Onward and Upward (Northwest)

From the Abilene area I traveled northwest through Lubbock to the small Texas town of Littlefield, birthplace of country music legend, Waylon Jennings.  In his honor the town named a park (and a lot of other stuff) after Waylon.

Ahh the magic four letter word.....Free.

One of the ways small towns like Littlefield entice RVers from driving straight through their city limits is to set up RV parks with free hookups, hoping that during the time their guests are parked there the guests will also engage in economic activity like grocery shopping or dining in restaurants.  That's what Waylon Jennings RV Park is and from what I observed during my short stay there the "enticement" works.

June 15, 1937 - February 13, 2002

The RV park itself is part of a larger park complex that has multiple softball fields and the largest horseshoe setup I've ever seen.

A sign said Waylon threw the inaugural horseshoe when the park opened.

 

The camp spots and the electricity are free but there is a metal contribution box on a pole in the RV area where visitors can defray the city's costs somewhat, I wrote the city of Littlefield a check for $10 and slipped it through the boxes slot, it was a good deal!  Even though the park is on the main north/south highway through Littlefield traffic noise wasn't really a problem.  The spaces are on a first come basis so I wouldn't advise trying for one on a Friday evening but it's a convenient, cost-effective stop if you're heading northwest out of Lubbock, say.  My goal is to get back up into Colorado so I'll keep moving north and west.

Thanks for reading!

The death of a lake

When I traveled to Abilene State Park, 20 miles south of Abilene, TX I thought I'd be doing another campground review post.  The park was adjacent to the big, dam created, Lake Abilene and I envisioned lots of pictures of fishing and boating taking place on the water.  Unfortunately Texas, and much of the western US, has been suffering through a historic drought for much of the last 5 years and I was prepared to see reduced water levels in Lake Abilene, but I wasn't prepared for this.

Lake Abilene taken not far from where the "shore" would be.

After proceeding to my campsite within Abilene State park I had wondered why I, with the exception of one other camper, had the campground to myself, riding my bike up the hill to the lake pretty much answered that one.

A little strip of water where a big lake once was.

Incongruously, the official Abilene State Park map that is given to new arrivals still shows a diagram of the lake as if it was full and even proscribes the daily limits on various fish that are present (I was only allowed 5 large mouth bass per day!) or I should say WERE present.

No kidding!

During "normal" rainfall years I believe Abilene State Park with it's access to Lake Abilene would be one of the nicer parks in the Texas state system but, after seeing the heartbreaking state of the lake I couldn't give a fair campground review and I stayed just the two nights I had paid for site unseen.  Driving past many of the churches in the Abilene area you see "Pray for rain." on many of the signs in front of the churches.  I'll second that.

Thanks for reading!

Campground Review: Lake Somerville State Park - Birch Creek Unit

Travel 10 miles northwest from Brenham, TX to Somerville and you'll be within reach of one of the jewels of the Texas State Park system, Lake Somerville State Park.  Somerville Lake was created in 1967 by the US Army Corps of Engineers damming Yegua Creek in the Brazos River basin.

The beach along Somerville Lake.

The maximum depth of the lake is listed as 38 feet but with the drought was probably lower than this during my visit to the park but, at 11,500 acres it's a pretty impressive body of inland water.  The state park is along the northern shore of the lake and had 120 RV campsites separated into three camp areas.  I stayed in the Yaupon Camping Area and totally lucked out when the ranger offered me Site 30 which she explained was "Right on the lake."  Score!

The Tank nestled under the trees at Site 30--lake in the background.

Here's the campground data sheet:

Hookups:                                20, 30, 50 amp, water

Fire ring:                                  yes

Water Access:                         yes

Dump station:                          yes

WiFi:                                       no

Level sites:                              most are, the ones near the lake slope towards the water

Laundry:                                  no

Store:                                      no

Pool:                                       no

Shade:                                     yes

Verizon reception:                   3g, 3 bars

Millenicom reception:              3 out of 4 bars

Cost:                                       $15 per night

I originally had only intended to stay two nights at the park but after setting up camp and seeing what a prime site I was in I jumped on Wally the Mountain Bike and pedaled the mile and a half back to the ranger station and signed up for two additional days.

The trail to the lake from Site 30.

There are over 20 miles of hiking and biking trails within Lake Somerville, many paralleling the lake with the added Spring bonus of beautiful flowers.

The Lake Trail parallels the beach for much of it's length.

 

It wasn't named Bluebonnet Trail but it could have been.

Here's a closer view.

Bluebonnets!

 Did someone ask what the sunrise over Somerville Lake looked like?

Sometimes being an early riser has it's rewards!

After close to a year on the road I've stayed at a good portion of the Texas State Park system and I'll put Lake Somerville State Park right up there with the best, particularly if you're interested in water activities like boating, fishing or just zoning out on the beach.  It fills up pretty quickly but if you can, request either Site 30 like I had or it's adjacent Site 29 which has a similar lake access, you'll love it!

Thanks for reading!