Ursula Minor Rumbles to McKinney Falls

Poor Ursula. It's always something with her. We put her in the shop at the place where we bought her to get her leveling system repaired after our difficulty on New Year's weekend. She's still in there, which is why there was not a lot of travel blogging in January. Her parts are on order, so there's hope we get out in February.

You may recall that we planned a little winter campout with our friends last time we were at Inks Lake. We all wanted to go to McKinney Falls, since it's right by the Austin airport and not too far to go, plus we all had great memories of our previous trips there. It got put off one week, because we had some important visitor some talk about our church's new ministerial search last week. We had hoped Ursula would be fixed in time, but, no. So, by gosh, we would not be deterred! We decided to rent a small RV from the place near our house where we rented the first RV we tried out a couple of years ago. Lee dubbed it Ursula Minor. Of course, it did not go totally smoothly...Lee had trouble getting our insurance agency to cough up proof we had adequate insurance, the cleaning lady sweetly put away all the food products Lee had set out to take with us...but we made it!

We got the same campsite we did in July, but notice the greenness of it!

I had to take my MINI, Ethel, because I had a Texas Choral Consort rehearsal scheduled for Saturday morning. So, I packed all my knitting, reading, music clothing and games—pretty much everything we could think of to bring into Ethel, and I left as soon as I could after work. I'd worked extra a couple of days last week so I could leave early on Friday, but our big weekly meeting had been rescheduled, so I did not get out until 4 pm. Leaving at 4 pm made the trip to McKinney Falls State Park twice as long as it would have been even a half hour earlier. Plus Ethel's GPS took me an odd way. In any case, as you can see, both Lee and I made it!

The rented RV (Ursula Minor) and Ursula at our site.

By the time I got there, both my other friends were already there. Our frequent co-traveler, Jennifer, brought her extra cute little pop-up camper. She loves it very much. She met it at McKinney Falls on a trip with Texas Outdoor Women Network (I think?) when someone else owned it. A few years later, that woman decided to sell it and get something bigger, so Jennifer told her husband THAT is what she wanted for her birthday. And now she has it! It tows behind her mid-sized SUV and is easy for her to set up all by herself..

Jennifer's camper

I admire that she can go off and camp on her own whenever she wants!
Also, Janet brought her pop-up camper, which she got used as well. It got here quite successfully, towed by her kind boyfriend. Unfortunately, his truck broke in a big way after he got back home...you'll have to read on to see how that resolves! We were joined by Lindy, who stayed with Janet, and 5 was a nice number of co-campers.

Lindy is knitting, and you can see Ursula Minor and Ethel in the background.

Note the green grass. Last time we were here was the end of July. There was no green grass.It's incredibly green there right now. And there is a lot of debris around from flooding last week—this area had 6 inches of rain over one night! The weather in Texas sure changes rapidly.

Speaking of weather, it was a cloudy/rainy weekend. What a nice change to be chased indoors from rain rather than heat! Though we did spend much of the weekend saying, "I need a...oh, that's in Ursula," we at least remembered our games, so having to go inside for a bit wasn't a total loss. I'd brought Super Scrabble. Let me telll you, that's a winner. With more squares and letters, it makes for a more fun time with larger groups of players.

Friday, night, though, we just sat around and talked until we were all talked out. I had to get up early for that choral thing, so I dragged myself up, after a long, long night of rain, storms, thunder and some dang piece of the RV making repetitive noises. Plus we started the night using air conditioning and ended it needing the heat! That made for a long morning of screeching out high notes (I have decided I will ask to be SECOND soprano next time—being the high one hurts). By the time I got back, fun had already been had, but I jumped in and had fun in the afternoon.

”…and a good time was had by all.”

Janet, Lindy, Jennifer and I decided to go to the Visitor Center and the Lower Falls, and take the nature walk. We had not done that last time. We had a good time in the Nature Center, where the Park Rangers were almost as entertaining as the legendary Louis Brown from last time. They told us that during the flood two naked campers were washed down the creek and over the falls (people who had been camping OUTSIDE the park, let's be clear). Since they had no ID, nothing happened to them, but the way they told the story was really funny, especially when one ranger hinted that perhaps the reason this happened to them was that they'd been fornicating. Still chuckling over that tale, we went out and checked out the still rather raging falls.

