HTBT: To Love the Beautiful

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 water runs runs cool and clear.

David raising the colors

David and I were privileged to spend January and February at the South Llano River State Park about 6 miles out of Junction as volunteer hosts. We never thought we'd want to volunteer 5 days a week! But this was such an easy and educational gig --- we'd def do it again! And just might in 2018!

red prickly pear on one of the plateaus

female Greater Roadrunner

Greater Roadrunner - male

1-17-16: David and I explored the Fawn Trail on the gator today after doing our morning rounds. Drove up to one of the plateaus where we hadn't been before. The prickly pear cacti were much redder up here than in other parts of the park. Makes me wonder if they are something other than the Englemann.

This afternoon I showed Jerri the primitive route on the gator. About the only thing we saw that I wanted a pic of was a Greater Roadrunner. The 2nd one I've seen. As soon as she pulled out her phone to get me a pic, it ran off.

1-19-16: When I told David about the roadrunner pic we missed, he said "we just need someone to show us how to take roadrunner pix". Then he showed me the male and female he snapped while we he was out today!

1-20-16: About 6:15 this morning, David and I (and Rocky) left for Kerrville to have the air suspension on the truck checked, and to get Rocky groomed for the first time since his attack. Before the got out of the campground, we saw about 4 jackrabbits and tons of deer (and several pairs of eyes close to the ground. The jackrabbits are super exciting to me because I'd never seen one until we got to this park. I've even missed them in Kansas where they are apparently abundant. Unfortunately, when we see them here it's either daybreak or sunset and we can't get pix.

where we play Panties in Junction

1-21-16: George, Jerri, Lizzy, David, and I did a 5 mile hike this morning through the SLRSP backcountry. Beautiful! (pix on other post). It took us about 3 hours. After we cleaned up, Jerri and I went into Junction to play Panties. The girls at Plumley's are so good to let us sit in their cafe and play any time we want. The park doesn't have a place to play except picnic tables and the weather conditions haven't been conducive. Of course, we love their big ole chocolate chip cookies! So much for the great exercise during our hikes.

1-23-16: The weather is awesome here! The nights and mornings are cold and the days are in the 60's. Sweet!

Mr. Bill and Ranger Matt (park superintendent) educating us about the wild hog situation

1-24-16: Mr. Bill, who helps with all the wildlife hunts here, has been trapping hogs around the park. They are so destructive and have to be managed. Tho we saw a trapped hog on our 5-mile hike a couple of days ago, he told me there were 2 in a trap at the river bottoms today. David and I headed that way on the gator and just as we got there we heard a gunshot. About that time a huge black and white hog ran across the pecan orchard from the bottoms in front of us. We wondered if it was one of the 2 in the trap and had somehow gotten out. But it turned out it was just hiding in some brush and bolted when it heard the gunshot.

The Guth's and us

1-25-16: Met our new co-hosts today. Craig and Faye Guth are new to the workamping thing and I believe they'll be just great!

I saw my first 2 cedar trees explode for the year. Right in front of my eyes. Hopefully, the allergy shots and daily allergy meds will keep it from being a problem for us.

Jerri and me at Ft. Mason

1-26-16: Drizzly, chilly day. For George, Jerri, David, and I that means ROAD TRIP! We drove over to Mason to check out the fort and have lunch. (pix on other blog post). The fort was interesting and David selected a great burger joint on the square for lunch. It was called Willow Creek. We didn't have room for dessert but the pies had incredibly tall meringues! Reminded me of Ed and Kay's near Little Rock, AR.

1-27-16: David and I took the Twisted Sisters drive today. It's also known as Three Sisters as it's Highways 365, 366, and 367. We went to 336 to Leakey to 337 to Camp Wood to 335 to Vance to 41 to Rocksprings. Beautiful day and beautiful scenery. We have driven these roads a few times in previous years. It was nice to be out there again. Really love them! This year we saw a giraffe (in a pen that was way too small) at a big ole ranch on 335.

Rocksprings is the Angora Capital of the world. Jerri and I were just wondering recently if mohair comes from sheep or goats. Today I found the answer in Rocksprings. AND it's the best place for cell service within a 50 mile radius of the state park. However, there is nothing else in Rocksprings, so I doubt we'll be going there for service.

As we entered the state park afterwards, we saw 4 red baby piglets near the crossing wandering aimlessly without the sow. They were mighty cute, but won't be for long.

Ron is recovering from his ankle replacement surgery

1-28-16: Met our JCRV peeps today at Broken Stone Pizza in Kerrville. Ranger Holly recommended this place and YUM was it good!!

1-30-16: David and I saw our first hill country racoon this afternoon on 377. No, it hadn't been hit, but it was acting cray cray. Standing on the shoulder hissing at the traffic. We thought it might've been injured, but we watched it run off.

Tonite we roasted marshmallows at our campsite with George and Jerri. We learned that even as much as Rocky wants to be in our laps and right in the middle of the action, he'd prefer to be in the camper where he knows his way around instead of sitting outside in the dark where he can't see anything.

the park provided this "firetruck" for us to fill up our freshwater tank while the water was off in the park

The campground has been pretty peaceful and quiet since we've been here. It helps that the water has been cut off. (we can still get our fresh tank refilled as hosts). But this weekend it's packed full.

