Got up and on the road relatively early because the forecast is for the strongest winds in the early afternoon. It was a windy drive but the trailer pulled fine. It’s obvious eh this is called “hill country” and it is beautiful terrain with great vistas to see across the valleys.
Arrived at the entrance to Pedernales Falls State Park and was surprised to discover three more miles of narrow winding, hilly road to get to the headquarters. Some of the dross road culverts have sluice gates on the downstream end which can be manually closed. I assume this is for flood control of some sort but it is unusual.
Since this is my first time visiting a Texas state park, I’m not sure what to expect. The campground is another mile past the headquarters and is great. Spaces are spread out with a lot of trees. The camp is in a valley and there is no cell phone service here at all. It is beautiful and quiet. Walked to a scenic overlook near the campground and talked with a few neighbors before heading into Johnson City.
On the drive to town, I was surprised that nearing the bottom of every small valley the road crossed there was a warning sign to watch for water over the road and then at the bottom of every hill beside the road there are flood depth gauges standing 5’ above the road surface. I guess they are serious about the potential for flooding! I found it a little strange that at these crossing there appeared to only be one or two small culverts so the road crossings are designed to flood.
Found the visitors center for the LBJ childhood home in Johnson City and took a tour of the 1901 home. They also have original buildings and a homestead from the mid 1800’s open for walking tours. I saw my first longhorn steer and they are BIG.
Grabbed dinner at a place recommended by someone at the park called the Silver K Café. Had honey pecan glazed fried chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans. Good down home cooking.
Saw our fist tumble weed blowing across the road on our way back to the camp. Between that and the longhorns we’re surely in Texas!
When we returned to the park, we drove to the parking area near the falls since it is a mile or so from the campground. Sunny and I walked to the scenic overlook of the falls and discovered they have steps and navigable granite slabs down to the river. The falls are basically huge, sloping granite slabs, almost like table tops with the lower two legs removed, which the water flows across. We took the steps to the bottom and wandered to the river. It took all of about two seconds before Sunny jumped in. I kept her in a small ‘inlet’ area off the main channel because the water is very swift near the falls. After swimming for just a couple minutes, Sunny tried to lead me away. Instead I kind of hung out and she got into the water again, cross the small inlet and started climbing the gravel slope on the opposite side towards some folks enjoying the view. I called her back and she turned, ran down the slope and dove into the water. She reminded me of the long jump dog competitions I’ve seen on TV except the move was executed by an old dog who was feeling young at the time. We played around down by the water a for a little while and Sunny totally wanted to run and explore. Knowing we had the steps to go back up, I didn’t let her expend too much energy on the beach. We made it back up the hill to the parking area and Sunny was clearly tired. Her back left leg was kind of vibrating from muscle spasms. Not that she was complaining since she wanted to keep going, but not wanted to wear her out I put her in the truck and drove around the park before getting back to the camp.
Sunny still wanted to walk more but knowing the condition of her leg I made the decision to stay.
After dark I stepped out and was amazed at the night sky. So many stars and satellites were visible. I remember when I was a kid how rare it was to see a satellite passing overhead. They’re not so rare anymore. Predictions are for freezing temperatures tonight.
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