Goodwater Loop Trail

Today we drove over to Cedar Breaks Park on the south side of the lake to hike the first part of the Goodwater Loop Trail around Lake Georgetown. The first part of the hike winds through a cedar and oak woodlands. Much of the trail is very rocky or tangled with tree roots.

Trailhead at Cedar Breaks looks inviting.

After a while, we emerged from the woods and got a good view of Lake Georgetown.

The loop trail is marked, starting with the Cedar Breaks trailhead and going counterclockwise. We passed mile markers 1 and 2 on our way to the Crockett Garden Falls, at 2.5 miles in. At some points we had to look around to see where the trail went, until finally Ken pointed out that there are paint blazes on the trees. Going counterclockwise, you see white blazes on the right of the trail; going counterclockwise you see yellow blazes. Wish we had realized that sooner....

Vulture on the lookout on a limestone outcropping below us.

When we got to the ruins of corrals and a spring house, we started to look for the falls. A sign points down a hillside, but there is no trail. We started down and scouted around, almost giving up before we heard the falls. The spring fed falls are delicate streamers leaping down the limestone bluff.

Crockett Garden Falls seen from below.

Purple irises at Knight Spring are not native to the area but were planted by previous landowners. Lovely sight!

We sat down on a bench to eat our lunch in a shady spot looking out at the irises. A couple of backpackers had paused here also. They were on their way to Cedar Hollow Camp to spend the night.

These kayakers both have dogs in the bow. We saw and heard a couple of speedboats, but otherwise the water was calm and empty.

We did not see as much wildlife as we had hoped, though we did see lots of butterflies of various kinds and lovely wildflowers. The hike back to the trailhead was uneventful just until we were in sight of the parking lot. At that point, Ken tripped and fell, scaring heck out of both of us. He managed to scrape his hands and knees and bruise himself a bit, but no serious damage. It's so easy to lose concentration. We had been carefully picking our way through the rocks and roots, eyes open for snakes and critters. We've noticed before that there's a tendency to zone out a bit towards the end of a hike.

Here are some Murcott Mandarin oranges, very similar to Clementines. They are very sweet, seedless, and easy to eat.

Eat more Cuties! Party in your tummy! They are very sweet...
Read more!

Exploration

This morning we walked along part of the Good Water loop trail around Lake Georgetown, starting at the Jim Hogg trailhead. The first section was deceptive--wide, flat, and graveled. We saw a cautionary sign about hunting, but it's not hunting season and we have heard no shots, so we didn't worry.

Soon we found ourselves picking our way through rocky ground and limestone outcroppings, but were rewarded by a view of the lake. The lake is very low because of the lack of rain. We'll hike another longer section of the trail tomorrow.

On our way back through the campground, we stopped to check out a screen shelter. There are several scattered through the campground. Inside are 2 bunk beds and a counter, with a ceiling fan and an electrical outlet.

Our next foray, after lunch, was to check out Rio Bonito Cabin Rental and RV Park, on the San Gabriel River just west of the lake. We chatted with one of the owners, Deneen, who was very nice and showed us all around. She and her husband Ray have plans to expand and put in more RV sites. We were impressed by the friendliness, peace and quiet, and general good maintenance.

While we were out, we decided to stop at Sun City Texas, a Del Webb community nearby. The sales person was very nice and not pushy, but we were not too impressed with the floor plans. We especially wanted to see their smallest floor plan, but it has no model. The community activities and amenities sounded very positive (hiking club, RVing club, fitness center, indoor lap pool, etc.). I guess we'll keep looking. We aren't in any hurry to settle down--just doing some advance research.
Read more!

Very Hot, Very Quiet Day

The high was in the 90's again, so we took our morning walk earlier, while it was still bearable outside. We talked with the folks at the gate kiosk about hiking and got a map of the hiking trails around Lake Georgetown, but we decided to wait until tomorrow when it will be cooler to hike. Today we just stayed inside. Ken watched the Masters Tournament, and from the exclamations found it exciting. We watched part of a Ken Burns Civil War documentary.

The highlight was the first episode of the new Upstairs Downstairs on Masterpiece Classic. I love Jean Marsh, who played Rose the parlor maid in the first series. She returns to 165 Eaton Street with a new family and new adventures in 1936. We're looking forward to the rest of the episodes.
Read more!

Jim Hogg Campground

We moved to our new home for the week, Jim Hogg Campground on Lake Georgetown. It's a Corps of Engineers park, so we had just about given up hope of being able to stay here. If the government had shut down, so would all the parks and campgrounds and historic sites .... including this one. We're glad it didn't happen. This is a first come, first served park, so we were very glad to find a nice spot that would hold us. We actually have a bit of a water view out the back, though only of a narrow finger of the lake.

