Planning the future - Part 1

While we’ve been home the last couple of weeks we have visited several state parks in the area for possible future volunteer adventures.  For now we want to be in Texas during the winter months.  We’ve spent three winters in South Texas (Santa Ana 1 year, Laguna Atascosa 2 years).  This coming year we want something a little different.

There are many, many, many state parks in the Texas Hill Country!  Mark and I both grew up in Austin and have visited these parks several times, some of them even before they were designated a state park.

I always thought it was strange to meet a volunteer in an area and find out they lived close to the area they were volunteering at.  Now, I understand it completely.  We bought our little place in Medina in the Hill Country and love it.  So, why not volunteer close to a place that you absolutely love? 

We don’t need or ask for much from our volunteer assignments but there are a few essentials.  Cell phone coverage and internet are must haves.  Not having to drive over an hour to go to the grocery store is a bonus but not a deal breaker.

Our first stop was Inks Lake State Park.  Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures of this beautiful park.  The pictures below are off the internet.

 

 Inks Lake SP is the second busiest park in the Texas Parks and Wildlife system.  We stopped in to say to Hi to the volunteer coordinator.  We knew him from when he was working at LBJ state park the same time we were volunteers there.  We thought we would just drop in for a minute but he loaded us up in his truck and drove us all over the park. 

There are lots of things to do here.  Camping, backpacking, hiking, swimming, boating, water skiing, scuba diving, fishing.  The lake stays at a constant level so the drought does not affect it.  There are tours and guided activities, nature walks, geology hikes, canoe tours to the Devil’s Waterhole.  The park has paddle boats, canoes, and 1-2 person kayaks.  There are about 350 RV/tent sites and 22 rental cabins.  There is also a huge volunteer program here with 22 RV pads, a very active Friends group and the local Master Naturalist group. 

Cabins for rent

 

Devil's Sinkhole swimming area

Tomorrow:  Enchanted Rock State Natural Area.