Field Trips
texas never ceases to amaze us.
with the water levels of our normal haunts forever dwindling we set out in search of something new.
driving through the winding roads of the texas hill country we came to a vista and before us lay inks lake, one of the bigger bodies of water we've seen in the past few years. surprisingly this lake is almost untouched by the multiple year drought that we are currently in the midst of.
boats, canoes and kayaks making their way through the middle of the lake, swimmers lining the shores, and tree covered peaks in the distance. it was actually a scene quite reminiscent of lake winnipesaukee in new hampshire where we both grew up.
we made our way to devil's waterhole where we spent the afternoon jumping off the surrounding cliffs and basking in the big texas sun.
inks lake is only an hour outside of town and yet this was our first time there, it is truly inspiring and surprising that texas has so much to offer. even after two years full of exploration there is still so much of this big state that we have yet to discover and experience.
although most of texas has been in a severe drought for the past few years there are still plenty of places to stay cool. we had some friends from philadelphia in town for the fourth of july and took full advantage of the beautiful weather by hitting all the swimming holes in the austin area. below are some photos from jacobs well in wimberley, pedernales falls state park and lake travis.
summer in texas means one thing; swimming. although we've been having drought conditions going on two years now, there are still plenty of places in and around the austin area to beat the heat. this past weekend we headed a little west to reimers ranch to officially ring in summer.
rollin' down the highway headed to our new home in austin smoke filled the evening sky, offering an oddly beautiful sunset tinged with sadness and destruction. helicopters in the sky, firetrucks lining the backroads, make shift churches set up offering some respite for those battling the blazes, these were our first images of texas. it was labor day weekend of 2011 and while we were ready to start our new life in austin the worst wildfire in the states history was raging a few towns over. the hardest hit was bastrop and for the first time since moving to texas we went to the state park there this past weekend. a year and a half later the damage caused by the fires is still very real and very evident.
mustang island has sort of become a vacation from our vacations. when we want to get away for the weekend but don't feel like a long drive or long hike we head to the coast. and much like i spoke of last week, camping on the beach still feels like a dream to us. growing up on the east coast we only saw this sort of thing in movies, and now it's become an integral part of our summer months here in texas. swim, relax, fire, food, camp; these are the only things that we need to concern ourselves with while here. i didn't take my camera out much this weekend, but here are a few photos.
with taylor still reeling from the flu we took it easy this weekend, but after a day inside on saturday we had to get out and enjoy the sunshine on sunday. luckily living in austin gives us quick access to a vast network of trails, creeks and rivers. even though we try to get away as much as we can, it is always inspiring to live in a city that has so much nature to experience. so we took the short drive to twin falls and hiked around the dry river bed and surrounding cliffs for the day.
although it is bone dry now the spring rains will have the greenbelt flowing shortly and offer the oasis that so many austinites look forward to every year.