We're really enjoying our shelter. It was as hot as forecast today, over 90 degrees, but still pleasant in the breeze in the shade. I even managed to nod off for a few.
Read more!

Lower Falls Hike

Today we mostly stayed close to home. For our morning walk, we hiked to the Lower Falls and to some ruins in the park. The limestone all around the falls is cratered and shaped, clearly by running water, but it’s hard to imagine the creek rising that high. Right now the falls are just a few streams finding their way through and over the rocks. The pool at the bottom of the falls attracts anglers and swimmers. Today we saw one guy with a line in the water while a woman and little girl played on the shore.

To continue the hike to the ruins requires crossing the creek, which was a bit tricky since the surface of the limestone is so irregular, but we made it. The first ruins we saw were of the old homestead, where the original McKinney hoped to retreat from the world. All that’s left is the stone and masonry structure of half the house, which burned and was abandoned some time ago.

The second ruins were of the old grist mill—at least that’s what the sign said. It was hard to tell. By the time we returned home, we were ready for a shower. The high today was in the 90s, with high humidity too.

We were planning on moving tomorrow to camp on Lake Georgetown at a Corps of Engineers campground. The impending government shutdown means that we'll be going to a commercial park instead. We called Berry Springs and made reservations for two nights, hoping that the gov will get its act in order shortly!
Read more!

Bats!

We started the day with a hike to the Upper Falls, which turned out to be a narrow stream rushing its way over a limestone precipice.

Next we hiked a trail to the Rock Shelter, a natural limestone overhang that has been used by people for thousands of years.

The tree I'm passing here is called "Old Baldy"

View from inside the Rock Shelter looking down on Onion Creek

This beautiful butterfly appeared to be having a hard time. It fluttered on the path and then lay still.

This evening we went downtown to walk around Lady Bird Lake and see the great bat flight from under the Congress Avenue Bridge. The hike and bike trail around the lake, actually a wide part of the Colorado River, is very popular with runners, cyclists, and dog walkers. One section is an off-leash area where many dogs were splashing out into the water to retrieve tossed toys. We also saw lots of boaters in the water, including one crewing team accompanied by a coach in a motorboat.

As sunset neared, we made our way back to the bat viewing area provided by the Austin American Statesman. It's a grassy knoll where people gather to watch the bats emerge for their nightly feeding flight. Other folks waited on the bridge. We could hear lots of squeaking, and we could certainly smell the bats. Around 8:20 we started to see a few flying overhead. Unfortunately, by the time the large flock was flying out, it was too dark to see them. The camera view screen showed clouds of bats streaming up into the air, but the unaided eye failed to see any. August is the best viewing time, when the pups are ready to fly. Maybe we'll come back to Austin some August to see them.

Read more!

Austin Wednesday Farmers Market

We didn't have much on the agenda today. We drove to Emma Long Metropolitan Park to check out the camping possibilities there. The drive was excellent, especially the views of mansions along the City Park Drive outside the park. We saw two with their own rooftop observatories within a few blocks.

We walked around the Triangle, a group of stores and lofts by the market site while waiting for it to open. As described online, it's a small market, but we did find some things to buy, including a dozen eggs, a loaf of whole wheat bread, and some veggies. We ate fresh picked romaine in our salad for dinner, along with fresh steamed broccoli and some bread to go along with leftover meatloaf and baked potato.

Smart Car2Go! near the market

Artsy chairs at a Triangle restaurant, the Galaxy Cafe, caught Ken's eye
Read more!

Enchanted!

Today we got up early and drove west to Fredericksburg, in the Texas Hill Country, and then north to Enchanted Rock State Natural Area.

Panoramic view of the area from a UT website

I was excited to be returning to hike the rock and eager to introduce Ken to it. My earlier visit was 17 or 18 years ago on a camping trip with Chris, who had been impressed with it on a Boy Scout camping trip a few years before. We arrived just before 11:00 a.m. and found the parking lots nearly empty. On the weekends in season, we'd seen warnings that the line of cars waiting to get in can extend out to the main road, and sometimes the gates are just closed until 5:00 p.m. because there are too many visitors.

We hiked the Summit Trail first, about 1.5 miles round trip with nearly 800 feet of elevation gain. The trail wasn't crowded, but we did see other folks along the route and walking around the top of the rock. The view from the top made the steep ascent well worthwhile! It's a 360 degree panorama of the surrounding countryside. "Enchanted" seems an apropos word to describe the experience, expansive and even exalting.

