Back in the Hill Country

33 years ago, Guillermo and I were taking many trips out into the hill country. There was nothing we liked better than driving together on the little country roads, listening to Neil Diamond's "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" and seeing what wildlife we could see.
So, every year, on June 12, we remember those times way back then, and the last few years we have actually started going BACK to the hill country on that date. We drive the same routes we used to take to Blanco and always visit Tejas Trails, which back then was a nice place for us to access the Blanco River. That is totally out of the question now, as it is all fenced off. We are grateful it wasn't back then.

This year, we went back through Blanco, stopped by Tejas Trails and stopped in at a Lavender Farm to see what they had. We then drove on to Wimberley, hoping to stay in the same lodge we stayed at during Thanksgiving. But the minute we entered their parking lot, we knew it was hopeless and sure enough, there was no vacancy. So, they directed us to the Wimberley Inn, which is where we stayed. Our room was bigger than we needed, but it was very nice, and COLD, which was wonderful since the weather was so hot and humid. We loved the grounds at this inn, and after having a nice dinner at Ino'z in downtown Wimberley, we walked around in the woods there at the Wimberley Inn. We saw several deer and lots of cardinals.

The grounds at the Wimberly Inn

This was outside our room.

This is the view of Cypress Creek from our table when we were eating at Ino'z.

There were LOTS of bikers in Wimberley, and from watching the news later, we figured it was because Robbie Knievel was going to do a big jump in Austin Friday evening.

The next day, we had a late breakfast at the Wimberley Cafe and then took as many backroads as we could back to San Antonio. The most interesting road was one off of 281. The map said the road was Urschel Rd., but we never found that, instead turning on a road named Spring Branch Rd, since it was in the same area on the map that Urschel Rd. should have been. After a while, we realized we were on the right road, so they must have renamed it. It was a little road, and we accidently got off of it at one point, because the road seemed to veer left, but we didn't know it at the time, that it changed into a new road at that point.
So we went back to where it curved and realized that Spring Branch Rd. actually continued on straight onto a dirt road, and was NOW named Urschel Rd. It wasn't a very friendly road at that point, because it seemed to be the entrance gate to a ranch. But we pressed on. So, now we are on a dirt road, and pretty soon we come upon a gate across the road. Nowhere on the gate did it say no trespassing, all it said was to close the gate behind you. So, we opened it and went through. We passed three more gates like this, the last one actually with a No Trespassing sign on it. But no matter, we drove on through.
We loved that little road, and it took us right to where the map said it would. We didn't see much on this trip - we saw one wild Turkey and a few deer, but that's it. After leaving that little road, and getting back on a bigger highway, it didn't seem as interesting anymore, and we just drove straight home.

Spring Branch Creek from that little dirt road.

The plants in our yard were SUFFERING when we got home, so the first thing we had to do when we got back was water!