After Leaving Monahans Sandhills State Park, we headed east to Abaline State Park. We did no interstate on the way there. We got to drive several hours on the two lane Texas highways. There were a lot of interesting sights that mom got to see while I was driving. Driving not on the interstate is usually interesting. This drive was mostly ranches and farms. Arriving at Abaline State Park was a bit confusing. The lake entrance is different from the campground and there was construction on the highway, but GPS steered us correctly and we arrived without making any extra turns. The campground was beautiful and the weather was perfect. We got to sleep with the back of the camper open for the first time. Deer wandered through the campground and I heard wild hogs in the bushes on one of my evening walks on the trail by the creek. The creek trail went to a fishing pond. I tried learning to set up and cast my fly rod for the first time. I was nervous about hooking a dog with a hook. The dogs were patient while I practiced then they got to check out the pond from a floating dock. I think I need a regular fishing rod for areas with grass (I kept catching the grass) and practice with the fly fishing rod when it is open. I don't want to use bait though, I will have to stick with lures. I can't see killing something just to catch something else you are planning on releasing again. There were a few flowers at Abaline, mostly sunflowers and dotted gayfeather, that ID hasn't been confirmed though.
Monahans Sandhills State Park in Texas is a really neat place. I was expecting sandhills from the name, but not all the flowers, the blue sky, and the light reflecting off the white sand. The sand was a bit hot to walk in barefoot and it was hard to walk in. It seems to be a popular place for portrait photography. I saw 2 portrait sessions going on during the golden sunset hour. We watched people climb up and sled down. The smaller people and kids had better luck with the sledding than the adults. The adults didn't go far or fast. I climbed to the top of a dune with the dogs and the dunes went on for a long ways. It was tempting to explore more, but difficult to walk. We played around in the sand. The dogs had fun running in it and Tippy dug in it. Roudy, however, ate it. He was sick all over the camper. Yuck. I moved their pen onto the pavement so he couldn't eat any more. Tippy and Peanut were not too pleased with this, they liked nestling down in the sand. The walk around the campground loop was gorgeous, as was watching the sun set, the moon rise, and the sun rise over the dunes. Mom said watching the moon set was gorgeous also. I missed that. The park is really big. There is a nature trail by the entrance. We didn't walk it because it was too far from the campground and we didn't unhitch. There were bird tracks all over the sand, but we only saw one bird flying. I was surprised at this. I would like to find out when the birds are there and go back, but not in the summer. It was warm enough in September. The white flowers are pholox heliptrope, the yellow are sunflowers, the grass is sand bluestem. I did not find out exactly which sunflower the yellow ones are. There are a lot of different types.