Along the way you see lots of boulders and rock sheets that have "exfoliated" from the granite batholith. At the top, depressions created by weathering shelter small plant communities that have gained a toehold on the solid rock. The depressions are called vernal pools, but they held no water this season. The park, like McKinney Falls, has a burn ban in effect because of the lack of rain. Sometimes it's excessively windy or hot at the top, but we were lucky to find it warm and just breezy for the most part.

When we returned to the base, we ate our picnic lunch and prepared to take the Loop Hike, a 4.5 mile trail that encircles not just Enchanted Rock, but also its smaller neighbors, Little Rock, Turkey Peak, and Freshman Mountain. For the most part it's a level, easy trail. We saw buzzards circling lazily overhead, especially near the hill called Buzzards Roost. We enjoyed the view of the west side of the Rock and saw some climbers near the top. We passed the three primitive camping areas used by backpackers.

On our next visit, we'll take the Echo Canyon and Turkey Peak trails to get a closer view of the base of the Rock.

Getting ready for the Summit Trail

Art in the interplay of light and shadow, returning to the parking lot after the Summit Trail.

After our visit to Enchanted Rock, we drove back to Fredericksburg for a stroll around the old German town and dinner at Kelly's Cafe. We had delicious blue corn chicken enchiladas, a bottle of local chardonnay from Becker Vineyards, and blueberry sorbet for dessert.

Whimsical carrot at the next-door Juicerie

Kelly's Cafe, where we had dinner
Read more!

Uneventful Day

We had a quiet day today. This morning it rained briefly and intermittently, but certainly not enough to lift the burn ban here. The area has had almost no rain for some time now. It cleared up pretty quickly, but we still carried umbrellas on our walk.

We explored the park a bit and discovered that the Smith Visitor Center is open only Friday-Sunday afternoons (it's staffed by volunteers). We went to a laundromat, The Wash Tub, to do our weekly laundry and read through some Austin visitor info.

We decided to go to Enchanted Rock tomorrow and downtown another day to see the bats and hike the lake and see what's up in Austin.
Read more!

McKinney Falls State Park

This morning we headed out to McKinney Falls State Park, only a 28 mile trip. On the way we stopped at Walmart for a few things and at a U-Haul for propane. We wanted to time our arrival at the park just before the 2:00 p.m. check-in time. We got there at 1:40 p.m., just right so we had time to look around at the sites to pick out one that would work for us (long enough and view of the southern sky).

It took us longer than usual to back in to our site and get set up, no surprise since we haven't done this for many months now. We're in site 23, a very nice site except that like many of the back-ins here, the picnic table and patio are on the street side of the rig, so our door faces out towards some bushes and the road.

We're looking forward to a few days of exploring the area and taking it easy.
Read more!

San Marcos

It turned out that McKinney Falls had nothing open today at all, so we ended up staying at San Marcos Springs RV Park. It's a small park, very close to I-35, but not too noisy. We found it listed in our Escapees discount parks book, but the lady who took our money didn't seem to know anything about an Escapees discount.

It appears that we may be the only travelers in the park. The other sites all appear to be occupied by long term residents. But it's a nice little park, with lots of shade trees and flowers.

On the way here we stopped at the San Marcos Tanger Outlet Center. We checked out the Eddie Bauer store, the Skechers store, Timberland, and Rockport. We tried on Crocs at the Croc store, but none fit. My only triumphant purchase was a jar of Robert Rothschild Farm Ginger Wasabi Sauce for $1.50, 75% off, at Le Gourmet Chef.

Read more!

Moving Day Again

We hitched up and hit the road again this morning, headed toward Austin. Our first night's stop, as always, is Tips Park in the little town of Three Rivers, about 150 miles north. For us, with stops to walk around and have lunch, that takes four hours, just about right.

We know we're headed north when the mesquite starts to appear along the roadside.

Falfurrias Checkpoint screens for drugs and illegal immigrants

Look closely and you'll see the canine at work.

The campground is always pretty full, but tonight it's even more so, because the town has a Salsa Festival tomorrow. We ended up in a pull-through with only 20 amp electric for $5, which suits us just fine. The park host was telling us how much demand there is for spaces, almost entirely from oilfield workers. The campground is in the shadow of a huge Valero refinery. They've added several new sites, and they were all full within two days, so we're lucky they found a spot for us.

Read more!

Last Day

Today is our last day in the Valley, so we made some progress on getting ready to move. One project was cleaning up our bikes, putting them up on the rack, and getting the bike cover on. Another was checking the air in the truck tires. Ken showed me how to do it. The front tires are just ordinary, but the rear tires are duallys, and it takes some extra gymnastics to get at the valves, especially for the inside duallys.

