Visiting San Angelo/South Llano River Texas State Parks and the 100% Totality Solar Eclipse at Hondo That Wasn’t

We left Dreamcatcher RV Park in Deming, NM, and arrived back in our beloved Lone Star State.  We overnighted again at our usual stomping grounds:  The Ghost Lights Viewing Center in Marfa.  Thankfully, Big Boomer, our medium duty truck, did not repeat his bad behavior from our last visit, and we had an uneventful stay.

 

The next day we headed to San Angelo State Park, taking US-90 and US-67 through the Permian Basin.  Once an area devoted to oil and natural gas, the Permian Basin now is home to huge solar and wind farms.

 

San Angelo State Park is wonderful, offering huge sites with water and electric hookups and easy access to the sani-dump station.  

 

There are lots of hiking trails, all well marked with minimal elevation change.  We traversed all of them on the South side of the Park over our 3-day stay, totaling 17 miles.  We visited the bird blind, but there was little activity since the feeders were running on empty.  Fortunately, we were entertained regularly by a woodpecker who visited the tree at our RV site.  The Park claims to be home to bison and long horn steer.  It took 3 visits before we could spot the bison.  Initially they were so far off in the distance, they looked just like jumbo bales of hay.  Fortunately, they ventured closer to the fence line on my 3rd outing, giving me some photo opportunities.  The long horn steer, however, were missing in action throughout our visit.

Blooming wildflowers were abundant, and their potent fragrance permeated the air.

Though we didn’t see any javalina, we detected many areas where they foraged, and I spotted lots of their poop piles.  It was still early Spring, but the snakes were out and about already.

How upsetting!  This scat contains one of my brethren--I spotted his tail hanging out!

O. C. Fisher Lake can be viewed from the campground.  Its water levels are so low, motorized boats cannot be accommodated.  Canoes/Kayaks are your only options for accessing this lake.  

 

We hear lots of folks complain about “campground crowding” and that it is difficult to get camping reservations at State, National, and private RV parks.  I must say, we have not experienced this.  We did not have our own reservation made until less than 6 weeks prior to our visit.  And even though it was Easter weekend, plenty of sites were sitting empty at San Angelo State Park.  

 

Speaking of Easter, we had a Blessed holiday.  We continued our tradition of watching Ten Commandments, King of Kings, and The Greatest Story Ever Told.  Mom whipped up some delectables for us:  homemade pizza for Good Friday, and tofu lasagna, home-baked bread, a salad suitable for the most discerning rabbit, and a chocolate-peanut butter soy desert for Easter Sunday.

Good thing we walked off our holiday meal early in the day since we experienced a horrific windstorm later that afternoon.  Winds were 35 miles per hour, with gusts up to 50 miles per hour—hitting our rig broadside.  Talk about shake, rattle, and roll! It felt like we were back in the Pocono Mountains of PA in 2012 when Hurricane Sandy hit!

The dust storm sure produced a dramatic photo.

We departed on a glorious Tuesday morning, enjoying sunshine, lots of avian activity, and even a prairie dog sighting.  We enjoyed an easy, peaceful drive via US-67, US-87, and US-83 to South Llano River State Park in Junction, TX.  This area was hit hard by a storm a few years back, so the Park entrance now has a new bridge.

 

We registered at the attractive Visitor and Conference Center, newly constructed and occupied by Park Staff a mere 5 months ago.  We collected all our trail maps and headed to Site 34.  This is another Park that could not accommodate our set-up if we still owned our swivel wheel to carry our Polaris side-by-side.  But now that we are a more “standard” sized unit of 42 feet, Dad accessed our back-in site perfectly with one maneuver.  Our site had water and electric hookups and a pavilioned picnic area.  We had lots of open space behind us, home to both wildflowers and wildlife.  In fact, I watched a fox wander right through and an armadillo forage for his dinner there.  It was so good to see an armadillo alive.  I usually only see armadillos lying dead in the street, victims of their #1 enemy--the automobile.

