Saturday, March 3, 2012

DAVIS MOUNTAINS STATE PARK

Friday, March 2 – We were on the road bright and early again today for our trip to Davis Mountains State Park in Davis, TX. The six hour trip took us through some isolated areas of southwest Texas.

drive-to-ft-davis

We saw very few other travelers in this “out-of-the-way” part of the United States. It was interesting how the geography changes as we moved west.

no-one-on-road

We saw about a dozen guys riding bikes. Crazy!
biker

From oil wells, through white crusted cattle land, the Lake Amistad area,

Lake-Amistade

the red foothills of the southwest mountains, and eventually climbing into the Davis Mountains.

approaching-davis-mt

Our campsite is in a valley between two mountain ridges. We are staying two nights and used our Texas State Parks pass which gives us free admission to the parks and half off our second night of camping. We have a water & electric site that cost us $22 for both nights. The sites are large and arranged in pairs. We are fortunate not to have anyone in the neighboring site.

campground

campground-2


Looking to our right.
campground-surroundings

Our nearest neighbor.
campground-surroundings-2

After getting set up, we took Bella out on her long awaited hike. She loves camping in state park type settings so she can get out on her leash and roam.

bella-walking

bella-drinking

After she tired herself out a little, we returned her to the safety of the motor home and went exploring ourselves.

us

We looked at the full hook-up sites available down the road. These site are all pull-through and arranged as pull-offs from the camping loop road. They are all reserved or taken for the weekend. We like our water & electric site better because it is much more secluded.

We then ventured up to the Indian Lodge.

indian-lodge

The mile-high lodge is a rustic inn built in the 1930's by the Civilian Conservation Corps. This full-service hotel is modeled after southwestern Indian pueblos and has adobe walls more than 18 inches thick. You can relax outdoors in one of the many peaceful sitting areas, take a dip in the pool, or dine in comfort at the Black Bear Restaurant. We checked the prices in the restaurant and they are very reasonable.

indian-lodge-2

We then drove the switch-back road to the top of Davis Mountains. Man is it windy up there! Paul had to save little Marsha from being blown away! You could see for miles and miles. We had several great views of our campsite in the valley below.

from-a-top-mt-davis-2

Can you pick out our motorhome?
pick-our-MH

pick-our-MH-3

Zoomed in from far atop the mountain.
pick-our-MH-2

Tomorrow we are heading up to the McDonald Observatory so be sure to check back for some interesting hiking, viewing of the telescopes, and our Night Sky Watch Party!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day