Last time we were here, this was three little trickles.

I admit it, I just like the weird shapes the water makes in this one.

Here's a couple of other things we saw. We had a little brochure explaining everything on the nature trail that had a number. We saw a thicket, a red oak, a pencil cactus, and such. We also saw an ash juniper (what is inexplicably called "cedar" here in Texas). I had to take Jennifer's picture with it.

Jennifer, Juniper, #4.

Wow, her hair is so shiny in this photo! Love it! We also saw how the limestone formations make cool caves, and a plant I kept having trouble pronouncing.

Water dripping down over the rocks.

Maidenform Hair. I mean, Maidenhair Fern. One of my mother's favorites.

When we came back, the Neemidges had arrived—they had planned to camp, but thought better of it knowing they would be bringing two kids and two standard poodles in a tent, in the rain. But, they had a fine afternoon at the park. The dogs sure loved it.

Yep. she's a lap dog.

It got chiller and chiller as the afternoon wore on, and we found ourselves moving to get more sun. We realized it was our golden opportunity to have a real campfire, not one made out of battery-operated candles! It's nice that the burn ban was finally lifted last week. It was a good fire, as long as young folks didn't try to much of, "I wonder how THIS wet object will burn?"

Lee supervises unauthorized fire experimentation

I got chiller and chiller. Good thing I had layers.

Knitting up some more layers.

After our chatting was over, the Neemidges went home to eat, and we scrounged for food, then regathered to play the Super Scrabble. We barely fit in Ursula Minor. However, we were able to bring in a camp chair, and all fit around the dining table after a fashion. I mostly ate all of Janet's hard boiled eggs. For some reason I really wanted some eggs—I'd exercised enough to earn them! Many thanks to Janet's chickens.

Everyone was so tired from not sleeping the previous night, that apparently we were all asleep before 10:30. I slept a lot better, since we borrowed a blanket from Janet, and Lee had wrestled the weird noise to the ground somehow. It started to rain early in the morning, so we just slept until it stopped. That was really, really pleasant.

When we finally did get up, we enjoyed Janet's coffee (see, SHE had her usual camping vehicle, so not all HER stuff was in Ursula). Jennifer had to leave a little early so she packed up her little camper and headed off. I watched Janet and Lindy play Scrabble and soon Lee joined us in Janet's camper. It rained a bit more, then stopped. While it was stopped, we women took the chance to go on a longer walk while Lee packed up the stuff in Ursula Minor for her return. We took the trail Jennifer and I had walked last summer, which is much nicer when it is not hot. We saw a couple of cool things, plus the other set of falls.

We thought these worm trails were interesting. I like how all the dying trees are left in the woods, so they can keep contributing to life.

This cypress was not underwater in the photo I took of it last spring!

So nice to see lots of water, not just a trickle.

Janet and I walked long enough that I earned my Superbowl chili dinner later on! It is so nice to walk the same trail in different seasons, to see what's blooming, what has no leaves, etc. We even found that someone had erected a bird feeder next to one of the picnic tables along the creek. We saw a house finch, a chickadee, cardinals and a sparrow.

By the time we got back, it was time to have a bit of lunch and head home. It was easy for me...I just drove our stuff home. Janet had no way home, so Lee drove Ursula Minor back, picked up our pickup truck (oh, that's why they call them pickups?) and went back to the park (again, how nice that it isn't too far!), hooked Janet's camper up and brought her home. Unfortunately, he didn't have the connectors for her brakes and rear lights, so she followed him really closely all the way back to her house, to be sure no one was endangered by that! Whew. I know Janet and Mike are glad we have the truck! By the time Lee got back, the park police had already told her she needed to go! After that, poor Lee had to go back to the RV rental place and clean Ursula Minor. As a reward, I did make chili, rice and a nice salad for dinner.

Honestly, even with the chill and rain, it was worth the trip. We were really able to relax, since we were with friends we didn't feel a need to entertain, as Lindy had put it. But we did have people to have fun with. Just perfect.

About Ursula Minor

The little RV we rented is a Class C RV, truck based. She runs on regular gas, which is nice, and certainly is easier to park and maneuver than Ursula. The truck seating area is very cramped—I swear it's less roomy than my MINI Cooper. And it's very basic. The whole camper is basic. I am guessing it's a base model, which means it would be an economical first RV.