We hit the hiking trails later that day, which we found well marked and easy to traverse.  Starting with the Buck Lake Trail we hooked up with the River Trail.  Storms make these low-level lands flood, but the effect is a kaleidoscope of vibrant and fragrant wildflowers.  Yellow, blue, red, orange, and purple blooms make such a gorgeous canvas.  Even weeds like thistle have such lovely blossoms (though they do quite a number on folks like Mom with allergies).

The next morning we hiked the Overlook Trail.  It is a little over a mile round trip and has a small elevation change along some rocky switchback areas.  The brochure promised a breathtaking vista and eagle-eye view.  But for us, it was a bit anti-climatic.  The vista, though pretty, didn’t compare to so many we have seen elsewhere in our travels.  But the hike was worth taking simply to enjoy the flora.

 

View as we ascended the Overlook Trail.

View from top of Overlook Trail.

A sea of bright and cheery wildflowers awaits you at the top of Overlook Trail.

That afternoon, we traversed to the Buck Family homestead.  Mr. Buck, a physician, purchased the property in 1920 thinking the fresh air and climate would benefit his son, who was afflicted with tuberculosis.  Sadly, things did not go as planned, and his son passed away.  But Mr. Buck and his remaining family members worked the land and stayed on the property until 1977, at which time the family donated the homestead to Texas State Parks.

Family cemetery on the property.

We saw a huge cage like a jail cell with birds penned up within.  We learned they were brown cowbirds, considered to be public enemy #1 to the songbird population.  Back in the day, brown cowbirds apparently followed the wild bison from grazing area to grazing area.  When ranchers began raising cattle, the brown cowbirds got lazy and decided to stay with the local livestock.  They became squatters:   rather than building their own nests to lay eggs, the brown cowbirds used those of songbirds.  The songbirds, being kind and compassionate, would foster the eggs and chicks of the brown cowbirds, often to the detriment of their own offspring, resulting in a reduction in the songbird population.  So, for every brown cowbird corralled in this pen, the lives of 35 prospective songbirds are saved.  Ain’t nature interesting?

 

I'm just a bird in a gilted cage...

We continued onto the Interpretive Trail.  The area was teeming with deer, but they were too stealth for me to get a photo.  We returned to our campsite via the West Field, Old Barn, and Turkey Roost Trails, the latter of which was along the river bottom where several turkeys were nesting.  We didn’t want to disturb the soon-to-be mammas, so we refrained from picture taking.

 

I thoroughly enjoyed our stay at South Llano River State Park, where I was simply one with nature, one with God in my personal church of choice--the great outdoors.

 

We left South Llano River State Park on a crisp (42F degrees) but brightly sunlit morning heading to the Alamo Area Lone Star Corral, an Escapees co-op in Hondo, TX.   We intended to view the solar eclipse there since it was located within the 100% totality area.  Normally, this co-op (like most of the co-ops under the Escapees umbrella) does not take reservations.  So, imagine our surprise when we called in July 2023 to learn that all the boondocking spots for the April 8, 2024, eclipse were already reserved by Escapees Chapter 10!  No problem, we said.  We will come onto a full-service site on Apr 4 and stay for a week.  Though the Park does not accept reservations, we were asked for our name, phone number, and pertinent info about our RV set-up, and were quoted a rate of $120/weekly or $22/daily, both plus electric.  We called once a month from August 2023 through February 2024, to reiterate our intention to come in on Apr 4.  Each time our information on record was confirmed and we were assured we could most likely be accommodated.  When we called in March 2024, we learned some things had changed.  Our contact was no longer working there, and her replacement was unaware of any of our prior conversations.  Fortunately, our original contact lived on site, and the replacement was apprised of our prior discussions.  So, we were back to feeling confident of having an RV site.  But a new wrinkle occurred:  we were told the weekly rate was no longer applicable.  We would be required to pay $45/night plus electric for April 7, 8, 9, and the regular daily rate of $22/night for April 4, 5, 6, and 10, which increased the cost from $120 to $223 plus electric.  We were agreeable to this rate change, fully aware that it was still much lower than most being offered within 100% eclipse totality.  We called weekly the rest of March and on April 1 and April 3 to confirm our “non-reservation”.  So, we were not only shocked but a bit perturbed to learn UPON ARRIVAL on April 4 that the rate increased to $55/night plus electric for April 7, 8, 9!  Now the weekly costs more than doubled since our original quote!  We refuted paying this increase.  After all, we confirmed the rates as recently as April 1, nor were we advised of the rate change during our April 3 telcon.   They were gracious enough to understand our position and honored the $45/night plus electric rate for April 7, 8, 9.

