Sunday, February 7

Today began at Black Canyon RV Park in Wimberley, TX. It was a gorgeous morning with temperatures rising quickly to reach another 70-degree day.

Andi and I didn’t have make specific plans for today, but we knew we wanted to spend time outside soaking up the sunshine. Not only are our friends and family back home suffering through extremely cold temperatures this week, but a cold front is moving through Texas Hill Country later this week dropping temperatures into the 30’s and 40’s.

Our first stop of the day was to Jacob’s Well, a natural artisan spring and popular swimming hole near the town of Wimberley. Swimming is closed during the off-season, of course, but visitors can still see the spectacular underground cave and utilize the park’s nature trails. We felt like we hit the jackpot having the entire grounds to ourselves on Sunday morning. Reviews we’d read about Jacob’s Well said you need a reservation to visit during peak months. Our time there felt really peaceful with the sun shining, birds chirping and not another person around.

Jacob’s Well is Texas’ second largest fully-submerged cave measuring 140 feet in depth. Its source comes from the Trinity Aquifer which also flows through the Blue Hole we visited yesterday in Wimberley, and eventually to the Blanco River. Gorgeous blue-green waters, though I’m not sure you’d catch me swimming in there!

Next, Andi and I thought we’d check out Hamilton Pool Preserve in the nearby town of Dripping Springs. We drove through the cute downtown area first, which was mostly closed given it was Sunday morning, and noted all the breweries and wineries in the area. It would be a perfect small town to wander around on a girl’s trip or sunny Saturday afternoon.

I did some more reading about Hamilton Pool Preserve as we drove there and learned the park requires a $12 reservation per vehicle to be paid online and then an additional $8/per person paid upon arrival to visit the natural pools. Sounded a bit ridiculous to me! Besides, we didn’t have a reservation.

I’m realizing a lot of state parks and nature areas in Texas require reservations and charge an admission fee which is different than most places we’ve traveled. We like to keep our plans flexible to account for weather or other variables that might come up, which means sometimes we find ourselves pulled over on the side of the road Googling where we should go next.

Since we couldn’t get a reservation to the Hamilton Pool Preserve, Andi and I decided we’d drive to Pedernales Falls State Park, check into our campsite for the night, and find some hiking trails there.

Along the way, we passed by the Texas Hill Country Olive Oil Company and decided to stop. We’d just missed the daily tour of their olive orchard and facility, but were still able to wander through the fields on our own. Andi and I love using flavored olive oils on salads, and purchased a bottle of blood orange-infused olive oil and a jar of Sicilian green olives to take home with us. Had we known about it, I think it would have been interesting to partake in one of the many tours Texas Hill Country Olive Oil offers on Fridays and Saturdays to learn about their olive orchard and industry.

Just before 1:00pm, we arrived at Pedernales Falls State Park to find a long line of cars waiting to get through the entrance gate. Then Andi noticed a posted sign which stated the park entrance is closed everyday between the hours of Noon - 2pm. What the heck?! It made no difference that we had a camping reservation for the state park tonight. We’d have to come back at 2:00pm when the entrance gate opened again. I was starting to feel like we were “a day late & a dollar short” on every activity we attempted to do today.

Upon further reading, it clearly stated in our campground reservation confirmation email that the park gates are closed between Noon - 2pm everyday. Apparently, we didn’t pay enough attention to the fine print.

Since we had 90-minutes of time on our hands, Andi turned the RV around and found a spot to park on the side of the road. We pulled out the RV slide, made lunch (leftover pulled pork over salads for Andi and I; pulled pork, cucumbers and fruit for the kids) and turned on the re-broadcast of today’s church service back home. The four of us were startled when a state patrol officer knocked on the RV door to let us know we couldn’t park our vehicle on the side of the road. Yikes! It felt like we couldn’t catch a break today. Andi and I quickly packed up our things and moved the RV down the road to a designated parking area.

No harm done. By the time we moved the RV, finished our lunches and watched church, it was 2:00pm and the park gates were open again.

This was the most heavily guarded state park I’ve ever seen. Once we were through the entrance gate, we pulled up to a gate house where we confirmed our park reservation. From there, the gate house attendee directed us to park at the visitor’s center so we could check in for camping. There were additional park rangers stationed at both the entrance and exit gates verifying park-goers had a day pass taped inside their windshields.

Andi navigated us through the park to our campsite for the night. It was a beautiful, large site with a covered picnic table. As I was getting the kids ready to go for a hike, Andi noticed the camper across from us having trouble backing her camper into her spot. When she backed into a sign, Andi walked over there to help direct her. I watched them from our campsite, thinking to myself what a good Samaritan Andi is always offering a helping hand. Pretty soon, I saw him get into her pickup truck and back the camper into the spot himself. Apparently, she was having a very difficult time maneuvering her husband’s truck and though it would just be easier if Andi did it himself. So he did. What a nice guy! The woman was very thankful for him.

The sun was shining and the four of us were itching to go DO SOMETHING after all the stops & starts today. We walked through the campground to the Trammel Trail which lead down to the Pedernales River. Our family always jokes it isn’t a hike unless there’s a river crossing! Today was no exception.

Texas Hill Country = lots of hills! Once we crossed the river, the trail led us up a steep hillside into the woods. I can’t say it was the prettiest hike we’ve ever done — it felt like we were walking up a minimum maintenance road. But, it was a beautiful day outside and we had the trail to ourselves so it wasn’t all bad. Tory and Aden were excited to use their new water backpacks from Grandma and Grandpa. Andi and I hardly heard Tory and Aden complain about the heat or the hills because they were so interested in drinking from the packs.

On our return, we decided to cross the river at a different point. Instead of walking across the rocks, we decided to take off our shoes and wade through a shallow layer of water covering an old washed-out road. The water temperature was cool, but it actually felt good after hiking around in the woods.

Once the kids made it across the river once with their shoes off, there was no getting them out of the water. “Can we cross it again?” both Tory and Aden begged. So, Andi and I sat on one side and chatted with a nice lady who passed by us walking her dog while Tory and Aden played in the water. Not surprisingly, Aden’s clothes were completely soaked by the time we left.

Back at camp, Andi grilled chicken breasts which I made into greek chicken bowls for dinner. It was a gorgeous night, so we ate outdoors at the covered picnic table.

Andi and I ended the evening with a “date night” walk around the campground loop as we took out the trash. Meanwhile, Tory and Aden stayed back in the RV to watch their iPads. The woods seemed to come to life at dusk. We saw lots of deer in the back part of our campsite upon our return to the RV and another unidentified cat-like creature — maybe a fox? or a raccoon? — with a long black tail. it was too hard to make it out in the dark.

We’re staying around Texas Hill Country again tomorrow & planning to visit the nearby town of Johnson City.