El Capitan in the Guadalupe Mountains National Park is the 10th-highest peak in Texas, but the park also has Guadalupe Peak, the tallest mountaintop in the state

Top 10 events in 2022 for the day-tripper:

1) Guadalupe Mountains National Park turned 50 years old in September. It is one of two national parks in Texas.

2) Houston Zoo turned 100 years old in April. It is the fourth-oldest zoo in Texas.

3) Greenlights, an autobiography by Matthew McConaughey, was published in 2020. This year I discovered the audiobook read by the author, which was even more entertaining and a great way to tackle a long drive.

Austin-based art collector Laura Young paid less than $50 for a stone bust that turned out to be a priceless sculpture stolen from a German villa during World War II

4) Jacob’s Well outside of Wimberley stopped flowing in July, for only the fourth time in recorded history.

5) Meow Wolf of Santa Fe, N.M., announced new outposts of the crazy amusement portals coming to Grapevine in 2023 and Houston in 2024. Sorry, Austin.

6) Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, Okla., opened in May. I know it’s not in Texas, but Dylan fans around the world rejoiced.

7) Austin art collector Laura Young purchased a priceless, centuries-old stone sculpture of a man’s head at a Goodwill store, reminding us all to shop local.

8) Galveston Island State Park reopened the beach side of the park in June. After being damaged by Hurricane Ike in 2008, the renovated portion opened 95 new campsites.

9) The summer of 2022 was the third-hottest in the 128 years of recordkeeping.

This grass house at Caddo Mounds State Historic Site was destroyed in a tornado in April 2019, but has been rebuilt by volunteers

10) A new grass house has been built at Caddo Mounds State Historic Site. Volunteers, including members of the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, built the replacement of a replica that was destroyed in a tornado in April 2019 that also ruined the museum. The grass hut helps to give context to the ceremonial mounds at the site.

1,631st in a series. Everywhere is a day trip from somewhere: Follow “Day Trips & Beyond,” a travel blog, at austinchronicle.com/daily/travel.

This article appears in December 16 • 2022.

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Gerald E. McLeod joined the Chronicle staff in November 1980 as a graphic designer. In April 1991 he began writing the “Day Trips” column. Besides the weekly travel column, he contributed “101 Swimming Holes,” “Guide to Central Texas Barbecue,” and “Guide to the Texas Hill Country.” His first 200 columns have been published in Day Trips Vol. I and Day Trips Vol. II.