After eight nights in the Texas Hill Country, we drove southeast into the Texas Coastal Planes. During our stay in Hill Country, we drove into San Antonio a bunch of times to play dominoes with friends, see doctors, get our teeth cleaned and get the dog’s their annual shots at the veterinarian. Of the nine days in Guadalupe State Park, we needed to be in San Antonio on five of those days. The good news is we learned new ways to get into San Antonio avoiding US-281 which is currently under some serious construction north of FM-1604.
I did manage not to get lost again (Getting Lost blog post). Instead of walking the Painted Bunting Trail loop counter-clockwise starting from the southwestern trail head, I walked the loop clockwise starting from the northeastern trail head. The change in perspective made it abundantly clear where I turned onto the Prairie Trail. So instead of getting lost and having a three hour hike, on Sunday I managed to stay found and had a two hour hike instead.
Monday, we drove into San Antonio. I had a doctor appointment Monday morning. After stopping at the bank, we went Good Time Charlie’s for lunch. Neither of us has been to Good Time Charlie’s even though one or both of us drove past this restaurant every workday for nearly 20 years.
I had the chicken fingers.
GTC’s feels like a neighborhood sports bar. Both the service and food are great. Prices are reasonable. I’ll be eating here again.
Tuesday afternoon, Linda and I took the dogs on a hike starting at the northeastern Painted Bunting trail head. Walking north, we passed the Live Oak Trail on our right and continued to the River Overlook Trail.
Walking north, we hoped to see sweeping views of the Guadalupe River from the bluffs.
We were disappointed. Dense brush grows along the top of the bluff. No way to see the river views without getting out to the edge of the bluff. Bluffs are like cliffs. Getting close to the edge is dangerous and the drop to the river is 150 plus feet in places. Also, rivers often cut into the bluffs over time carving out the bluff leaving the bluff as an overhang. So even if I could have safely reached the edge of the cliff, looking straight down I couldn’t easily see the river bank below.
After running a bunch of errands Wednesday, we packed up our campsite, finishing just before dark. Rain was forecast for Wednesday night through Thursday.
Thursday morning, we hitched the Jeep and headed off in the rain for our next park.
Hope to see you on the road ahead!