Smithville, Tx

Our campground is located on the outskirts of Smithville, an old railroad town on the Colorado River. Our first stop was the visitor's center located where else but by the old train station.



The current claim to fame is being the location for several movies filmed here such as Hope Floats, Tree of Life, and others with which I am not familiar. We enjoyed a bike ride through town looking at the historic downtown district.
Not much was happening early on Saturday.






We pedaled on into the historic area of older homes, many with a Victorian flair and a little gingerbread. The town seems to take pride in its homes and many were freshly painted in pastels. I liked that! This bed and breakfast isn't pastel but they have a geocache in their side yard. The yard was covered with plastic Easter eggs and in the side yard they have a railroad car. I think the owner's grandfather worked for the railroad. It is called the Katy House, the nickname for the MKT railroad line.




This area in Bastrop County is known as the Lost Pines Forest for the large stand of Loblolly pine trees that cover thirteen miles. These trees are more than 100 miles from the closely genetically related pines of the Piney Woods region in east Texas. In 2011 the area suffered from a tremendous fire that claimed many of the pines, not to mention many homes in the area. A lot of the rebuilding is still evident.










We have enjoyed getting to know this part of Texas and exploring these little towns.