But you sacrifice a lot. There are no slide-outs, and it is not on a long wheelbase, so all there is to it is:

• A banquet seating area with a table, which seats about 4
• A pretty good kitchen with a sink, 3-burner stove, a medium-sized fridge, and a little microwave
• An incredibly tiny bathroom that at least had a reasonable shower
• A couple of storage cabinets, one pretty big with a mirror
• A double-queen (not sure which) bed area that is really a thin piece of foam over a board.
• A "closet" that sorta sticks over the bed, making entry and exit a challenge.
• An over-cab sleeping area where the little TV is, too.

The heating and A/C both worked well, but there was a noise made by the electrical inverter that was a pain, plus the satellite kept looking for a signal. I assume if we owned Ursula Minor, we'd have those dealt with.

She'd be easy to clean. There are no fancy surfaces at all. The whole dang thing (ceilings included) was carpeted.

Ursula Minor would work for occasional camping, and probably more enjoyable in good weather when you can be outside a lot. But a family would be pretty cramped. I assume kids would spend a lot of time in the bunk. And it would be better for small, thin people. There's not much wiggle room.

I admit Ursula is probably overkill for a lot of people. But if you have mobility issues at all, getting in and out of that bed would be a challenge. And if you are a larger person, the bathroom might give you claustrophobia. And I have to say, the lack of padding on ANY seating area in the whole vehicle made it hard on my rear end.

Visit to McKinney Falls State Park--With Friends!

Saturday, July 30

This weekend we went to the state park closest to us. You would not believe McKinney Falls is right near very busy roads and the Austin International Airport once you are ensconced in the deeply wooded campsites, pathways and creeks here.

A few of the many trees in our campsite (#20)

We had a bit of a late start, thanks to me being busy with final job interviews (looks like I will be starting a new job, and even getting that elusive “vacation day” thing after a few months) and Lee having work issues. But, we fetched Ursula and had a relatively good trip down—it took a while to get from Georgetown to South Austin, but at least I had a good view—you can really see even familiar things differently from such a high vantage point.

The best thing about this trip, though, was that we didn’t spend the weekend all by ourselves. Last night our friend Jennifer joined us, as our first overnight guest! We had a real good time hanging around and chatting after Lee and I took a long walk around the campground area. We sat under the stars and enjoyed the peace and quiet, interrupted only by a couple of raccoon visitors, one of whom just sauntered by us as if he or she owned the place, then came inside to the wonderful air conditioning.

Lee and Jennifer enjoy relaxing and Words with Friends in the place where we would put a tent, if we, in fact, had a tent. We were also on high alert for deer and nighthawks.

We were all prepared to have a guest (even got Ursula some new towels!) other than I forgot to bring the guest blanket I finally finished. Oh well, next time for sure. And I’d promised her she’d get to see it on this trip!

We all slept until around 8, then Jennifer and I went on a long hike around the beautiful hiking trail surrounding the campgrounds, which also went to the upper falls (right now it is just one little stream, not the usual lovely waterfall). The weather was incredibly muggy, especially for so early in the morning, because it had rained just a tiny bit earlier. But we enjoyed the walk very much. In fact, we saw so many cool things that it was hard to stop! Here are some flora and fauna highlights:

• The weirdest moss either of us had ever seen. We are told it only grows on dead or dying trees. It hangs like Spanish moss, but is brighter green and much lighter in texture



Very interesting moss in a dead tree.



• A golden cheeked warbler, very easy to see, singing in a tree. It was a first for both us us, and as bird people, we were excited. We saw another one later. These birds are found only in this area, where there are also lots and lots of other types of warblers. No photo. I was too enthralled to actually grab the phone and take one.
• The beautiful lagoon by the upper falls. You know I love those cypress trees.


• Another raccoon, this one fishing on the shores of Onion Creek (no, they do NOT use fishing poles). We got to watch this for quite a while. It was quite charming. The whole section of the trail along the creek was fascinating.



He or she was a bit far away, but there is the busy little raccoon!

• The cutest collection of turtles on a branch—and beside them a very large and content cormorant that ignored us completely



Turtles are on the left, the bird is one of the two dark shapes in the circle on the right. I can't tell which is bird and which is debris!



