Lockhart State Park - Lockhart Texas
Departing the Gulf Coast at Matagorda Bay, we drove 170 miles to central Texas and
Lockhart State Park. Located NE of San Antonio and SE of Austin, LSP. was our base for 6 days. Rather small by some standards, with less than 30 total sites, LSP was a nice place to visit, offering several nice hiking trails, a 9 hole golf course , clean, well maintained facilities and close proximity to the town of Lockhart and the attractions of Central Texas and the Hill Country.
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| oil wells are everywhere near Lockhart |
One of the many places we wished to be sure to include on our travels was San Antonio. Our first full day at LSP found us driving the 50 minutes or so down to San Antonio.
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| Jeep did not get up to the posted speed limit! |
Unlike many urban areas with downtown attractions, San Antonio has numerous, conveniently locatated public parking lots! Several native Texans we spoke with mentioned San Antonio really should be visited. The famous
Riverwalk district and of course the Alamo were tops on the list of destinations! Cooper and CJ were along for the trip, and after parking and letting them acquaint themselves with the city, we placed them back in the Jeep, parked in the shade as it was in the mid 60’s, and walked 3 short blocks to the Alamo
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| Casa Rio was our choice for lunch on the River Walk |
Right in what is now downtown San Antonio, this is a site to see. Almost 300 years old and full of history, it is well preserved and nicely presented to the public. Numerous rooms and areas are available to inspect, along with artifacts from not only the area but the famous struggle that took place on those grounds as well. The
Alamo offers several ways to tour the site, including smart phone guided tours, re-enactors and do it youself . Several videos are played for your education on the events of 1836 and the gift shop will do its best to meet your needs.
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| probably one of the most recognizable buildings in America - The Alamo!! |
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| Monument to Alamo Heroes |
Only a block or so from the front of the Alamo is the famous
Buckhorn Saloon, Teddy Roosevelt came there while training the Rough Riders before going to Cuba during the Spanish American War. We stepped in side to take a peak and headed aone more block to the famous San Antonio Riverwalk. Really cool setting a story below the current street level, this scenic area aflows for several city blocks, offeres narriated boat tours and awesome riverside dinning! We had checked ahead and settled on for lunch.
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| stroll along the River Walk in San Antonio is a must do |
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| visiting the River Walk one sees all types of landscaping |
We followed a nice TexMex lunch with a stroll along the river, then back to the dogs to drive to our next destination, the Spanish missions.
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| Mission Conception - still an active church, almost 300 years later |
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| original wall painting in Mission Conception |
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| Mission San Juan |
About two miles farther South, several of the Spanish missions built at the same time as the Alamo, are still active churches and are open to the public. Interesting to think that when they were built, nothing was between them and the next mission was a couple of miles of open land! We checked the largest one out,
Mission Conception, and then drove to and viewed the outside of the remaining ones and then pointed our grill NE to get back home. A great place to visit and we highly recommend it as a destination.
The next day, Saturday, we headed West to Johnson City, Stonewall and Fredericksburg to experience what they have to offer. However, as we were driving through Lockhart to head over that way, Cindy spied a building that we had to checkout closer - the County Courthouse. Built in the 1890’s, it is most impressive.
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| County Courthouse in Lockhart Texas |
Skirting South fif Austin, we arrived in Johnson City late morning and visited the childhood home of LBJ, his grandparents' first home and the National Historic Site museum dedicated to LBJ. All very interesting.
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| entrance to LBJ Ranch, Stonewall Texas |
Half an hour to the West was Stonewall, and home of the”
Texas Whitehouse” the LBJ Ranch. You do a driving tour around the 9000 acre working ranch, see the rebuilt birth place/guest house, family cemetary and the House that LBJ called home from the early 1950’s until his death in 1973. This is a working ranch with a cattle herd, crops and items such as pecans, jam and salsa for sale in the gift shop. we opted for the crème brulee pecans and a jar of salsa!
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| Texas White House of LBJ |
By now it was 2PM and I had missed my mid day feeding. We had scoped out where to eat of note and selected Cranky Franks Bar B Q in nearby Fredericksburg. The WEB said don't let the appearance turn you away. We did pause a minute, but went in and were thoroughly impressed with the food! Well Done!!!!
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| some very tasty food awaits you inside! |
The next few days were spent doing errands and getting ready for some seroius cold weather. A Winter storm was forecasted to hit even our area starting late Monday night til Wednesday noon. The daytime highs were to be in the mid 20’s and predicted overnight lows Tuesday into Wednesday in the teens!!! This is too cold for too long a time to let the RV plumbing system remain full of water. Cindy and I performed our first RV Winterization!!
Cooper and CJ needed to do their thing several times each day, and with our system winterized, we choose to walk the 50 yards to the Park Restrooms. Cooper took me for a 2 mile Walk Tuesday afternoon after the winds subsided. Brisk to say the least. Wednesday AM it was 17 degrees, but then the temps started climbing as we once again packed up and found our selves heading for a friendly Walmart where we would spend the next night.
we are onsite now but will be in scattered contact til the next post in a week or so!
take care and stay warm
Cooper and CJ