We also worked on our entertainment center speaker wires. The speakers have been acting up. We removed and reattached some of the wires, and now it seems to be working fine, so we screwed down the tie-down strap, ready to move. We are definitely in the market for a replacement for the Curtis receiver.

We did some trip planning and made some phone calls. It took several tries before I reached Tips Park, our destination tomorrow night. I also had to make a few calls to reach the City of Warsaw to inquire about reservations for their Riverfront Park. The lady I spoke with said that they don't accept reservations, so it's first come, plus since it's on the river, there's always the possibility of flooding. We agreed to call back the week before our planned arrival to check on this.

We made our goodbyes with our friends in the park, everyone wishing everyone safe travels for the summer. It's definitely time to head north. The weather here is getting hotter, with many days in the 90s, and that trend will only continue.

Tonight we went to our final dance of the season, called by Darryl Lipscomb. The group is down from 10 squares at its peak to just four squares last night. We had fun dancing with friends and chatting about everyone's summer plans. After the dance, some of the group went to the DQ, so we got our last chance to visit with Hardy and Judy, Steve and Jan, Bob and Marilyn, and Hal and Dorothy. We parted with hugs and promises to keep up via Facebook and our blogs. Some of the folks we'll see in June at AACE.
Read more!

Roof Cleaning

Today was overcast and relatively cool, so it made a good day to get some chores done to get ready to move Friday. We took up our patio mat and hosed it down. It cleaned up well, but we had to hold it up off the ground to avoid getting more mud on it as we worked.

Next I cleaned the roof and Ken cleaned the truck. Everything around here seems to get dirty quickly. We sure did! By the time we were done, both of us had to clean the mud off our shoes and put our wet muddy clothing in a laundry basket to take over to the laundry room later.

After lunch we sprayed silicone on our slide rams. Then we cleaned the tire covers and put them up. Finally we put air in all the trailer tires. They were all down 5-7 lbs. from the 80 lbs. we keep them at.

We also had to reattach the large valance over our picture window, which just suddenly dropped from the ceiling this morning. This is the second valance that has fallen, both in the same slideout, apparently because no anchors were used to hold the screws.

We put the load of laundry in the washer to wash while we took our afternoon walk. Then we put the clothes in the dryer and headed to the spa and showers, except that Ken had to stay out of the spa, poor guy, because he had scraped his shin open sliding as he went down the wet slippery ladder after climbing up to see the roof.
Read more!

Home Again

Did I mention how much I hate air travel? and traffic congestion? Today was a double whammy. First Terri and I got stuck in a massive traffic slowdown on the George Washington Parkway on the way to Reagan National. It was beginning to look like I was going to miss my flight. I felt bad that Terri had to go through the stress and hassle of driving in that congestion too. The traffic finally opened up a bit, and we made it in time. I had planned to arrive at 10:30 a.m. for my 11:45 flight (75 minutes before, just as the Delta site suggested). I ended up getting there after 11:00, but the security lines were short, and I made it to the gate with no problem.

However, my online itinerary said that a change had made it likely that I would miss my connection in Memphis! I had only 32 minutes to make the flight from Memphis to McAllen to start with. The flight from DCA arrived a bit late, and I sprinted from Gate B33 to Gate B5, only to find that my flight was delayed for airplane maintenance. At least I had made the connection, and it turned out that the flight was delayed only about half an hour. The bottom line was that I made it home safely, in one piece. I was very glad to see Ken at the end of my long stressful trip.
Read more!

Thrift Adventures

This morning Terri and I set out to visit the Unique Thrift Shop. It offers a 25% discount across the board on Mondays. I found several things I liked, but most didn't fit, darn it! Still, I had fun looking, and Terri found several tops she liked.

Molly got her hair cut today. She's had it long for some time, so the short locks are cute and different, but she's not entirely sure she likes the cut. We'll see.

This evening we went to Ledo Pizza for dinner. Blake and I shared a buffalo chicken pizza (definitely different, but good). Molly stuck with the actual buffalo chicken wings. They seemed unusual, since they were just fried chicken served with blue cheese, celery, and hot sauce, but Molly seemed to like them.

We talked about their plans (hopes) for being stationed in Singapore next year. There a special rules for American military living there. For example, they can't bring a car. You have to have a special permit to even buy a car in Singapore, but they'll inherit the embassy permit that is being used by the family they'll be replacing in the post. They'll probably buy that family's car too.

Molly made banana bread, using Kelley's special moist recipe, so we had a yummy snack while watching Dancing with the Stars! Blake built another fire, and I had a final toasted marshmallow before heading for bed.
Read more!

