On The Road Again

After shipping two sets of stuff to California, I spent several hours cramming everything else into my car beforeI spending a long weekend working my way west. I left Galveston really early on Friday and went to see my daughter and only grandson who live in Dripping Springs, a little town near Austin, Texas.  I left food and water for the cat, watered all the plants, and  had also painted another deck before I left. Zootie, the little Brittany spaniel, went with me for a little vacation of her own.

Not finished yet

My companion, Zootie , who got taken back to Galveston on Sunday

I had wanted to take my grandson, Cian camping but we have had several wildfires in the Texas Hill Country and his mom thought it would be a bad idea.  I also had found that I couldn't get a camping spot at Perdenalas Falls State Park where Cian and I had enjoyed many hours together. So we decided to set up my tent in the front yard and camp there on Friday night. He had to go to a birthday party on Saturday so his mom and I went shopping and out to lunch on Saturday.  Cian and I walked the dog and then rode our bikes around his neighborhood. Then, on Sunday, we decided to go to Pedernalas Falls SP for several hours. This park is famous for some beautiful falls on the Pedneralas River but the water is so low that there are no falls there now.  It also has two wonderful bird blinds in the same area, with a native plant garden in between them.

Cian and I always start by looking at the birds there. Then he wanted to go down to the swimming part of the river where he and I would often spend all day.  I would go down the 100 steps with a pack on my back that held water, lunch, a tarp, a sleeping pad, towels, extra clothes, a hammock, my camera, and a book. Cian carried his sand toys in  a bag. He played in the sand and the river for several hours and then took a nap before going back home.

He counted the steps going and coming this time and got 101 on the way down and 103 on the way up.  The river was so low, we could wade most of the way across it without getting our shorts wet. Cian always tries to climb the "humungous" rock and found that he could do it this time.

View of swimming area of Pedernalas River

Humungous Rock

On top of Humungous Rock

Cypress-lined beauty

View inside the matriarch cypress

Shell seeker

  Cian and me

All too soon we had to leave for home.  There I gathered up more of the stuff I had left and found places for it.  Then Natalie got to the house on her way home from a week of paddling on the Rio Grand River and picked up Zootie.  By 3:30, I was back on the road on the way to meet a friend and camp out at Choke Canyon, another of my favorite places in Texas.