Whirlwind Tour of the Hill Country

April 11, 2018

It was Jane’s turn to plan an adventure so she sat down with a brochure on Texas Hill Country and Trip Advisor and planned a route she knew was ambitious:  222 driving miles, estimated driving time just over four hours.  The plan didn’t account for the wrong turn (an extra hour) or spending time exploring places along the way.  We did half the route, except for the part where we took the wrong turn:  We didn’t get to that yet.  Here’s what we did get to:

Blanco State Park

These corn poppies greeted us as we turned into the park.

This hundred-acre park was built from the donations of 18 land owners along the Blanco River.

Initial improvements were made by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933-34.

Swimming pool?

Swallows built nests under the bridge over the river.

Blanco Cemetery

We stopped at this cemetery, established in the mid-1800’s, to get a geocache.

The cache was in a camouflaged bottle with artificial greenery fastened to it and then lodged in the hollow of a tree.

The cemetery included a number of interesting graves.

This family lost two toddlers in two years.

This Confederate veteran, Texas Ranger and Mason died in 1893 at the age of 76.

Some markers tell sad stories.

This marker, with its bronze hat and lariat, was for a man who “lived his life and loved his girls”.

Pedernales Falls State Park

The spring-fed Pedernales (peder-nah-les, Spanish for flint rocks) River flows over and between limestone formations.

Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Park

We were too late to drive through the ranch, but we toured the visitors center and a museum and then viewed the ranch from a bit of a distance.

Birthplace of LBJ

Johnson family cemetery. LBJ is buried here.

Four-year old LBJ learned to read at the Junction School.

The ranch house behind the wall became Johnson’s Texas White House.

Johnson used this desk when he was an eighth grader.

Note the “LBJ” near the center of the bottom edge of the desk.

The Pedernales River, upstream from Pedernales Falls State Park.

Looking downstream on the Pedernales River.

Enchanted Rock State Natural Area

Enchanted Rock is the top of a granite mass 100 square miles in area.  The surface we see was uncovered by erosion 50 million years ago.  It is the largest outcropping of pink granite in the U.S.  It probably was named for its glittering sheen at night–caused by moonlight reflecting off wet rocks and pools of water.

US Geological Survey marker. The top of the rock is 425 feet above the surrounding terrain at an elevation of 1825 feet above sea level.

Luckenbach, Texas

Jane can’t resist the opportunity to visit a place made famous in song, even if it’s nearly dark and the place is a two-hour drive from home.  She did think there would be a place to get supper there, but . . .

Today Luckenbach is a country-music and event venue.  In 1849 it was founded as a trading post, and by 1886 had a combination post office, general store, and beer joint.

We didn’t find a price for either the koozies or the kitty.

A descendant of the original postmaster put the town up for sale in 1970, and it was purchased by a group of people including Hondo Crouch.

Hondo told stories, played music and provided more than the usual amount of character.  Luckenbach gained additional attention of country music folk when Jerry Jeff Walker recorded an album there.  A few years later, Bobby Emmons and Chips Morman used Luckenbach as a representation of simple, pleasant life in their song “Luckenbach, Texas” which was recorded by Waylon Jennings.

Today Luckenbach is nine acres and contains the general store, beer joint still attached, and a dance hall.

Supper was real late that night, but we’ve been to Luckenback, Texas.