Turns out we both had the day off (me from work and the wife from job hunting) so we decided to head out on a discovery trip to McKinney Falls State Park just south east of Austin: http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/mckinney_falls/.
It was fantabulous. As soon as we parked and walked down the trail into the clearing that leads to the lower falls, I knew I had been there before. Back in the stone age when I was an assistant leader of Boy Scout Troop 12, we had camped here on one of our summer outings. Probably the one where we went to Corpus Christi. That was a fun trip, except for the part where someone stole a bunch of our stuff out of the trailer. Oh, well….
As we got closer to the falls, I could just see the scouts (and the leaders) running across the boulders and wading in the water which was very cold today. Those are good memories and it is such a strange and warm feeling when you realize you’ve been there before and the memories start flooding back.
So, we bought a season pass that will get us into any Texas state park. It’s actually cheaper than paying the per person day rates. I’m looking forward to visiting there again (the walking trails along the Onion river are amazing) and to going to some of the other state parks. McKinney Falls is only about 15 minutes from our house (but, of course, in Austin, everything is about 15 minutes away). Maybe we can take the niecelet there for an afternoon romp. And maybe, before it gets too hot, we can explore some other state parks on the Harley.
But, we have to go. The Hill Country is now our new home and we have to explore, and learn, and hold hands as we experience as many new adventures here as we can in the time we have left.