RV Tent Camping & The Lone Star Town

March 12, 2011 by libertatemamo 8 Comments

“So I know your site says tent-camping only, but do you think I might be able to fit a 40-foot RV in there?” I asked in hopeful anticipation

You see I’m rather the determined (some might even venture to say pig-headed) optimistic type. The website did say the place had an “open air feeling”, and asking never hurt so I figured I would give it the good ‘ol Texas try, now that we’re here and all…

“Weeeellll” said the voice at the other end, after a somewhat hesitant pause “no-one has ever asked me that before, but actually I can’t see why not”

And that is how we ended up tent-camping in the RV. It was the discovery of yet another lovely boondocking site, and it won’t surprise you to know that we were the only Class A there. We had moved North of Houston you see, primarily to visit a childhood friend of my mom’s (reconnected after ~50 years thanks to the miracle of Facebook) when I noticed what looked like a large and interesting forest on the map, Sam Houston National Forest, that just happened to allow free dispersed camping.

Thanks to a healthy bout of optimism and a call to the Ranger we spent our first night here in a wonderfully ample open green field with nothing but the sounds of owls and a sprinkling of wind in the pine trees that surrounded our view. Ahhh yes, back in the forest and alone at last. More campers have since arrived (start of Spring Break you know), but this will go down as yet another lovely boondocking site for our Texas trip…and perhaps the first time in history that a 40-foot RV “beast” has masqueraded as a tenter?

But it seems serendipity was not done with us. Over a lovely dinner with the Danes, Jorgen and Ulla, we discovered that were right next to the birth-town of the Texas flag. This was certainly going to the heart of things and an opportunity not to be missed. So, with the tide of a perfect day behind me, I headed down the ~10 miles to Montgomery to see how it all started

Montgomery, as it turns out, is one of the oldest towns in Texas. It’s a quant little historic town sprinkled with antique-shops, a barber and a few eateries, all perfectly preserved in ~1 sq.mile of space. It started off as a trading post back in 1826 and by 1837 it was chartered and home to Dr. Charles Bellinger Stewart, a Montgomery postmaster and pharmacist and the first Secretary of State for the Republic of Texas. He was an imaginative man, and I imagine a well-connected one, for he was commissioned to create an official flag for the Republic, then still flagless and in its infancy. He drew up a simple design of single star with 3 rectangles of red, white and red signifying loyalty, purity and bravery. It was approved by President Lamar in 1839, and became the seal and flag when Texas became a state in 1845.

These days, the little town stands as a historic marker and flies several of the Lone Star Flags, as well as catering to antique shoppers and curious tourists like me. I couldn’t find the actual birthplace home, but I did come across a monument to the Montgomery town goat, an intrepid caprine from 1906 who hung around town and became both a regular at the saloon and a local celebrity. So for this town, at least, the goat gets prize. Another boondocking site review tomorrow so stay tuned..