Primordial Swamp: Palmetto State Park, Ottine, Texas - Tues., Dec. 10

Waking up to sunshine was a welcome change from yesterday's weather, but the temperature was cold! Susan M. and Darren picked me up at the 5er and we all headed to Palmetto State Park for 10K worth of Volksmarching. Temperature at the start of our walk was 36 degrees. We bundled up with even more clothes than yesterday.

We chose to walk the 5K with the most sunshine first. Good choice. A very chilling breeze was in our faces part of the way. The sun felt good on our coats and helped warm our cores.

Many deer were out and about, probably because it's a weekday and not many people were walking. In fact, we didn't see anyone else on the trails.

Darren and Susan M.

Susan M. and Susan A.

As we were walking through the park, Darren found this old wagon wheel that trees have grown up through. The tree has engulfed parts of the wagon wheel.

At the end of our 6.2 miles, we were hungry. On a short side trip to Gonzales, Texas, we opted to eat at Running M Bar & Grill. We had no idea what to expect.

The restaurant is in the 1889 Cavett-Maurin Building. We walked in the door and were pleasantly surprised to see a lot of people eating there. The interior space looked like it may have been a hardware store at one time. The table in our booth had a copper top.

Running M interior.

Menu on copper table top.

Darren and Susan M.

Original rock wall of building.

All of us were happy with our meals. And I had the pleasure of trying deep-fried pickle chips for the first time. I liked them.

The following photo was taken of "Come and Take It" cannon design on the restaurant window. I love how old town Gonzales is reflected in the window below it.

Haven't had pictures of the fur kids for a while; here they are...

Sunnie and Bowie

We have a bird feeder outside our 5er and I am in a constant battle chasing squirrels away from the sunflower seeds. They climb the metal pole to get to the feeder. A lady at our RV park said she has great success keeping the squirrels off her feeder by spraying PAM on the metal pole. I tried it and the squirrels still climb as if there was nothing on the pole.

Now when I see a squirrel approaching the feeder, I run outside and jangle my car keys and that works (for about five minutes), sending the squirrel scurrying up a nearby tree. The squirrel then peeks at me from his 15' high perch. Here's a photo of the little rascal taken through a window screen.

Squirrel peeking at me after I scared it off the bird feeder.

Travel Bug out.