Wednesday, November 29, 2006





Farewell Texas Hill Country, Hello Freeport/Surfside

This is my last post from the Texas Hill Country. Tomorrow I pack up and head for Surfside. I have very much enjoyed my time here in Bandera, but even so I am looking forward to some new experiences on the Gulf Coast. Before I leave I wanted to show a few pictures of the Hill Country from the last few days.


Last week I visited the Hill Country State park again and took the above picture of the old ranch house at the entrance to the park. Then I took several trails further West in the park, which are the more rugged areas. The following were from Cougar Canyon overlook.

Also, I noticed over the past few days that Cool Water Acres has undergone a transition in colors since I've been here. When I arrived the cypress were in full color, but little else was changing. Now, the cypress are nearly defoliated and the spanish oak are a brilliant red and the pecan/hickory and other trees have turned yellow. So, for your enjoyment I'm including a couple more pictures from here on the place where I've continued to enjoy hikes despite the fact that I've been over all the trails many times.

Also, on Sunday night I decided to visit a church in Utopia that I had seen when I visited Garner State park. I was invited to dinner with several members at the Lost Maples cafe and had a great visit with Christians both at church and at the cafe. I plan on visiting again for an old fashioned singing tomorrow evening. On the way I couldn't resist stopping to take this picture of the scenic road near Utopia.

Today I visited Kerrville and Fredericksburg. I took a short hike along the Gualalupe river near Kerrville and took this picture of a small waterfall over a dam and the picture below of the trail.

One of the more amazing things here is the wildlife...deer, wild pigs, armadillos, etc. I've seen axis, llama and even a buffalo. I've even seen a few woodpeckers with partially red heads. I think of them all as redheaded woodpeckers, but according to a bird book I found around the place they may officially be ladder backs. Amazingly, they always seem to avoid getting caught in a decent photo. But probably the funniest is this ostrich (I think) which was strolling along highway 16 between Medina and Kerrville this afternoon.

I hope everyone is doing well and if all goes according to plan I will weigh in soon with a post from Surfside, although I won't have full time internet access as I've had here.

1 comment:

nemattox said...

You've seen such beautiful things in the hill country. I hope your visit to Surfside is just as relaxing and scenic!