Travel Day To Cagle Recreation Area - (New Waverly, TX)

Well, we decided to move on from Lake Bastrop today.  Usually, we don't travel on Sundays.  We prefer Monday, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.

Why?  Well, since we don't make reservations and look for "walk-in" sites, we've found that folks that are in the best walk-in sites over the weekend often stay an extra day or so and the really good sites don't free up until Monday or Tuesday.

But we were ready to move on to the next location.  And Sunday is still a good travel day as most people do vacate campsites, road construction is often halted for the weekend, and it's the best time to go through larger cities.

Today, we got a really late start.  With the 2010 Rally announcement, I had to revise all the web pages related to the rally.  By the time I finished that and the Journal, it was almost 11:00.

Linda had been working around me on the inside, so she was pretty much ready to go.  I just needed to hustle on the outside to beat the noon check-out time.  No problem.  :)

We loaded up and went to the dump station.  The dump station has two sides and you can pull in from either direction.  I had previously scouted it and chosen the wider turn in and out.  I haven't spoken about the little things like that in awhile, so I though I might do that today for the newer readers.

Always check out the dump station before your departure day.  Just make sure the access is fairly easy, and you note potential problems with overhangs, curbs, and space.  They can be pretty tight sometimes, and we've seen some accidents especially when leaving the dump station.  Sometimes, especially in larger rigs, you sort of need a plan of attack before you go in with the rig.  :)

Speaking of plans of attack, we were going to have to pull out of the road leading to the campground and make a left turn onto northbound Hwy 21.  Now that left was across two lanes of high speed southbound traffic.  The problem was the left turn into northbound traffic would be blind, and we would have to stop and make sure the coast was clear.  The fiver would be blocking both lanes of oncoming traffic and we'd be a big broadside target.

Not only that, but there was road construction at the intersection and the newly paved main road was much higher than the little turning area between the four lanes.  So there was a good possibility of dragging if we rushed.

It seems counter-intuitive to go in the opposite direction, but sometimes going a few miles out of the way with a big rig is simply safer.  And us full-timers aren't in any hurry, right?  :)

We took a right, headed toward the town of Bastrop, and looped back around to get going in the right direction.  It cost us about 10 miles and fifteen minutes of time to make a much easier, less stressful, much safer transition to where we needed to be.

So now we were on Hwy 21 headed north.  It's a four-lane road from Bastrop to the intersection with Hwy 290 east.  But in that short stretch and the first section of 290, also a four-lane, the lanes were sort of skinny and there was very little shoulder.  I realized that I much prefer a fat two-lane road with wide shoulders over a tight four-lane where it seems you have to drive perfectly to keep from going over any lines.  :)

Okay.  On the road again.  This morning, I checked and double-checked our directions.  I didn't want to mess up and wanted to be sure about the turns in the few small towns we'd go through.

Unfortunately, the road signs didn't correspond to the directions and .... yep, we messed up again.  We still don't trust the GPS in the Jeep when towing as it still wants to take us to places we know we shouldn't go.  Guess we should have had it programmed anyway as a back-up.  You'd think we'd learn after four years and quite a few screw-ups on travel days.  :)

I should have followed my instincts as that would have put us on the right path, but that can be dangerous, too.  :)  I saw an opportunity to correct our wrong turn early on, but it would have required a quick left turn and I was in the far right lane with traffic behind me.

We were supposed to connect with Hwy 105 going northeast in Brenham, but instead we stayed on Hwy 290 east.  It was a wide four-lane with shoulders by then, so we figured we'd ride it out and go the long way to our destination.

Of course that meant ending up in north Houston - a city I hate driving in and around.  "Maybe it won't be so bad on a Sunday", I told myself as the skyline approached.

"Hmm.  I bet that toll road will cut off some distance and time."  But the on-ramp looked like a 10% uphill grade and my natural instinct is to avoid toll roads.  Wish we would've taken it.  :)

The traffic picked up as we neared the city.  In all cities where I'm not familiar with the highways, I tend to stay in one of the middle lanes.  Often there are construction barriers on the outer lanes and you never know if the off-ramp you want is going to be on the right or the left.

Eventually, we came to I-610.  Okay.  We'll take that north to I-45.  The ramp was on the right.  I needed to get over one lane so I put on my signal.  Almost didn't make it, but one kind soul let me over at the last minute.  Usually Linda runs interference in the Jeep so I can get over, but no one would let her into the proper lane.  She barely made it as well.

Immediately we ran into construction.  In the bigger cities, they tend to work through the weekends on large projects.  Now I've got skinny lanes, only two of them, and construction barriers.  Fortunately, the traffic was slowed enough to keep it from being too much of a white-knuckle experience.

Of course, I was in the right lane and our on-ramp to I-45 was on the left.  At least I had plenty of warning this time.

Once on I-45 north, traffic was still heavy with occasional braking.  Whew.  I can't imagine what this would be like on a weekday.  I radioed Linda "This probably wouldn't be a good time to take my blood pressure".  :)

It seemed like it took forever to get out of the city where the interstate narrowed to four lanes.  By then, our frazzled nerves started to recover.

Soon, we saw the exit for New Waverly and FM Road 1375.  I was pretty excited to finally see we'd almost reached our destination.  From the exit, it was about five miles or so to the Cagle Recreation Area in the Sam Houston National Forest.

