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:
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