A Bittersweet Goodbye

After a month at the ranch, it was time to move on. We had a great night involving scotch, golf, and a lot of laughter, followed by an early morning. I made scrambled egg tacos for breakfast before we finished packing the truck.

Before we knew it, it was time to say our goodbyes. While we were excited to start exploring again, it was sad to leave Cousin Chris and the ranch behind. We thoroughly enjoyed getting to know him and the time we spent together.

The only thing we were missing was our Texas State Parks annual pass. With the pandemic, they recommend reservations for state park visits. We ordered our pass online so we could immediately use it to book our reservations. It had been 12 days, but the card had not come in the mail before we left. (The card didn’t get there for another three weeks.)

Enchanted Rock

We headed north towards Enchanted Rock State Natural Area. Before we reached the park, we could see the pink granite rock rising above us in the distance. The pink hue was incredible. At the park, a friendly employee relieved our concerns when she told us that if we make our reservations online, we did not need the physical card.

We quickly found a place to park near the Summit Trail, which leads to the top of the rock. As we walked to the trail, I admired the pink granite that made up the hills before us. The trail led us through large pink rocks, cactuses, and barren trees.

As we climbed, the trail gave way to the granite. We found ourselves walking up a steep wall of rock. We countered the steepness by zig-zagging our way across the face of the stone. The fractured sections of granite slabs fascinated me. As we climbed, the view became more and more spectacular.

Before we knew it, we were at the top. There were pools of water in the indentations of the rock. The vernal pools are protected as they are home to fairy shrimp and rock quillwort. We could see tiny fish swimming in the clear water.

We made a full circle around the top of the hill, enjoying the 360-degree view. The wind was fierce, quickly dissipating the warmth we felt while climbing. Walking back down the granite slab was a significantly more comfortable journey, though I had visions of tumbling head over heels down the side of the mountain.

We continued our journey north to Colorado Bend State Park. I enjoyed seeing the many different styles of gates for the various ranches. Some ranches had only cattle guards with no gate, some had simple gates that required you to get out of your vehicle to open and close, and some gates were elaborate stone structures with massive iron gates opened by remote control. The stone houses behind the gates were impressive as well.

In the town of Llanos, a curious tree caught my attention. Someone had carved a large branch into the shape of a deer. It was elaborate and spectacular. There was also a beautiful bridge in the middle of town crossing the Llano River.

After a while, we turned off the main road and followed smaller country roads to the park. The road passed through a cattle pasture. I noticed one cow, apart from the rest of the herd, that seemed to be struggling. I wasn’t sure what was wrong, but something seemed to be off.

Colorado Bend State Park

When we reached Colorado Bend State Park, no one was at the gate to check us in. Luckily, there was data, and I was able to pull up our reservation confirmation online. We proceeded to our campsite, just above the Colorado River banks (not to be confused with the river of the same name that passes through the Grand Canyon).

After a short walk to the river, we had a quick dinner and sat outside, enjoying our beautiful surroundings. The late afternoon sunlight bounced off the sheer rock walls surrounding the river. After our late night and early morning, we were tired and decided to call it an early night.

In the morning, we had a leisurely breakfast of oatmeal and coffee as we watched a multitude of birds fly around, landing in the trees behind us and singing their various songs. I spotted my first robin of the year. Spring comes to Texas much sooner than it does to Virginia. We noticed quite a few vultures were flying overhead as well.

Gorman Falls

After another walk down to the water to take some pictures, we set off for a hike to Gorman Falls. We haven’t done any real hiking since we left Virginia, so it was nice to get back out. The rocky three-mile hike, while not difficult, was somewhat challenging, especially near the falls. We paid close attention to the trail as we picked our way carefully through the rocks.

The terrain was beautiful. I enjoyed the smooth mounds of stones that resembled turtle shells. We could see hills in the distance, and prickly pear cactuses were everywhere.

When we reached the falls, the trail turned into a steep downhill slope. There were cables on the sides to hold onto, which I was grateful for as the rocks were slippery.

At the bottom were two waterfalls. It has been dry, so they weren’t running hard, but they were beautiful, nonetheless. I can only imagine how spectacular the 70-foot falls must be after a good rain. The falls emptied into the Colorado River, which was also beautiful as it wound around the bend.

