More Treking - Texas Hill Country #53

Traveling into the unknown, going where no canine has gone before, such is the life of the Intrepid Trekker!! Ta Da! Texas Hill Country? Trees? Streams and Lakes? Oh, be still my happy heart! This is THE beautiful area of central Texas, full of lovely valleys, spring-fed creeks and lots of good hills with nauseatingly curvy roads. We loved it. The area was settled by German immigrants in the mid-1800s, so the farms and villages have a very interesting blending of Y’all and Achtung! Names like Boerne, Fredericksburg and New Braunfels, sprinkled in with Bandera, Blanco and San Felipe, make asking for directions an adventure all by itself! We began the scenic drive by leaving Amistad on Hwy 90 to Uvalde, turning left onto Hwy 83, shooting north to the little farm road 337 and Vanderpool. We took our time over the next few days winding up through Leakey, Kerrville, Ingram and on up to Fredericksburg. Charming, quiet little towns and villages, tucked into the valleys and river bottoms of the Frio, Sabinal, Guadalupe and Pedernales Rivers. We stopped as our interests, curiosities or needs dictated but we often found ourselves in one of the Texas State Parks. These are wide ranging environments with very interesting natural or historical points of interest which we always enjoyed. So much so that we bought a Texas State Parks Pass and plan on using it over and over. Personally, I was sooooo happy to be in green, tree covered, water-fed country that I nearly wore my old self out every day just trying to sniff and mark every inch of it whenever my Gals stopped. Happy, happy puppy!







One of the best little parks in Texas was Lost Maples State Park. These bigtooth maple trees aren’t really lost they are just very selective about where they grow. Left over from the last Ice Age they only thrive in protected mountainous areas with plenty of moisture and moderate temperatures. We would love to come back in November some day for the color show. Since the trees weren’t at their bountiful best we decided to drive around looking for interesting things to photograph and looky-looky what we found! We have no idea what they are and there was no one around to ask but they smelled and looked way different so we added them to the collection.



Enchanted Rock State Natural Area is a huge dome of pink granite known as a batholith. Revered as a sacred site by local Indians it is now one of the most popular hiking areas in the state; so much so that there is a mounting erosion and compaction problem and they actually have to limit visitations sometimes. It is still a very impressive 1,825 foot high rock.





Knowing we would most likely never visit Salisbury Plain in England, we just had to check out the replica of the famous megaliths. Known as Stonehenge II, it was fashioned out of concrete by a local rancher and is 60 percent as tall and 90 percent as large in circumference as the original. Due to a visit this rancher also recreated a couple of the famous Easter Island statues.






On Hwy 290 between Fredericksberg and Johnson City my eye was caught by something bright and shiny near the edge of the road – a metallic longhorn steer, flashing his Harley Davidson parts and pieces. Created by west Texas artist Bettye Hamblen Turner, it was only one of an entire collection of works at the Benini Foundation Galleries & Sculpture Ranch. The 140 acre ranch is owned by a charismatic Italian artist, Benini, and his photographer wife, Lorraine. Establishing the ranch in 1999, because it reminded Benini of his Mediterranean homeland, they developed a large studio for his works as well a living landscape for the works of their friends and students. Driving the curving ranch roads is a trip of constant surprise as each sculpture enters your field of vision and adds a dimension of surrealism to the vast scenery.






On eastward, past LBJ National Historic Park (not a favorite President and looked pretty ho hum) to Pedernales Falls SP. This was spectacular, even with low flows due to lack of rain. Cokie spent hours photographing one of her most favorite subjects - (no, not me!) - flowing water.







Then we shot south to try to drive the Devil’s Backbone, but the wind and nasty weather made us duck over to Canyon Lake and Potter’s Creek Campground for a few days just to relax and swim for a bit and soak up some quiet.


We took a full day to drive into San Antonio for our dose of Texas history and the tour of the Alamo. What an amazing story and we found out that it is actually a shrine dedicated to the brave men and women who gave their lives there. It had also been a mission and settlement for more than 100 years before the infamous battle. Franciscan friars actually began their church as early as 1724 and the Alamo (Mexican for cottonwood) was a nearly completed structure at the time of Santa Ana’s siege. It was interesting to read the names of all of those who died in the fray and to discover familiar names like Albert Calvin Grimes and William Irvine Lewis. Kae will tap into her brother’s genealogy research and see if there might be some connection. The gardens were so lovely with amazing trees and plantings, plus the buildings and chapel just seemed to require attention and reverence at all times.









We had heard about the famous River Walk in San Antonio but didn’t really know what to expect. It is remarkable what a city can do when a river runs through it. The Ladies apologized for not being able to take me on a stroll through restaurant row but I was noble and understanding and suggested I would be fine napping in the Pod if they would bring me back a few gourmet goodies afterwards. I was and they did.










So many places, so little time, plus one really huge state! We’ll take a break and come backatcha with more Texas tall tales in journal 54. Stay tuned!