• A kingfisher that we heard very plainly but only got a glimpse of. A LOT of the birds here are very vocal but hard to spot. We got a lot of use out of our Audobon Bird application on our phones. The feature that plays sound samples helped us verify the kingfisher.
• Some really cool trees and natural features, plus the original stone fences from the first European settlers in the area.



Old rock fence. Those took a lot of effort to build!



Just a cool tree. And don't let the greenery fool you. It's very dry.





Even Cooler Tree. Jennifer said it looked like a rhino.

• A mouse, rather large, but not a rat. It was right next to us on the path, and it seemed as startled to see us as we were to see it. Right after that, I saw a cottontail rabbit.

I had a lot of fun identifying plants, trees, bugs, scat, etc. Jennifer kept saying I was amazingly observant, which tickles me, because I do seem to have the feature of noticing details. And I was on a bit of a lucky streak on our hike!

If we saw this much cool stuff in the middle of an extreme drought and heat wave, imagine how nice this park would be in the spring and fall! One of my favorite memories of when my children were small is our first visit here, which was the first spring we lived in Austin. Some of the flowers were breathtaking, especially a huge field of baby blue eyes under tall trees. The colors were so striking. And Declan and I saw our first hummingbird moth here—the other two could barely drag us away from it.

By the time we got back, it was HOT. So we showered and relaxed until our second visitors arrived, our friends Rhys and Elizabeth (with their two very small dogs).

So happy to get to see Ursula. Of course, later they took many subversive photos of themselves in her, when we innocently went off for a walk.

We sat around, had lunch and goofed off during the afternoon. Elizabeth and I went to Target (so nice to have a CAR while camping) and got a third set of lights for the outside. As you can see below, they look really good now.

Photo copyright Rhys Edouard Samaniego-Finch

Then Ranger Louis Brown showed up.²

During the afternoon, as we were sitting and chatting, we had a visit from the Park Ranger, because Jennifer had parked her car slightly crooked and that is a big McKinney Falls no-no. He turned out to be a most charming and entertaining young man (he appeared much younger than his actual age—he must be at least mid 20s but looks like a teen), and he had some wonderful stories of his adventures in the Coast Guard reserve and being a drug enforcement and anti-terrorism person. He said it was always fun working where they had all those ranches where rich people go shoot things, because they would be all drunk and belligerent and not believe he had the power to arrest them, until they apologized the next morning. He also said they ALL either were lawyers or had one to quickly invoke. Anyway, we all were charmed by him, so it was good we broke a rule, so he could visit. I thought he would find us even weirder than when I said “karma” if I asked to take his picture so we don’t have one. Just picture the Boy Scout down the street. The really, really clean cut one who is very good with knives.

When it got to be late afternoon, Lee set up one of our new “tarps” (very nice squares of shade cloth) and covered the picnic table area so we could play a nice round of Scrabble. Jennifer has a really cool set her kids gave her—it’s portable, but large and sturdy.

We are playing Scrabble under a tarp. I am trying to not look posed.

It was a fine afternoon, followed by a good dinner—we had melon afterwards, and that hit the spot.

It rather wore out Gairgunn.

Lee and I got brave and took another walk before dinner (still really muggy and hot), to the other section of campgrounds. There are some lovely sites there, too, but none have 50 amp service. Ours is actually one of the nicest 50 amp ones—I hope we can get it again if we come back, which I also hope happens! While we were gone, the kids "played" in Ursula. I stole this off Facebook.

Ahem. Don't drink and drive, young man. Especially with a tiny dog in your lap!

It’s been the kind of day I always wanted to have with Ursula. Hanging with friends, relaxing, and seeing some lovely nature sites.³

July 31, 2011

It was a bit cooler and slightly more breezy this morning, so sitting out and drinking coffee was more pleasant. Jennifer found raccoon tracks on her chair, so we know we had guests last night. We decided not to do another big hike, so Jen and I drove to the lower falls entrance and explored there for a while. It is a beautiful, unique kind of scenery, even with very little water. Here, enjoy some sample photos.

