Photofest at Galveston

I am a little late getting this posted. Our first annual Galveston Photofest was a huge success!  The participants were all wonderful to work with and while the birding could have been better the enthusiasum more than made up for it. Kathy Adams Clark, Larry Ditto and Sean Fitzgerald were leaders along with myself.  Here is a shot from High Island photo blind. It's a Summer Tananger.

More from Queen Wilhelmina

My firt day was fun! The dogs and I got our first hike in. It was a short one called Spring Trail. There was a little spring that you had to watch for so you didn't miss it when you sent by. And normally the train in the park stops running on Labor Day. However, it was in service Tuesday and I made certain to be on it. The Engineer was very nice and I had four other ladies that arrived to ride with me.

There is a steam engine parked on site. Viewers are able to climb up and enter the train.

The last couple of mornings and evenings I have been out chasing photos. It's been difficult to find accessible locations to photograph. I have seen lots of vistas to photograph but I just can't find a place to pull off to set up.

Queen Wilhelmina State Park

I arrived at Queen Wilhelmina State Park on Monday. As I drove up the mountain it became evident that all the fall color was gone.  My research has stated the peak weeks were usually the last week in October and first two in November. When I checked in I was told that due to a rain storm last week all the leaves were on the ground.

Campers register at the Lodge. As I pulled up to park it became evident that this is one popular place. I barely found a place to park and I fought my way in past groups of people waiting to be seated at the Lodge Resturant. There were tour buses and private vehicles everywhere. It was 1:30pm and I was glad to have gotten here a little late since it was so crowded.

The campsites are extremely close together as you can see in the photo above. Some have only a few feet between them. The camping area is small as is the park. Fortunately I have the sites on both sides of me vacant since I arrived so I haven't felt cramped.  The sites are long enough to be able to park in front of the camper in most cases and the pads are for the most part level. Picnic tables and firepits are behind the campers. I find this layout less appealing than having the tables in front.

The view is excellent. Mountains can be seen on both sides of the camp and trees are plentiful.  The sites are very well maintained and stairs or paved walkways lead to the picnic tables.

The shower and restrooms are some of the cleanest I have seen. The building is excellent condition and is located mid way down the long line of RV sites.

My camp site is located across from the bath house.

Camping at Daingerfield State Park Texas

I had high hopes for having a great camp out at Daingerfield State Park. It was the perfect time of year; nice temperatures and fall color should have been the norm. Unfortunately just last week a front came through making for wet conditions as well as putting an end to fall color. I did manage to get a few shots of what was left.

Checkin at headquaters was great and I was greated by very friendly rangers. I was given the campground map and directions to my site. However, once at the site it was less than what I expected. The pad was unlevel to stay the least and was about 20 ft long which would have required me to unhook the camper from the truck. On short stays I prefer to leave the camper hooked up to the truck. There was standing water between the camper and the picnic table. I called headquaters and requested a different site which I was given with no problems at all. Upon inspection of the campgrounds I found that many of the sites in the Dogwood loop were unlevel with very short pads. Most of us can deal with unlevel but short pads can be a problem. The Dogwood loop does provide a good view of the lake.

This is one of the better sites in the Dogwood Loop area.

(Please ignore the lens flare in the upper left hand corner)

Not once did I see the campground host or have the opportunity to speak with them. I arrived on Saturday around noon and stayed until Monday morning. Generally the Campground host is active at out Texas Parks. Perhaps this was just bad timing on my part.

The Big Pine section had the best set up with drive thru campsites, shady yet access for those with Satellite TV. The sites were large and had a great veiw of the lake. This section had the only sewer connections in the park that I found.

Another option at this campground is the Mountain View campground loop. The sites were more level than the previously mentioned loops with water and electric.

This is a clean quiet park but there isn't much to do there. They have canoe rentals and a trail that isn't well marked. Other than fall color there doesn't seem to be much to photograph. This isn't a park I will be returning to most likely.