http://www.blogger.com/html?blogID=4316350785635987648 Cave Dwellings: Crane’s Mill virgins…
Cave Dwellings

Buckhorn Creek, Lake O' The Pines, Jefferson, TX

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Crane’s Mill virgins…

  The Cave Dwellers are trying a new Army Corps park on the West side of Canyon Lake, North of San Antonio.  Usually we stay at Potter’s Creek, but in 2010, this “primitive” park put in some water and electric sites, new pads, 50 AMP just 3 miles North of the little town of Startzville, TX.  We can look across the lake and see Potter’s Creek waaaaay in the distance.  Actually, I really like this park.  It is smaller than Potter’s Creek, just about 30 RV sites and maybe 40 something tent sites.  The tent sites are still closed for the Winter and will probably open March 1st.

101_5381 101_5380

The sites are nice and clean with covered picnic table and firepit.  The weather on the lake can be windy, but the temps have been in the 70-80 area. I can live with that! We also can gather firewood here, and although there aren’t as many trees as Potter’s Creek, MacGyver managed to manhandle a big piece of wood from down by the lake…

2014-02-21 12.20.06 2014-02-19 18.20.08

When MacGyver puts on shorts it’s GOT  to be warm out!! There is a story here…Usually I do all the packing for our trip…This year we really weren’t sure we were even going to be able to make it this  year due to my “medical” dilemma.  When I got the “all clear”, we were frantically loading all the stuff into the Hiker.  Den said he would help me by picking all of his clothes out himself and hauling them out..This really WAS  big  help.  Well, after being on the road about 2 weeks, he opened his “shorts” drawer…and NADA! ZIP! ZILCH!..NO SHORTS…(not that we were going to wear them any time soon…Texas was in the deep freeze most of Dec and Jan too!)..Oh, well, that’s what they make WalMarts for, right?..”Hey Donna, put “camo shorts” on your grocery list!!”…and so it goes.

2014-02-20 17.12.54 2014-02-20 17.20.52

It was a tad windy lake side, so MacGyver moved our Smokey Joe behind our slide and cooked our chicken wings…YUMMOLISCIOUS!!

101_5384 101_5385 101_5386

Our site is right next to a trail down to the lake, and we are basically parked right where the Guadalupe River enters Canyon Lake.  I found some strange beans hanging from lots of little trees on that trail…Have NO idea what they are…

101_5388 101_5391 101_5392

This ground is very hard! Lots of limestone everywhere, making it NOT easy to tie down the awning, but tie it down Dennis did! With this wind, that is a must…Plus, I like it out because it makes me feel like we have a front porch like we do at our house.  There is a large marina just a mile walk from here, Crane’s Mill Marina…

101_5394 101_5395 101_5396

Lots of nice boats here, and they have a marina store.  Right photo, notice the new home being built across the inlet…Pretty fancy homes here on the lake! Guess I gotta cross Canyon Lake off my list of places we should live….Den and I would be the “poor cousins” no one wants to acknowledge!

We will be here until March 5th, so we have lots of time to do some driving trips. The town of Startzville  is small, but it has some nice amenities…Laundry, Grocery Store,  Hardware Store, VFW, a couple restaurants and 2 pizza joints…ALSO, there is a neat little “neighborhood beer bar” just outside the park entrance..(convenient, no?)…We haven’t been there yet, but it looks NOT upscale, and every time we drive by it, the doors are thrown wide open..THIS is a good sign that I don’t have to put on my tight jeans, cowboy boots and make-up to fit in! I will definitely post when we do visit, and rest assured we will…IT’S A BEER BAR!!!

MacGyver has been busy doing little things around the Hiker that needed to be done.  He took apart one of our chairs that was clicking and grating when you rocked in it..and,  yes, he fixed it. Also, he fixed the flat tire on my bike , and put air in our truck spare and the Hiker spare…Both were nearly flat…He has adjusted a slide or two, and this afternoon as I was blogging, I thought I heard feet on our Hiker roof…and they didn’t sound like a 300 lb Santa…Yep, Dennis was wandering on the Hiker roof, and found that one of our rubbers on the big slide is torn part way…guess that means researching online how to put new slide rubbers on…sheesh!

101_5399101_5400 101_5401

Right down from us there is a very cool classic motorhome parked..I never see anyone around, so I tried to be discreet about my photo..just in case the owners were lurking inside watching the “crazy lady” with her camera…

2014-02-21 08.57.08What we have here is called a "Wanderlodge".  This was built by Blue Bird, from 1963 to 2009, and was quite the luxury bus…Actually, OLD MacGyver tells me that Blue Bird made public buses..Sometimes being married to someone slightly older has it’s advantages…I think he can remember who originally made the covered wagons too…(OK, that was mean..)This RV had no slides and I haven’t seen any live person around to ask what year it is..I do know that the newer ones did have slides…Notice  how shiny it is!!

Well, today is a little cloudy and I think I see a trip to the neighborhood beer bar, followed by a Fox’s Den pizza…It’s Saturday, after all, and you KNOW what that means…DATE NIGHT! This date will be “camper casual” for me…old lady jeans, sneakers, throw on a clean T-shirt and bra, and I’m good to go!! ;-) 

14 comments:

  1. Camper casual for date night sounds like my kind of date. Jim very seldom puts on jeans. He almost lives in shorts year round.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have trouble getting Den's white skinny legs into shorts...

      Delete
  2. I just love that place. Have you taken any photos of the Egyptian Geese? There's a couple that will feed in the center of the campground sometimes not far from that Blue Bird. Quite interesting. Once my brain starts functioning (pls refrain) I will work on a blog post featuring some photos of the handsome couple. Hope you're enjoying that place as much as we did :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, they are here...They are just about the ugliest "ducklings/geese" I have ever seen...Where IS my wine buried?

      Delete
  3. Isn't that a caterpillar brown bean bush?? ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Did you just really ask me that???? I have no idea...but there are tons of them here~~! I hung out my bird and hummer feeder and haven't had a bird yet...What happened to all the birds??? I hear them, but rarely see them!

      Delete
  4. Replies
    1. It's very nice...and convenient to laundry and groceries...

      Delete
  5. Those chicken wings on the grill looked terrific. Glad to see you're still getting out and about for those beverages now and again.

    Looks like you've found another gem.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yep, this park is just great. At least we don't have to drive 30 miles for groceries...and there is a laundry right in town!

      Delete
  6. We are thinking about applying to campground host there next year. The area looks really nice and kinda remote. Thanks for the blog posts to inspire us. Becki

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Remote is the word...The road that goes through Startzville ends here at the park...literally!..Even at that, Startzville has a nice laundry and the HEB is only 11 miles away...

      Delete
  7. I had no idea that campground was there. I have a sister in Spring Branch so it wouldn't be too far. Thanks for the info.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jan, it use to be just primitive tent camping..They remodeled it in 2010 and now have 30 W & E sites..all site specific reservable!!

      Delete