Trip Report Belton Lake December 12-15, 2019
Six hardy TOWNies braved cold nights to enjoy Live Oak Park on beautiful Belton Lake. TracyP and AndreaS are two brand new members who win an award for tent camping—a relatively new experience for both! NancyL joined up with her tenting equipment and experience. We enjoyed seeing ChristineF’s cute and creative camper set-up. CarolP and BeverlyT provided entertainment with our furry friends. Carol took some excellent pictures of the road runner living behind her camper. Christine almost has two stray cats want to follow her home, Marilyn.
Friday a.m. we explored Stillhouse Hollow. Learning the hiking trails were closed for the day, we displayed TOWNie adaptability by heading to a different part of Stillhouse where we leisurely explored the shore. We did a public service by picking up a full bucket of glass bottles thrown out before kids got all cut up!
Friday Tracy, Andres, and Carol hiked Miller Springs Park across the road while Nancy and Beverly got kayaks wet on the lake. Pot luck centered around Louisiana chicken and sausage gumbo. Beverly’s daughter Christie and granddaughter, Rebekah, brought a prospective member to meet us.
Saturday was gorgeous and we greatly enjoyed an extended hike at Chalk Ridge Falls, seeing a waterfall, crossing a suspension bridge, and meandering along the creekbed. Patches and Britain chased one another, fought for the lead, and tugged over thrown sticks as our entertainment. We kept passing folks out for the Christmas bird count, and tried to be considerate in not scaring off all other creatures!
Nancy was so excited to kayak, Bev took her to another part of Belton Lake, while the others relaxed a bit. We gathered up around 5:00 pm to head out to BLORA, a Ft. Hood property to be near first in line to view Christmas in Lights.
The exhibit is exceptional and reasonably priced –If folks from Austin are impressed that speaks for itself! (Biggest thing around here was the new HEB 4 years ago!)
We drove a bit further to eat at Fireside Pizza, a family friendly brick oven gourmet pizza place. Pizza and beer and good fellowship and a band—what’s better than that! We were able to enjoy a real wood campfire nightly.
This was a terrific outing and a good first experience for Tracy and Andrea—other than freezing at night!! Everyone was cooperative, helpful, independent , flexible and fun!! Isn’t that what TOWN is all about?
PS : I did remember to get everyone to sign in, but not sure what to do with it! LOL