In my research, I'd discovered this National Forest campground.  Large sites, full hook-ups, and only 120 miles from our last stop - assuming of course we hadn't detoured though Houston.  :)

Including our initial detour at the start and our jaunt through the big city, we ended up driving about 190 miles.  Sheesh.  That cost us about $30 in fuel.  :)

But we finally made it.  We parked the rig at the entrance, picked up a campground map and toured the two loops.  Most of the sites are reservable, but there are a dozen or so sites out of 47 that aren't.

I knew from my research and photos I found of the campground that both loops were heavily wooded, so we knew our satellite internet probably wasn't going to work.  The issue was then to find the best spot available that would accommodate our rig.

We were a little surprised to find only four or five sites available.  Fortunately, a couple of them would work and we made our selection - Site 16 in the Sweetgum Loop.

It was getting dark by the time I got around to taking pictures.  Now these are campsites!  :)

Nice, well-spaced campsites with full hook-ups and 50 amps for $20.  There is a place to park our truck just on the other side of the rig.  The only problem is that this site is a bit unlevel front to back.  We had to put the front of the rig almost on the ground to get level.  :)

And the set up began.  The sewer connection is at the front of the site and we backed in as far as we could.  That left my main sewer hose about a foot and a half short.  Of course.

Rather than splicing on another section of hose, we decided we'd just dump when we're hitched and ready to pull out when we leave.  If it's an "emergency" before we are ready to leave, I'll add hose then.  :)

Linda sent the dish up just to see if we could find a hole in the trees, but I was pretty sure we couldn't.  I called Verizon and had then activate our "tethering" feature for internet.

We got internet using my cell phone as a modem.  However, the speed was like dial-up speed.

Eventually, I got around to attaching our trucker antenna to the rig ladder.  We ran the cable from the antenna in through the slideout, attached it to our 3 watt amplifier, and plugged the amplifier into the cell phone. Then we had EVDO coverage and great speed - probably a little bit faster than our satellite broadband.  We can turn the "tethering" feature off and on at will and it costs less than $2 a day when we need it.

The phone is also attached via a USB cable to a wireless router so we can both be on the internet at the same time.  We stowed our dish and turned off the modem, controller, and wireless router for the satellite internet connection.

Of course, since our satellite TV is via an arm attached to the internet dish, that meant I was going to have to set up our mobile dish we picked up in northern California for our time in the trees at North Shore Campground.

This is only the second time I've ever set that up and it took a little time to find the signal.  But we got it and we are fully teched up.

I have to admit that it is really nice to have options and not be so concerned with rooftop satellite and trees, etc.  We can park pretty much anywhere now and still have our internet and TV.

Linda had the inside set up in no time.  It took me forever to get the outside done with the cellular antenna, the manual TV dish, cleaning windows, pumping up bicycle tires, and all the usual stuff.  Plus I had to chat with the couple across the street from Louisiana - I was getting tips from them on places to stay.  :)

We paid for three nights, but I told Linda I have way too much set-up time in to only stay that long.  We'll probably stay a week or so.  :)

I'm looking forward to sticking around here and exploring.  There is a boat ramp within the recreation area as we are on Lake Conroe.  And there are several trails.  It looked like we missed a wonderful sunset tonight, so we'll be looking forward to getting some photos in the next few days.

Yeah, this is feeling like an "it factor" kind of place.  :)  

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Comments

[Ken Manning]

Howard,
My Garmin GPS tells be whether my exit is from the left or right lanes. It also shows whether my upcomming turns are right or left. I find it to be a great help.

[Bob J.]

Howard, like Ken, we've had good luck w/ our Garmin GPS. A couple of times it's taken us the where a restaurant or motel was before it was razed and moved, but other than that we've found it trustworthy.

And, on multi lane roads it usually tells us a mile in advance whether the exit ramp is to the left or the right.

Looks like your new spot may have some "it" factor.

Bob

[GaryS]

Ken, Howard's problem is that HIS gps is in the Jeep, with his WIFE! and both need to be in the truck with him MINUS the walkie talkie... with him towing the Jeep.

And this white knuckling things has to stop, it robs oxygen to the brain 'cuz knuckles aren't the only things puckered up. :)

Howard, 70 miles off course.... and it wasn't a short cut.

[klueck]

I love my Garmin. Yes, she does occasionally steer us wrong, but only rarely.

We change the setting to "bus" when we're driving the motorhome and "car" when driving the car. That way she won't take us on a path the motorhome wouldn't like.

You should try to use yours more and you'll probably learn to love it too! I think our "Jane" gives us much more help that the occasional mistake she makes!

[Abase]

Welcome to my back yard. I actually live about 5 minutes from the entrance. Hope you enjoy your stay. Huntsvile has a few free tourist items that might be fun to check out. The Texas Renaissance Festival is going on in Plantersville and if possible it's a all day fun event that I highly recommend. (http://www.texrenfest.com/).
Send out a yell if you need anything.

[COOKIEQUEEN]

Shoot, my Garmin only gives me the option of auto, bike or ped...thought I just found a "cure" with the bus mode. But not to be. And mine is a 800 series which is relatively new.

We have a love/hate relationship with our Garmin and it has sent us to wrong places. But overall, it has been more help than not. Much easier than doing a map and the best is if "we" screw up; it will recalculate and send us on our way.

[Craig and Linda]

Howard,
When driving through a city with the large overhead signs, watch for the exit number panel mounted on top of the sign. A little known rule is that the exit number panel must be mounted on the same side as the upcoming ramp; e.g., left exit number panel will be mounted on the top of the sign aligned with the left side of the panel and vice versa. Sometimes this provides a bit more forewarning so that you can get to the right side of the freeway.