Inks Lake State Park #2

With visions of bluebonnets dancing through my mind, I picked up the phone and called my cousin and my best friend, Judy. I told her the plan. Skip and I were getting our trusty little pop-up hooked up and filled with all the neccessities for a wild (flower) weekend. I suggested that she and her husband Scrooge (actually his name is Bob, but we affectionately call him Scrooge because he really hates to get rid of those nickles and dimes,) might want to come along with us. Judy, who also packs a mean camera, was ready as always. It was just a matter of explaining to Scrooge that it really would not be all that expensive. They could
share our camper and we would split the cost of food. He finally saw the logic in our presentation and agreed to come along. I'm glad he did. We always have a good time.

They headed out from Ft. Worth. We headed out from Possum Kingdom Lake, and we met in the little town of Hamilton. Met up, had lunch and headed for Inks Lake State Park. One of the places to be for Bluebonnet season.

We got into the park in the early afternoon, and since we were there in the middle of the week (one of the great perks of being a senior,) we found a great camping site right on the lake and not far from a bathroom. I found that it's extremely important to be close to a bathroom after I took my diuretics by mistake with my evening meds one night when we weren't camped near a bathroom. That was maybe the least enjoyable experience of my camping days! About every hour I would reach over, gently touch Skip and whisper in his ear, "Darling (I made sure to call him darling,) would you like to escort me to the bathroom?" He was a great sport about it all, but since then we have made bathroom nearness a priority.

Anyway, our camp spot was beautiful and we parked our trusty little pop-up easily under the trees and set up camp. It was a most enjoyable site. It was quiet. Our neighbors couldn't hear our conversations and we couldn't hear theirs. That's a nice thing. The four of us enjoyed a quiet evening talking, playing cards, enjoying a spectacular sunset, and just being happy that we were all together. Then the four of us climbed into old Trusty for lights out and a good night's sleep. I have to admit, Trusty's facilities were a bit snug for four adults and a Big Yellow Lab. We slept on the bed, Judy and Bob slept where the table was supposed to be, and the dog had the floor. Difficult to step around the dog when you got out of bed, and of course there was no privacy. At our age, who needs privacy? We were happy to have a place to sleep.

Morning found us up and ready for the bluebonnets. Now, Inks Lake State Park itself is a lovely place to be, what with its dramatically beautiful pink granite outcroppings and it's Devil's Waterhole swimming destination. It was too cool for swimming while we were there, but during the warm months Devil's Waterhole is full of young people jumping off of ledges and climbing over boulders. Bluebonnets scattered about the park greeted us and invited us to just stay in the park for awhile, but we were in the Hill Country for the big show! And, big show is what we got!

We left Inks Lake and headed for the backroads...(next post.)

Sunset over Inks Lake from our campsite

Important Facts About Inks Lake State Park:

This is a very popular state park year round and reservations are highly recommended

There are 137 camp sites with water and electricty.

Many of these are right on the water.

Others are in easy walking distance.

Easily accessible bathrooms/showers

There are 50 water only sites

A number of walk-in sites

Mini-cabins

There are very good hiking and biking trails...some strenuous, some not so strenuous.

There is a 9 hole golf course.

There is fishing, swimming, scuba diving, water sports, and lots of wildlife (white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, Osprey, Bald Eagles lizards, etc.

Your best chance to see Bald Eagles is during mid-November until mid-March. The Vanishing Texas River Cruise near Lake Buchanan is the best place to view Bald Eagles.

It's an easy place to spend some time.