Hill Country Birthday Weekend - Day Two

Happy Birthday Mister!  Yep, we are the same age again.  Ha ha.  As soon as we are showered and packed up, the first spot we look for is a coffee shop and we find this cute little place one block off Main Street.  It's a cozy, little place and we grab a couple of pastries to go along with our liquid warmth.  While we are there, the place fills until there is a long line waiting to be served.

It's time to point ourselves north again.  The weather is turning and we want to be home before it gets too bad, however we also want to enjoy our day and check out a few places along the way.  We retrace our drive from last night and are off towards Johnson City.  I discover that it is the birthplace of Lyndon B. Johnson and wonder if they changed the name after he became president.  The answer is no.  His family settled in that area and it was founded by an uncle of his.  In addition to the courthouse, right across the street is the old jail.  I say old, but it is still in use today.  Amazing.  They have added onto it, but only for office space.

Just outside of Johnson City is a turn off toward Pedenales Falls State Park and that is where we wish to explore a bit today.  In addition to the main falls, supposedly there are more falls in a little known area.  We head for the campground and park between spaces 19 and 21 to take the path to them.  Our communication is not perfect at this point and I get confused and think we are on the wrong path.  So we turn around and head back towards the car where there is a sign with some information on it.  We weren't on the wrong path, we just didn't go far enough.  Oh well, no time now.  We gotta get to the main falls.

Across the park, we leave the car and are off on another small walk.  At the end of the path --- we spot our destination.  It's time for some fun.

This wonderful sand could rival any beach and naturally the rock stackers have been busy.  While we are walking on the sand, Mister spots a beautiful bird across the water on a little "island".  I set my mind to getting a picture of it and start the journey closer.  This is about as close as I can get and just after I take this picture, he wanders into the brush.

Within seconds I let Mister know to get his camera ready.  And . . .

Okay, enough with the bird.  I want to see what the rocks have to offer.  There are all sorts of smooth rock openings that fill with water at times.

I catch Mister checking out a small creek that is flowing rapidly and as always, wonder what his eye is seeing.  Oh to be able to put the lens to it the way he does.  Here is his view.

Just past this area, I have discovered the way to get over to the falls and it requires me to slide down some rocks on my bum.  I tell Mister to do the same, but oh heavens no -- he must stay on his feet no matter how difficult.  I have found another area with rapidly flowing water and sit down to check it out.  I have a camera also -- can I get a good picture of this?

I give it a try -

Meanwhile, Mister is looking for the source of this water as it is flowing rapidly but appears to come right out of the sand.  He discovers it and we both stand and watch for quite awhile.  Very cool.

It is time to get a closer look at the falls.  I would like to get to the other side of them if I can.  In order to get to the upper level, we have to overcome the large boulders on our side.  This means that we kind of have to hike away from the water for a bit and work our way back down to it.  (All of this is on the left of the picture below).  As we are wandering through the woods, I spot these lichen covered rocks.  Aren't they cool?  Mister just keeps asking me where I am going.  I don't really know but am determined to find a way across the falls.

Finally I am far enough up that as I come out of the woods, I am able to get on the rocks around the falls.  There is one spot that it looks like I can get across to see the other side and I set off on my little journey.

As soon as I get to the other side, I take a seat and thoroughly enjoy the beauty in front of me.  It was WELL worth working my way over here.  Caves, great rock formations, and some great bird watching.  Perfect.

It's been about 3 hours since we arrived and we really need to get started home so we start the hike back.  Once we are in the car and leaving the area, Mister spots a "bird watching blind" so we have to check it out.  What an awesome place.  There is an outer courtyard and two indoor areas for viewing.  I took this photo of a tree because I want to remember to show my family up north how the mistletoe grows.  It's hard to see it when the trees are leafed out.  Inside the first indoor blind, we spot a beautiful cardinal sitting in the tree as if he doesn't have a care in the world.  Lovely.  These blinds are so nice.  Definitely a place to come back to this spring and fall.  It's a bit cool today and the temps are dropping even as we sit here.

All too soon we are back on the road.  The Lampasas (yeah, BIG discussion on how to pronounce that one - looked it up and it is lam-passes.  Go figure) Country Courthouse is pretty dang amazing.  How regal is this?

We are driving on farm roads off the beaten path but for some reason all of the county seats are along these roads.  It's pretty cool.  Next stop for a courthouse picture is Gatesville and the Coryell County building.  WOW.  Out in the middle of nowhere sits this incredible building.

As we continue our path, the road turns and we are truly on back roads now.  We come to Mosheim and discover this wonderful old school building.  It is just a shell of it's former glory, but what a treat to find.

Our wonderful back road trip is coming to an end.  The rain is really starting to fall and we are almost to Hillsboro, which is where we will jump onto the interstate for the rest of the drive home.  We need to make some time now in order to beat the worst part of the storm.  One last look at the Hillsboro courthouse and we are off to the interstate.

This has been a great trip and both Mister and I have enjoyed just being away from everything at home and spending some fun time together.  Again, Happy Birthday Mister.  Here is a map of our route just in case anyone is at all interested.  See ya soon out in the blog-o-sphere.