Land of the Living Waters

Junction, TX

Happy 2016!!!

Junction, TX in Kimble County calls itself the Land of the Living Waters. There are hundreds of natural springs in the county and they feed the North Llano and South Llano Rivers which come together at Junction to form the Llano River.  Here the some 300 miles of running water runs cool and clear.  The South Llano River, which is where the state park is where we will be volunteering, begins on a nearby ranch called 700 Springs.  The South Llano is spring fed.

nearing Junction

cool old bridge over the South Llano River

1-1-16:   Arrived at South Llano State Park (about 5 miles out of Junction, TX) yesterday. Really looking forward to learning more about this area for a couple of months.  The state park and adjoining Walter Buck Wildlife Management Area (the backcountry of the park) was donated by Walter W. Buck, Jr.  He lived on and ranched the land since 1910 and never married.  He was fond of saying "this land was my one great love" so he wanted it to remain intact, in a natural state, and open to the public, In 1977 he conditionally donated the entire ranch to the TPWD for only wildlife conservation and/or park purposes. The park was opened to the public on July 3, 1990.

Nothing like bringing in the new year with a First Day Hike!  After doing our morning chores with Jeanette and Uwe, David and I went on the 3 mile Fawn Trail hike with Ranger Holly and some state park guests.  It was a cloudy, chilly day and oh so cozy in the woods!! Special blogpost for this!

1-2-16:  Said our "cya down the road" to Jeanette and Uwe today.  They did a wonderful job showing us the ropes to our new gig.  Wish they were going to be here with us.  We were able to hook George and Jerri up with a position that came open!  Excited to have my bestie volunteering here with us this winter, too!  I spent most of the day doing laundry at the park before water is cut off.  While I was doing that, the Cooper's popped in to talk to Ranger Holly and look the place over.  I think they will love it here!

At Primitive

hog damage

1-3-16:  Began our rounds today.  Our "job" is to make sure the Acorn, Main, and Crossing gates are opened at 10:00 am and closed at 3:00 pm, replinish tp in the 3 compost restrooms and the bathhouse, clean out firepits at the campsites, open and close at headquarters (reports and flags), and pick up any trash we may see out in the park. In between all those duties, we walk or ride the gator through the park to explore, uh, I mean to pick up trash.

turkey roost area

 As David and I were driving the gator down to the caliche pit, we spotted a ton of wild turkeys coming out of the woods onto the little road.  What a sight!  Of course, our gator kept them moving ahead of us.

turkeys in the campground

1-4-16:  Boone, one of the maintenance guys at the park, called me on the radio this afternoon and told us to look out our back window.  So glad he did because the campground behind us was full of 20 or 30 turkeys!  What treat!  We often get deer, axis and whitetail, in the campground,  But the turkeys are usually a little more reclusive.

Green Lake

1-5-16:  Ranger Holly took me for a tour of some of the backroads at the state park.  We saw some great birds and a "hidden" lake, Green Lake.  Not really hidden, but there are no signs to it and it's not labeled on the map. She also told me about a couple of regular visitors at the crossing.  A Great Blue Heron frequents one side of the low water bridge, while a Kingfisher stakes out the other side.  We didn't see them today, but I'm super excited to get to surprise David with the Kingfisher soon.  We did see some Ladderbacks and some Bobwhites today.

1-6-16:  Our first day off!  As we headed out of the park, there sat the Kingfisher, excactly where Holly told me he'd be!  Naturally, I forgot to make sure David brought his camera. I have a feeling we'll get another chance.

We took Rocky to the vet in Kerrville to get his stitches and staples removed.  He got a clean bill of health and we feel he is at about 100% of his normal self.

l to r: The Perkins, The Hoots, us, Sarah, The Coopers

finally got Sarah to smile for a pic!

from the other end of the table --- cause I wanted to be up front in the pic

David and I did some errands in the "big city" of Kerrville, then we met our peeps at Lakehouse for lunch.  Great to see Jack and Shirlene this time!  They arrived at JCRV shortly after we departed.