It was fun to see all the tiny fish fry in the little streams heading to the waterfall (which are generally slightly bigger streams). Some folks were swimming in the lagoon and said it was pretty darned hot in there. We were, by that time, boilingly hot ourselves. Walking in the sun on all those rocks generates a lot of sweat! I did notice a lot of brown leaves on the trees—I hope they are just going into premature autumn and not dead.

This is all that is trickling in to make a waterfall in this drought!

In the center is where that little trickle comes out.

After cleaning Ursula and emptying the gray and black water (the water we used showering and washing stuff vs. the pee and poo), we are about ready to head back to civilization. What a good weekend.

Trip Report: McKinney Falls State Park, Cypress Creek, Austin, TX—July 29-31, 2011

Another cool dead tree

Highlight: Tie between having our first guests and the golden cheeked warbler

Lowlight: Oppressively still air

Meals:

• Friday night Lee and I had sandwiches. Jennifer ate at home
• More sandwiches for all at lunch on Saturday. Jen and Rhys did low carb stuff.
• Another chicken and spinach pasta meal for dinner, on greens. The low carbers had some of that stuff, and we all had watermelon and cantaloupe (muskmelon to those in the know) for dessert.
• I got some strawberry all fruit preserves, so I can have PBJ for breakfasts.
• Exciting after dinner drink treat was Sprite and plum vodka, which I was assured tastes just like an alcoholic version of "Sprite Remix." Rest assured this was not consumed in public, Officer Brown.

Location Review:
This is the kind of park I really like. Both Lee and I declare it our favorite so far, even if Krause had cooler water. Lots of shade, woods, water and wildlife. I like the long trails (there are more than we could do in one weekend when it’s so hot). I like the 50 amp service and the very friendly staff. As the young people were saying, this is a place you could come to over and over. What’s to stop us? It’s nearby and we bought a State Park Pass. To be honest, I feel sort of bad that I haven’t been here in so long. It’s a lot less crowded than Inks Lake, and you have much nicer campsites.

Lessons Learned:
1. Bungee cords rock. Between the assortment I got at Target and the rope that came with the sunshades, Lee was able to get us a nice cover without damaging any piece of nature. He also used tiny ones to anchor the GPS where he can actually see it while he drives.
2. Raccoons are fearless.
3. Police officers, even State Park Police, have senses of smell. You are not hiding your roach by just lowering it when you check in at a park (from Officer Brown).
4. Having people come with us is as fun as we had hoped it would be.

Rhys's cool panoramic photo of Ursula's interior⁴

Guest Reviews of the Ursula Experience

Jennifer has come down with a case of Ursula envy. She says, “We have wonderful hosts. I have had such a fun day doing stuff I wouldn’t normally do.”

Sitting in the "bird watching area" and enjoying the sights and sounds of nature, not something she normally does.

Elizabeth says so far the best part is that it only took them 15 minutes to get to the park, though she hadn’t walked around yet, because it was hot, but the campsite was quite beautiful and shady. She declared, “I liked the Park Ranger. That was a nice ‘view’.” She added, “Ursula is way larger on the inside than she appears on the outside. If I had Ursula, I’d name her after the whale in Pinocchio, whatever its name. The amenities are top notch, and the spread is quite delectable, but the staff is just par. Luckily there is a Target just down the street.”

She rarely poses. Such a natural gal.

“Ursula is welcome shelter on a hot summer’s day. A splendid staycation.” Says Rhys.

When he is famous, he will have to drive the tour bus.

Gairgunn the Dog gives Ursula 4 out of paws. Leia the Dog didn’t have much to say, but seemed quite fascinated at the prospect of people dropping crumbs anywhere near Ursula.

Leia is on the left.

---

Notes from ELAB:

1. Well, maybe you would. The trees don’t quite block out all the traffic noise. Then there is the occasional boom box car and jet. But none of that detracts from the countryside feel of this park.
2. “Ranger” may be a correct word, but his shoulder patch actually said, “State Park Police.” He was very emphatic that his is actually a State Trooper and told funny stories about making arrests outside of parks. One guy actually asked him, “Do you know where you’er at, boy?” Never a good way to start a conversation with a cop—no matter who is asking the question.
3. What I got done this weekend was to install the Blueray player and use teensy bungie cords to mount the GPS more permanently to Ursula’s dash.
4. Didja notice I’m in the shot twice wearing two different sets of clothes? We’ll have to have a chat with Continuity.