Lost in Lost Maples

After leaving Dallas, we headed to Lost Maples State Park, named after a small population of Big Tooth Maples stranded in Texas Hill country ever since the last ice age. Unfortunately, the road we were supposed to turn off onto didn´t exist (or at least we couldn´t find it), and we had to drive an hour past it and circle round behind it on a gourgeous backroad through the middle of nowhere. Eventually we stopped to ask for directions at one of the oddest gas stations I´ve ever seen, which was crawling with chickens, roosters, peackocks, cats, and good old fashioned texas charm. Eventually we found the park and managed to set up camp before dark. It was so beautiful there we decided to stay for an extra day in order to hike all the park trails.

For breakfast the next morning we drove into a pretty bizarre little town, where prisoners dressed in white and black striped jump suits (straight out of a bad prison movie) were washing the sherriff´s car, and every single male in the local diner was dressed in camouflage (even little boys of six or seven!) . Not too mention the fact that the diner´s walls were studded with the stuffed heads of every concievable mammal that is large enough to hunt with a shotgun (including a poor buffalo). But despite feeling a little bit out of place and at odds with the local values (a nearby store had a sign comparing advocates of gun registration to Nazis!), we had a great time exploring the park and watching the sun set over the texas hills. After two nights in the park we set off for the Laredo border crossing into Mexico...