Climbing back up the hill proved to be much easier than going down had been. It was a gorgeous 72-degree day and was perfect for our first foray back into actual hiking.

A Sad Scene

After the hike, we saw an adorable calf running after his mama on our way to the store. Across the road, there was an entire herd of cattle and a lot of vultures. We slowed down on our way back to camp to see that the struggling cow we had seen the day before did not make it. The rest of the herd surrounded her as if they were waiting for her to get back up. I could feel their sadness.

As we continued, we encountered a cow standing in the middle of the road. We waited a few minutes for the cow to move. While waiting, we enjoyed watching her baby off the side of the road. A little farther down, we came across another mama and baby on the other side of the road. The black baby had the cutest white face with a giant black splotch.

For dinner, we heated a can of chicken noodle soup. We added diced carrots and celery, chickpeas, and a small block of parmesan. After it was heated through, we poured it over green onions and mozzarella. The stew was delicious and filling.

Before retiring for the night, we walked to the camp office to use the wifi available there. We passed an armadillo in the tall grass beside the road. While we stood there watching him, the creature reared up on his hind legs before turning around to retreat. It was adorable. I only wish I had been able to get a photo of his cuteness.

In the morning, as we packed up, I commented on the fact that there weren’t birds like we had seen the day before. No sooner did I get the words out of my mouth than the birds magically appeared. I was able to identify goldfinches and cardinals, but others were less familiar to me.

We headed south. As we passed by the cow pasture, we could again see the vultures. The herd no longer circled their fallen sister. Instead, they had moved across the road. It was nice to see their recovery. As we continued our drive, we saw an ostrich farm. It was fun to unexpectedly see so many ostriches running and playing in a pasture. It was not something I ever imagined we would see.

We arrived at Longhorn Cavern State Park, where we walked the nature trails that surrounded the park. The aroma from the cedar trees was enthralling. Several buildings, including a cabin, an observation tower, and the original administration building, were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” initiative. The architecture was marvelous.

Falkenstein Castle

We climbed the narrow spiral staircases to the top of the observation tower, where we had a stunning view of the surrounding area, including Falkenstein Castle. The castle has a fascinating history. A Texas couple, Terry and Kim Young, visited Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria. King Ludwig II’s fairytale castle was under construction for 17 years when he died. At the time, it was only 75% complete outside and 25% inside.

As they were leaving, the Youngs saw drawings that did not look like any of the King’s projects. They spoke with the Castle Director to discover that they were correct. The drawings were for a new castle the King planned to build, Castle Falkenstein.

When they asked to see the original plans, they discovered that the previous director had them. They visited him, and he was kind enough to make copies of the plans for them. On their flight back home, they decided they would build the castle in Texas. While not currently conducting tours, Falkenstein Castle is still operating primarily as a wedding venue.

We drove up to the castle for an up-close peek, staying on the driveway so as not to trespass. I loved that there is a dragon “guarding” the castle. It would be a fantastic place for a fairytale wedding.

We finally made our way to Inks Lake State Park, where we would spend the night. As we pulled into our campsite, right on the lake, the first thing that caught our attention was a lovely blue heron in the reeds. He was graceful as he took flight across the lake.

There was a trail that went from our site down to the edge of the lake. The view was amazing. Pink granite rocks were sticking out of the water.

Devil’s Waterhole

We crossed the park to get to Devil’s Waterhole at the end of the lake. We saw several cute red squirrels as we followed the short trail. When we reached the end of the path, we were amazed to find the lake surrounded by Valley Spring Gneiss, rocks that are more than a billion years old. The rock formations were gorgeous.

It tickled me when I saw a rock covered in turtles, even more so when I realized that there were multiple turtle-covered rocks. The more we looked, the more we saw. Large flocks of American coots floated near the turtles. Just as we were about to leave, a great egret flew in. He posed nicely for a few minutes before flying back across the lake.

When we returned to our campsite, there was a great egret close at the edge of the water. I can’t help but wonder if it was the same one we had seen on the other end of the lake.

We ended our lovely day watching the sun descend over the lake in a blaze of glorious color. In the aftermath of the sunset, a flock of magpies descended upon us, filling the trees around our campsite. Hundreds of birds flew from between the trees and the reeds repeatedly before finally settling in for the night. They created quite a racket as they called to each other. It was a spectacular end to a fantastic day.