Canyon Lake to Columbus – 12 February 2023
As we entered into Columbus the arid vegetation changed to that of lush grass and lots of Oak tree. The Thousand trails Colorado RV Resort in Columbus where we stayed for the next 4 nights was a huge property. Once you enter the gates there is a long drive down to the bottom of the resort where the RVs are. They have built a medium sized man made lake in the middle where people can fish and at the bottom of the property you can see the Colorado river which is quite brown, from an embankment above. The campground was lovely and green with lots of Oak trees. There were hundreds of birds from cardinals to turkey vultures. I even saw a long trail of Leaf Cutter ants carrying blades of grass and leaves to their nests. These ants have specially adapted jaws to saw off pieces of plant and can carry fifty times their body weight. Interestingly, they don’t eat the plants they take to their nests but rather let them decompose into fungus which they then eat. The weather was lovely and warm during our stay though quite humid.
We took a drive into downtown Columbus and walked around the historic district. Columbus is known for its “Like Oaks and Live Folks.” There was a very impressive court house which I snuck into. The ceiling of one of the court rooms on the 2nd floor had a blue and green glass dome which was very beautiful. We also saw several other historic buildings around town including banks, churches and an opera house. The center of town had lots of heritage homes as well. One of the most advertised tourist attractions was the 2nd largest oak tree in Texas. It was very impressive with its massive truck and branches. The tree is 70ft tall with a trunk circumference of 329 inches. This tree was estimated to be 500 years or older.
The stay at the resort was very pleasant and I enjoyed daily walks on the property. On one such walk, Derek was ahead of me and Jax on a dirt path leading down to the river. He suddenly turned to me and said to get out of the area as he had heard a deep growl. Well he didn’t have to tell me twice as I fled with Jax. We think it might have been an Alligator but hard to know.
Before we left Columbus we went for a beer and fries at the local brewery “Hound Song.” I was hoping to see the Santa Claus museum in Columbus but unfortunately it was closed that day.
