The Hill Country

Judy. I’ve wanted to see the Hill Country of Texas for as long as I can remember. Ted’s reminded me of that: “So how long have you been asking me to come here? Thirty years?” Fortunately, we both have truly enjoyed it. And once again, it was not what I would have expected.

Our "Quaint Cabin"

When we arrived a week ago, there was not a bluebonnet to be seen, and the only wildflowers we saw were little yellow daisy-like blooms in the harsh, 

rocky, thorny hills. Our cabin was located on a ranch, and as we drove up the driveway, I was relieved to see that the main house and cabin were surrounded by beautiful trees, some sort of gnarled oak that gives this part of Texas a special beauty. We found out later that this is a species of live oak that is smaller than those found in Georgia. Our little cabin had a screened porch, a lovely Texas mountain laurel bush covered in purple blooms, and a resident tame deer who stopped by to beg. And we found we were on a Monarch butterfly migration route—right by the cabin. They loved stopping to snack on the mountain laurel!

Chatting with "Petsy"

Filling up for the journey

With the Covid-19 threat rearing its head, we found ourselves just driving through towns, sometimes getting out to walk, as in the charming town of Comfort, or to take our chances to eat some seriously fine Texas Barbecue in Kerrville (and scrub our hands like mad before and after). With the ranch up on a ridge, we found we could see changes in the countryside as we drove around, and began to appreciate how different this area is.

Our front view

On the ridge

One day we drove to Pedernales Falls State Park to hike. It’s spring break, and we were supposed to make a reservation to get in—true for all of the parks in this area. Fortunately, most of the hundreds of people there were at the Pedernales Falls area, and we were in the opposite direction, crossing the river on foot, and climbing up to a ridge for a five mile hike. I can’t say it’s the prettiest hike I’ve ever taken, but the park was originally a ranch (a bequest to the state), and it was interesting to see old stone fences and corrals now covered in brush. We saw very few people on our walk, and it was good to get outdoors. 

Pedernales Park view

We drove in Fredericksburg and Dripping Springs on separate occasions to buy groceries and see something new, and got a taste of the empty shelves and long lines to buy food during the possible quarantine. Interestingly, it didn’t seem to keep folks from shopping and gathering in tight groups. We kept our distance!  

Typical Fredericksburg house

Another day we drove to Llano to stand on a bridge (social distancing) and watch the World Championship Rock Stacking contest. There were categories in artistic creations, height, balance and arches. We couldn’t get too close, but enjoyed it—it inspired Ted to try his own hand at rock stacking on one of our ranch walks. 

World Championships!

New hobby?

On our way home, we stopped to look at Enchanted Rock—the Hill Country version of Georgia’s Stone Mountain. It is truly beautiful, but the line of hikers walking up the hill looked like those photos of folks waiting to summit Mount Everest!

Enchanted Rock

Back at the ranch, there was plenty enough to do.  We walked down to an overlook that Larry, our host, told us about, to watch a glorious sunset, watched as Larry flew his gyrocopter around the area, walked to another overlook for a view for miles.

Larry's gyrocopter

Sunset from the ridge

The walk back to the cabin

Each time we drove out, as we began to descend the hills, we saw more and more wildflowers, exactly what I had hoped for! I knew we’d not see meadows blanketed in bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush, but we saw enough to know what a knockout view it would be in a few weeks.

Early in the week

Toward the end of the week

Yeah, it was worth waiting thirty years to see.