Lake Casa Blanca State Park, Laredo, Texas

From where we stayed in Taft, Texas to Laredo was around a 4 hour drive. We saw everything from flat land, white tail deer farms, ranches, fireworks being sold on the side of the road and border patrol officers tracking off into the desert. We arrived in Laredo, and then needed to find a grocery store to fill our cooler. We found a Walmart close by however this is the only one in the area that doesn't sell meat or produce in the area. Forcing us to go down the road and find a H-E-B grocery store for meat and some produce. We did manage to get back in time to catch the sunset and cook dinner over the fire.

Sunset over Laredo.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

One full free day in Laredo, Texas, we had our morning coffee and a white tail 12 point buck and small doe came into our site. Ryan then stocked into the next field as they ran away, videoing the entire encounter. We got in a little bit of fishing before going out on the day's adventure of going into Laredo.

Casting a quick line, no bites.

Photo Credit: R.Cowie

We then ventured into Laredo, to change some Canadian cash into Mexican pesos. What a laugh! The first bank thought the cash was Euros then declined our cash, the spot next was closed. So we looked on line, found two places that said they would take Canadian cash but both declined us when we got there. We ended up taking a little bit of our USD, swapping it over to pesos. We really just hoped for the best when travelling through Mexico, since we planned on taking the toll highway the entire way.

When we returned to the park, which is right on the outskirts of Laredo. For a park to be so close to the Interstate, a subdivision and the city you do not hear too much noise. Until later in the evening when we could hear the ice cream truck and some fireworks going off.

I took a quick walk around the old abandoned house or the map called it a Museum at the top of the hill, right behind our site. There was no historical plaque to explain it and online was even less helpful, all theory based but no actual facts on the building. I will not add the speculation but it was a neat building to peer into and see the ruined structure.

Museum at Lake Casa Blanca State Park.

Photo Credit: V.Gray

We spent the rest of the evening organizing the truck, eating and drinking what we thought we couldn't take over the border. We took some time and did hike the Mesquite Bend trail in the park which is a very easy light hiking trail through the brush. We did this trail in hopes of finding where the deer were bedding down. Instead we caught a beautiful sunset and no deer.

Texas wasn't what I was expecting: the heat during the day and the cooler nights making you put a sweater on. In all honesty we were both just happy to be out of the snow on our way to warmer weather. I didn't realize how close to the border we were in Laredo. I thought we had an hour or two drive before crossing when in reality we had a 15 minute drive. Both spots were beautiful but very different, it was interesting to see some different sides of this massive state.

Cheers!

**Please note that all opinions and views expressed in this post are my own, from my own experiences. If you would like to see more pictures follow me on Instagram vikki.gray **