This weekend, I was hired to perform with the East Texas Symphony Orchestra. This orchestra is made up of players from the Tyler, Texas area and from players in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area (ringers). It's a fine orchestra and a great asset to the community and East Texas area.
http://www.etso.org/
I planned a nice 3 to 4 hour ride from the Dallas area to Tyler. This route ran North of I20. It wasn't all that great...a few lake bridges, lots of pine trees...until you get to just West and North of Tyler. Roads twist a bit and it gets a little hilly. Hwy 515 East of Lake Fork is a disaster of road work. Large gravel, one lane and worst of all....watered down red clay...as slippery as grease. The wooded areas are beautiful...but several hazards lurk as you'll see in some of the images I post. Shadows mixed with patches of sunlight make visiblity an issue....and wooded area very close to the roadway with little or no shoulder pose a real issue with woodland beasts.
I opted to camp at Tyler State Park http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/tyler/...just North of both I20 and Tyler (about 4 miles North of I20, 10 from downtown Tyler). The musicians coming into town do get travel allowance...but not enough to fully fund a night or two hotel stay. Camping at the Park is inexpensive and the park is very nice. Tyler State Park was created by the CCC between the years 1935-40. They built a small lake and the Park is built around this lovely lake. Small boats, using electric trolling motors or paddles are allowed. (only) I'll post a lot of images of the lake. There's a beautiful hiking trail around the lake that takes about an hour to do...at a leasurely pace.
I played several times with this orchestra last year...and posted up a few images and commentary about this same area somewhere on this site. (I'll look for the thread and edit)
There are a lot of nice roads in this area. Not so crooked or twisty....but with lots of forested area and with things to do in the area. This past weekend was the "East Texas State Fair"...good pie gang! Just about 45 minutes South of Tyler is Rusk...home to the "State Roadroad Park". The trains run from Palistine/Rusk and it's a lot of fun. http://www.texasstaterr.com/ and here http://www.texasstaterailroad.com/history.html. Well worth the effort.
Here's a few dozen images of the Park, roadways and campground....
(Joe...that next to last image is for you. Smoke from the fires at the campground over the lake) Fire, Fire, Fire
Enjoy
Forest
http://www.etso.org/
I planned a nice 3 to 4 hour ride from the Dallas area to Tyler. This route ran North of I20. It wasn't all that great...a few lake bridges, lots of pine trees...until you get to just West and North of Tyler. Roads twist a bit and it gets a little hilly. Hwy 515 East of Lake Fork is a disaster of road work. Large gravel, one lane and worst of all....watered down red clay...as slippery as grease. The wooded areas are beautiful...but several hazards lurk as you'll see in some of the images I post. Shadows mixed with patches of sunlight make visiblity an issue....and wooded area very close to the roadway with little or no shoulder pose a real issue with woodland beasts.
I opted to camp at Tyler State Park http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/tyler/...just North of both I20 and Tyler (about 4 miles North of I20, 10 from downtown Tyler). The musicians coming into town do get travel allowance...but not enough to fully fund a night or two hotel stay. Camping at the Park is inexpensive and the park is very nice. Tyler State Park was created by the CCC between the years 1935-40. They built a small lake and the Park is built around this lovely lake. Small boats, using electric trolling motors or paddles are allowed. (only) I'll post a lot of images of the lake. There's a beautiful hiking trail around the lake that takes about an hour to do...at a leasurely pace.
I played several times with this orchestra last year...and posted up a few images and commentary about this same area somewhere on this site. (I'll look for the thread and edit)
There are a lot of nice roads in this area. Not so crooked or twisty....but with lots of forested area and with things to do in the area. This past weekend was the "East Texas State Fair"...good pie gang! Just about 45 minutes South of Tyler is Rusk...home to the "State Roadroad Park". The trains run from Palistine/Rusk and it's a lot of fun. http://www.texasstaterr.com/ and here http://www.texasstaterailroad.com/history.html. Well worth the effort.Here's a few dozen images of the Park, roadways and campground....
(Joe...that next to last image is for you. Smoke from the fires at the campground over the lake) Fire, Fire, Fire
Enjoy
Forest
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