River's Bend

Here at the River's Bend, the river we are camped beside is the San Marcos, a pretty river that flows only 75 miles before it joins the Guadalupe River to flow into the Gulf of Mexico.

We are just a little downstream from a dam on the river at Luling, Texas. You may wonder how it happened that we stopped for a couple of days in Luling, Texas. Luling is between two state parks, Palmetto, known for it hiking trails, and Lockhart, adjacent to a golf course. Unfortunately, neither park has cell service.

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Luling is a little town of about 5000 people halfway between the two (and Luling has cell service). Except for the fact that it is crisscrossed with state highways and edged with the interstate, I think Luling would be a great little town to live in. The people here boast of their oil wells and watermelons. They decorate oil well pumps and I don't know what they do to watermelons. Eat them? You think?

This area with its big cottonwood trees reminds me of the Yellowstone River in eastern Montana, although the San Marcos is much smaller. The prairie grass and riverbanks edged with huge old cottonwoods look like familiar pieces of my adolescence.

The San Marcos is an unusual turquoise blue color that reminds me of Lake Louise in Banff National Park. Her color comes from glacial silt, not likely true of San Marcos.

With lots of open space, Chorro had an opportunity to run off his leash today. He is that little white dot moving away so rapidly that I wondered if I would ever see him again. I need to make time in the morning to let him run like that again, he soooo enjoys it.

Tonight I am making plans to meet my friends in San Antonio tomorrow. I am looking forward to hugs and face-to-face smiles.

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And tomorrow is a new day.