Cooking and Baking

Terri made Mt. Ranier White Chicken Chili for dinner today. It was a special request from me. She makes the *best* chicken chili ever.

Terri and Molly went with me on my afternoon walk today. Molly is young, fast, and adventurous, so it's exciting to walk with her.

Tonight we watched The Santa Clause! Guess we were celebrating Christmas in March. It reminded me of Miracle on 34th Street--but I like the original much better. Blake built a fire in the fireplace and we had s'mores and stayed cozy warm.
Read more!

Cherry Blossom Festival

Today was the opening day of the 2011 National Cherry Blossom Festival, celebrating "spring in Washington, DC, the gift of the cherry blossom trees and the enduring friendship between the people of the United States and Japan." The weather didn't exactly cooperate with the "spring" part. It was quite cold, but the sun was shining and the trees were spectacular. Peak bloom is expected next week, but the blossoms were enough to dazzle my eyes even a few days early.

 Terri with spectacular cherry blossoms in front of the Washington Monument

We had been thinking of attending the opening ceremonies, but decided to walk around the Tidal Basin and just admire the blooms instead. An unexpected experience was a tour of the FDR memorial, which is located along the cherry tree walk. It was dedicated in 1997 and memorializes FDR's four terms as president and the historic events through which he guided his country. A man who was taking photographs at the memorial commented that FDR was responsible for the rise of the middle class in America--and that many of the advances he fought for were in jeopardy now.

 Terri and Blake by the Tidal Basin

 Blake, Molly, and Terri on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial

Molly snapping away--she must have taken hundreds of photos.

As we were walking toward the Washington Monument at the end of our stroll around the Tidal Basin, Shirley called to say that my cousins were sitting on the wall by the Pink Stage near the monument. We walked over to join them. It was a happy coincidence that I happened to be in DC the same weekend that Beth and Shirley and Marissa were visiting Hazel's daughter Mary and the the twins, Sean and Claire. We took advantage of the festival to meet up and had planned to eat dinner together, but ended up having coffee and snacks at a museum cafe. It gave us all a chance to visit, and the kids got to go look at dinosaur bones. By that time I was tuckered out and it was getting colder with nightfall approaching, so we said goodbye and headed home.

Beth, Mary, and Shirley at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum Cafe

Read more!

Lemoncello

Today was a pretty quiet day. I went for a walk this morning and found myself freezing. It turned out that it was 35 degrees, and according to Weather.com, "feels like 29"--brrr! Afterward Terri and I went shopping. We stopped at Target, where Terri picked up a few things. I got a digital probe oven thermometer like one that Terri has. Hers worked really well on the chicken we baked yesterday.

Then we stopped at a couple of grocery stores. One had the La Brea Bakery bread that Ken and I like, although not the specific kind we usually get. We also stopped at the Hudson Trail Outfitters, where I finally found a pair of hiking pants I've been looking for for two years.

Tonight we went to Lemoncello for dinner. I had gotten Terri a gift certificate there for her birthday, and somehow it just hadn't worked out for her to redeem it. The food was delicious, especially the tiramisu. Molly and I shared a linguine with pesto and chicken that was also very tasty.
Read more!

Bethesda

I woke up this morning in Bethesda, on EDT--at least, that's what my Droid said. My brain is still on Central time and not quite sure what happened to that hour that disappeared, just when I had managed to adapt to Daylight Saving Time. Also, I've moved from summer to winter, or at least very early spring. Fortunately, Terri had a nice down vest she was donating to Goodwill, so I'm using that under my jacket. It helps a lot!

I didn't see Molly until this afternoon, because she of course was up and off to school before I opened my eyes this morning. It was so nice to see her again. She's so full of life, thoughtful, and talkative. She brightens the day.

Terri and Molly and I watched an episode of Alton Brown's Good Eats devoted to Eggs Benedict. They are anxious to try it out--even making the English muffins from scratch. Molly likes to bake bread type things. I was very impressed by the technique for poaching the eggs and holding them ready. I've never had much luck poaching eggs in water (as opposed to in an egg poacher).

I took my usual walks around the neighborhood today. For my first walk I was alone and glad to have my GPS to guide me. Terri and Molly walked with me this evening. I was struck by the hills, since I've been in flat country for some time now. They pointed out their favorite houses. We saw lots of flowering trees and forsythia in bloom and talked with dog owners out walking their dogs. One was a poodle mix from a dog rescue outfit in DC, really cute and friendly. Molly and Kelley would love to have a dog, but since they're renting, they're not allowed to have pets. Molly suggested they could take their goldfish for a walk.
Read more!