Add caption

downtown Junction

Junction from the scenic overlook

down by the South Llano River in Junction - the river gets a lot of action from floaters in the spring and summer

the Junction bridge over the South Llano River

gotta love a good bridge shot

such interesting -- and tragic -- history around here

1-7-16:  For our 2nd day off, I drove into Junction to do laundry.  Woohoo!  The water is cut off at the park now for the rest of January, basically. Which adds to the adventure. I did a little exploring of Junction afterwards.  That didn't take long.  But it's a scenic little town surrounded by the beautiful hills of the Edwards Plateau.  I could live here.

view from the scenic overlook at the state park

David's panorama

1-8-16:  Even on our "work" days, we have plenty of time to explore.  Today we took the gator up to the scenic overlook.  Just gorgeous!  And decent cell service!

the pecan grove/turkey roost area at the sp

the excluder is a dramatic example of what we do NOT see in the grove due to wildlife eating the pecans

This afternoon I walked one of the turkey roost trails. Great signage and beautiful setting.

axis in the campground

we love watching the herds come down the hill into the campground in the evening

one of the views from the campground

the whitetail enjoy the campground as well

running through the back side of the campground

1-9-16:  Fun sightings today:  Axis, Whitetails, roadrunner, goldfinches, Cardinal families.....

And I got some exciting news from niece, Lissa!  I'm gonna be a great aunt again in late May or early June!  And it's a girl!  So excited! They plan to name her Wren.  And I think her middle name will be Aunt Becky.

1-11-16:  Went into town today to blog.  It's a cute little county library and about the only place in the area with decent wifi!

fixin to get our bbq on at Lum's

working on blog and facebook at the library

1-12-16:  The state park is closed for a couple of days for a deer hunt.  So we went into town and had "L" day:  laundry, Laura, library, Lum's.

sometimes we call Laura Lee "Lee Lou"

the giant topaz found in the Mason area

the Texas cut

Then we drove over to Mason to explore a bit.  It's a cute little town where the author of Old Yeller is from.  And the only place in the country to dig for Topaz.  Passed Teacup Mtn and a "granite field".  Didn't get a pic of the granite, but it was so interesting.  Just all of a sudden there were huge reddish, pink boulders for a couple of miles.

1-13-16:  Ran over to Kerrville today to do some errands.  I was so excited because I get really good service there.  Well,.......a major fiberoptic line for ATT had been cut somewhere in the area, so no service whatsoever.  I was actually happy to get back to Junction where I could at least text!

1-14-16:  Drove over to San Angelo today.  First time we'd been there.  It's about the same distance from us as San Antonio, but not as hectic traffic-wise. Good cell service and all the stores we could need.  We may go back over there to explore the nature center and Concho River area.

On the way over we drove through some mighty pretty hill country and then flatlands.  Several times we crossed over Gentry Creek (my mom's maiden name), drove through Manard and Eden, and passed several cotton fields as we neared San Angelo.  Who woulda thunk cotton fields down here.

amazing setting for a walk

1-15-16:  Got up and walked 4 miles through the campground this morning.  Felt great.  As I passed the camper on one lap, I dropped my phone inside the door thinking I wouldn't be seeing anything at this point to take a pic of.  A little ways down, a big ole jackrabbit crossed in front of me. First time I've ever seen one and no camera!!  Hoping I will get to see him again!

these guys are all over the place here

This afternoon while making my rounds on the gator, I got to watch an armadillo fight.  LOL.  It was so cute!  The bigger one would chase the smaller one and as soon as he'd make contact he'd just roll head to toe.  Then get up and start it again.  The noisy ole gator didn't even stop them.  Too funny!

1-16-16:  Headed to town to Lum's today for lunch with Jerri and George.  Sure is nice to be able to spend time with our besties!

This gig is really good for the soul!  Feels great to be out in the "wild" so much of the time.  The people are wonderful and we just feel so thankful for this experience.  Just what I needed!

Prayers for a Happy, Healthy 2016 for you all!

Mason, Lea Lou, and Isaack