1-31-16: Today I drove to the scenic overlook on 377 to get cell service. I needed to pay bills and check email. Even though it's about 20 miles away, the drive and the scenic overlook provided some beautiful views!

2-2-16: David and took another drive over to Mason today (photos on Ft. Mason post). We were blessed to see TONS of American Kestrels migrating through the area. Every time we'd see one it'd be perched on telephone wire or fence. Beautiful. We drove through Llano, Fredricksburg, had lunch at Alamo Springs, saw lots of llamas and antelope, and came back through Harper where we stopped at our fave little resale shop. Good dang day.

2-6-16: 7-mile hike through the bottomland with the hubs. Wonderful day! Pix are on 7-mile Hike post.

2-9-16: Jerri and I met Dee, Sarah, and Betty at City Sweets, shopped a little at Cowboy Cottage and Generations, then they came out to the state park so we could show them around. As we came into the state park, Jerri and I spotted a big black hog down in the river near the entrance. As we walked around in day use, we saw 5-7 red hogs (adults and piglets and in between) across the river on the "island". We might could've gotten some pix if we hadn't all started screaming "hogs!" and scared them into the brush. Saw them again a couple of minutes later. Screamed again. Fun, fun day with the girls.

Got a lovely African Violet from Jerri in a teapot I'd found at the Harper resale shop. Hope I don't kill it!!

2-10-16: Today Jerri and I drove over to Kerrville/Ingram and had lunch at Chi-Cho's with the girls and played Panties afterwards. On our way out of the sp, Jerri and I spotted a couple of roadrunners. It was early morning and a little chilly. They were so plumped out I didn't recognize them as rr's until they started running.

We didn't finish Panties til about 8:30 tonite! What a game! Lots of laughs and lots of fun!

2-11-16: Went back to Kerrville and got a haircut at Great Clips. I got a stylist that looked like he might not have even been 20. I noticed the other stylists were really looking at me as we walked to his chair. And I noticed that he asked some questions of the other stylists throughout my cut. Super nice guy. I was a little startled when the other stylists started clapping for him and saying, "Yay, Jose" when we finished! I said, "What? Is this his first haircut?" They told me no, but I still wonder. I will say that I was very happy with my do!

My Valentine

2-13-16: David and I drove over to Kerrville and Medina. Had lunch at one of our fave hill country burger spot, The Apple Store. We were kinda disappointed in the burgers this year, but the company was great! On a side note, we've seen a LOT of robins migrating through! Kinda unusual for us to see them flying in such huge flocks.

Ranger Holly made the tastiest and cutest Valentine cookies for us all

Tonight on our walk Rocky -- who is mostly blind -- brushed up against a prickly pear. It startled him so he jumped right in the big middle of it. He didn't holler or yelp, but he was holding his leg out as he walked. So we stopped at the closest place to sit down -- by the Cooper's and the Basire's campers -- and tried to get them out. No luck. So David carried him all the way back to our camper, which is a pretty good walk. In fact, Rocky fell asleep in David's arms on the way back. When we got home he ran around playing hedgehog like nothing had happened. David said he was probably just wanting a nap on the way home, so he acted like he couldn't walk.

an "ussie"

checking out the South Llano River

David,/me, George/Jerri, Dawn/Ron/Cooper, Shirlene/Jack, Al/Annette

2-17-16: Our JCRV peeps came to visit today! We met them in Junctions for some Lums' bbq and then they all came out to spend a beautiful afternoon at the state park. Love these folks! And the most bizarre thing happened with Rocky and Cooper. They approached each other to say hey (sniff) and their harnesses/collars got snapped together almost instantly. Dawn and I couldn't get them unhooked, so David had to step over and do it. Thank goodness Cooper is a gentle giant. If he'd taken off running Rocky would've been a goner.

2-19-16; Wow! The Agarita has begun to bloom and the fragrance has filled the air throughout the park! Wonderful smell.

2-20-16: Jerri, Shari, and I went into town for the sheepdog trials at the fairgrounds. The sheep were sooooo cute and the dogs were super impressive!

Later today Jerri and I took a drive through the bottoms on the gator and spotted a Ringed Kingfisher at the river. Wow! It was huge and beautiful and my first. So wish I'd had David and his camera with me. My phone doesn't show the great colors and the fact that it's the size of a small duck! Really a thrill to get to watch him for so long.

Bethany, Ranger Holly, Ranger Josh, Art

Regina, Ranger Holly, and Shari

true colors?

2-23-16: The state park staff will be in a conference the next 2 days, so I went to headquarters today to get some pix of them. What a wonderful group of people they are. Each one has been so good to us and we've learned so many cool things. Looking forward to working with them again in 2018.

gave Jerri an early bday present

2-25-16: The 2 days I filled in at headquarters with Shari and Jerri were a BLAST!! Because we had a Panties marathon! I paid the price later --- my neck was killing me from playing cards for 2 full days, but it was worth it. We had fun with the guests also, but mostly playing cards!

2-26-16: As today is our last day here for this year, I thought I'd close this post with some a few miscellaneous pix from around the park.

the wreath that the Malchow's made and left for us on the firewood shed

Sarah and Buttons drove up to see us and check out the park one afternoon

this is how we filled up the gator

Shari and her hubs, Boyd, have been volunteering here for about 14 year. They live about 30 miles from where we'll be volunteeing in SD this summer. And she's a heck of a Panties player!