 

Scenery as we traveled from South Llano River State Park to Lone Star Coral, Hondo, TX.

We got settled into our site, which was spacious and easy to access.    

I must say the staff and residents were friendly and welcoming.  But this whole eclipse thing was quite disorganized.  We were told upon arrival on April 4 to visit their website to learn the special eclipse activities planned for April 7, 8, 9.  However, nothing was posted yet.  We enjoyed line dance lessons and posed questions there.  It was suggested we attend the Social Hour on April 5 to obtain more info.  We enjoyed meeting folks at the Social Hour, where we were told the website would be updated later that evening.  During the afternoon of April 5, we received a lovely welcome packet, which contained a listing of special eclipse activities.  However, this listing did not contain all the same info as the website which we checked the next day.  We learned from friends who live in the Park that vehicle passes were being issued to all residents and guests as a means of “gatekeeping”.  Ironically, we were not informed of this by the office during our check-in and had to go back to inquire/get our pass.

 

Unfortunately, by the time we received accurate information about the planned activities like wheelchair/walker races, BOCCE ball, etc., we had made plans to meet up with Quartzsite line-dancing friends Debbie/Jerry/Willow, 2018 work-camping buddies Carol/Dave, and Escapees residents Jewell/David (no photo) who were also in the Park for the eclipse.  So, other than the pulled pork dinner and celebratory cake, we did not participate in the Park activities.  We did, however, get to catch up with Bob/Nicky and Ruth (not pictured), whose daughter works for NASA and broadcast the eclipse from other locations on a big screen for all of us to watch.

Willow is such as special lass!  We are great friends!

These get togethers were the highlight of our stay since the 100% totality solar eclipse was a total bust.   Though we were all ready with our glasses, you can see from Dad’s time-lapsed video that clouds impeded our viewing ability.

 

Ironically, Debbie/Jerry/Willow had tried in January 2024 to arrange a stay at Lone Star Corral for the eclipse.  They were told the Park was booked up.  Yet, we counted at least 20 lots empty every time we walked around the Park.  Now granted, not all absentee co-op residents put their lots in the pool, but surely our friends could have landed a spot, especially since the Park expected a mere 7 arrivals, of which only half actually showed up after seeing the weather forecast.  (The Park accepts only cash/check—no credit cards.  Consequently, it collects no deposits/imposes no cancellation fees).

 

And just a heads up about a Park policy that was never mentioned to us during ANY of our conversations since July 2023.  If, like us, you plan to leave before the office opens on a particular day, you must go the day before to finalize your bill (again, they collect no money up front).  You will incur an additional $5 charge for electric above your actual meter reading charges (at 9.5 cents/kw) to cover electric usage between the time you finalize your bill and your time of departure the next day.  We use our solar regularly whenever possible, so our actual meter charges amounted to under $5 for our entire stay.  Yet, we were popped for an additional $5 for any electric we used between 4:30 p.m. that day and our departure the next morning at 7 a.m.  Apparently, the Park has been stiffed too often on electric charges.  So, they impose this fee and donate any over-charge to Escapees CARE in Livingston.

 

Despite all this bellyaching of mine, I did enjoy our stay at Lone Star Corral.  I saw my friend Dominic the Donkey, was introduced to several new animals, and walked to revisit the Church and graveyard of the old German colony of D’Hanis. 

 

About a mile down the road from Lone Star Coral is the church and graveyard of Old D'Hanis, a German colony of 29 families established in 1847.

We are now headed back to Livingston, so I’ve gotta go.  I’ll talk to you again soon!