house had one spot open and out of my peripheral vision I spotted the words that make any newbie camper owner jump with joy: Pull Through! Needless to say, I reserved that spot as fast as I could.

Getting there went somewhat smoothly, there were a couple of brief moments of panic when I couldn't get the trailer unlocked at first (turns out the Master lock I bought has a non-standard place to line up the numbers for the combo, seriously!?) and then a couple of "am I supposed to turn here, or did I miss it already?" types of things.

Getting set up was much less stressful since I've had practice leveling and setting up the camper, but this was the first time I've hooked it up to Shore Power and water. My space was on the Piney Hill loop and overlooked a ravine of pine trees and scrub.

It was a beautiful weekend. Friday started out blustery with wind gusts up to 30mph and I was very nervous about towing & setting up under those conditions, but by the time I got loaded up and spent an inordinate amount of time futzing with the combo lock the wind had died down completely. I got there around 3pm and had a couple of hours to unwind/unpack and generally figure out how things were going to work. Around 5pm a pack of coyotes start howling, at first I thought it was hikers in the hollow below me messing around, but it was legit. It sounded like quite a few and they seemed closer than I expected them to be (but probably not). Around dark I started the bbq going and cracked open a beer while waiting for the coals to catch. Made some grilled chicken and couscous for supper. That night it got down into the 40's, but the camper was comfortable and only around 4am did I get up and turn on the radiator (I have a 500 watt oil-filled radiator that sits neatly on the counter top and warms the place up nicely.)

Saturday morning was bit chilly, but not cold. I got up and made the obligatory trip to the bath house, dropping the garbage off at the dumpster while I was at it. The spots are arranged so that they are all within easy walking distance of the facilities. I did some easy hiking and actually took the time to hunt for a geocache (first time in 10 years that I've logged a find). I even took a nap later in the day, something I never do. The camper was very comfortable with the windows open and the "fantastic fan" helping to circulate the air. Saturday afternoon I found a shady spot to sit and do some reading, then fired up the charcoal grill again and grilled a steak. I heated up some baked beans inside the camper (because it seemed like the thing to have when camping and eating steak.) The propane stove is hard to finesse and will have things boiling in no time if you aren't paying attention. Saturday night was a repeat of Friday night and when I woke up Sunday morning it was very foggy (and soggy.) I slowly began packing things up and getting ready to leave, deliberately taking about 2 hours to do it while waiting for the fog to burn off. Then I headed home. Only one minor panic situation on the way home when the tire pressure light in my truck started flashing (it's never done that before) on a stretch of road, uphill, under construction, no shoulder - you get the point. So, I just ignored it and it went away. Turns out, I think a sensor battery is dying or something.

Anyway, here are my observations as a complete first time camper owner newbie (in no particular order):
Be prepared to be overwhelmed by the smell of smoke in the evenings (when everyone starts a fire or fires up the charcoal).
My 6 gallon gray water tank filled up a lot faster than I expected, like more than daily.
Why did A-line put the water hookup almost right above the electrical hookup, couldn't a foot or two of separation been a bad thing?
I was too paranoid to leave the water to the camper turned on overnight, and after discovering a small leak under the sink the next day I'm glad I didn't.
Constantly rearranging things to get to other things means my organizational skills need work.
A foot stool with storage came in handy as additional seating, and it was nice to just be able to prop my feet up when chilling out inside.
I need more than two cargo-net-pocket thingies for stuff like remotes, keys, phone, glasses.
Glad I downloaded some podcast and couple of movies to my tablet for some variety during down time (after I already read the bike magazine and a copy of the Austin Chronicle that I brought with me).
Glad I bought a real mattress for the bed instead of trying to sleep on the cushions that came with the camper.
Clip on battery motion lights came in handy when entering/exiting the trailer at night - much more than I had anticipated (it was really dark out there). Same thing can be said the headlight thingy that you strap around your forehead! (Hands free lighting where ever you are looking is incredible).
Get individual boxes of plastic silver ware instead of the combo box. I spent a crazy amount of time fishing around for a fork and coming up with a spoon. I guess I could have taken them out of the box, but then where am I going to put them?
I went thru more towels and washcloths than I thought I'd use in a given day. Ditto for paper towels.
I was amazed at how quiet the campground was. It was full, but there was not any raucous parties, slamming of car doors, loud talking or anything.
I couldn't stop smiling all weekend.

Well, that's it. That was my first trip as a responsible adult. Attached are some of the random things I took pics of.

 

So, I Bought a Camper...

 I've always like camping. We camped in screen shelters and an ancient pop-up camper as kids with the family. We camped in tents and pooped in the woods as boy scouts. Camped at Big Bend in high school. Even camped as a young adult from time to time, but then life has a way of happening and suddenly one day you realize that it has been years since you've gone camping...

It was about 10 years ago that I got the camping bug again. I made plans for a very late Spring weekend trip and started gathering supplies, as I pretty much needed "one of everything".  I got a truck tent (the kind that assembles and attaches to the bed of a pickup truck), an air mattress, sleeping bag, chairs, fan, table, etc. By the time I spent several hundred dollars and several days acquiring everything I needed, the weather had turned and I lost interest. That, and I was embarrassed by the fact that I snored - loudly. There was no way I could have camped at a state park in a tent, mere feet away from others, and not have gotten ran out of town on a rail, or tarred and feathered.

Oddly enough, I didn't know that I snored. In fact, I would have bet money (real money) that I didn't. It wasn't until someone help up a phone and played back a recording of what sounded like a tornado, saying "that is you, snoring" (literally a recording of me) that I began to accept it. After that intervention I made an appointment with a sleep doctor and got tested. Now with the use of a CPAP machine I can once again claim that I don't snore.

However, being tied to a CPAP at night makes camping a bit for difficult logistically. And, at that time portable power stations and solar panels were not around. If you wanted portable power 10 years ago you had to lug a car battery around and have some way to charge it as well. So eventually I got busy with life, and forgot all about camping.

Fast forward to 2022 and I really started getting interested in camping again. I decided I wanted a camper, especially one with air conditioning. My budget and truck towing capacity pretty much limited me to a popup camper. 

I started poking around on Craigslist and other sites looking at used popups, but all of the ones that caught my eye (size, price, location) seemed to have a fundamental flaw in some way or another. Usually it was "selling for friend so I don't have the title" or "everything works except for that big giant hole in the roof" or "yeah there's a couple of rats living in it, but they're really nice rats". 

Finally, I decided to bite the bullet and just get a new one. That way I'd know that everything worked, and I wouldn't be pondering various mystery stains or wondering just how much mold you can inhale and not die.

After checking out various popup campers I stumbled across the A-Frame style of camper. I liked that it folds up, like a popup, but has solid walls instead of canvass. This makes it a lot more insulated, sound proofer-er, and sturdy. Of course, that also means it's twice as expensive as a popup too.

Anyway, I went ahead and purchased a 2022 Aliner Ranger 10 (at the end of 2022) since it was on year-end closeout and discounted by about $5,000 or so. I figured I'd put some money down, finance the rest, keep it a couple of years and then sell it before it lost too much value. Basically, I saw it as a long term rental. (Interesting fact: you cannot purchase a camper with a credit card for some reason.)

I will probably keep it for another year, but I've already started looking into some of the light weight campers that have more room (and a dedicated bathroom!). Of course that would mean buying a bigger truck since I don't think my four cylinder Nissan would be up to the task.

I'll back-post some of my camping trips shortly, but in the meantime here is tour of my 2022 Aliner Ranger 10, lemme know what you think: