We took an early morning bike ride along the high cliffs of Seminole Canyon to see where it merges with the Rio Grande. Ironically, we did this same ride 3 years ago, to the date. It was just as gorgeous as we remembered it. Besides seeing epic view and the petroglyphs we also saw several white tailed deer, lots of bunny rabbits and a skunk. What a great way to begin our day.
This past week we’ve experienced the desert thru 4 states. We’ve enjoyed the dry heat, surreal looking cacti, the wide expanse of the open sky and especially no bugs. As we entered Texas Hill County the topology changed to rolling green hills and wildflowers as far as the eye could see. And yes the humidity has begun, along with a few insects.
The largest German community is situated around Fredericksburg, in the heart of Hill Country. It’s a charming small town with several German restaurants, bakeries and typical tourist shops. Seeing that we pulled in around lunch time we thought it was a great excuse to try out some German food. Brats, red cabbage and sauerkraut. Who could say no? We were also planning on stoping by a beer hall in the nearby town of Luckenbach, but when we got there a motorcycle rally/timed trials was happening. The one main road in town was closed and we just weren’t feeling hundreds of motorcycles in the Texas heat.
Time to take a dip in a cold spring! I had read about Krause Springs last year and that’s what started this whole crazy idea about visiting cold or natural springs across the U.S. Unlike almost every place we stay, this is not a State or National Park. It’s privately owned and you never know what you’ll find when you show up. Interesting enough, we never encountered any signs advertising this place or giving directions. It seems pretty much a local spot.
It didn’t disappoint in that it is incredibly beautiful, although very crowded. As the springs come out of the ground they are capured into a man made pool, which cascades into a natural pool below. The grounds have several gardens and lots of beautiful shade trees. The natural pool tho is not clear at all. We couldn’t tell if it was because there were so many people kicking up all the mud or if it’s always like that. People hardy seemed to mind as there were all kinds of activities going on from people jumping off the rope swing, hanging out under the waterfall, playing water volleyball or floating in every kind of blow up you could imagine. And, of course, country music blaring. This is Texas afterall. (Don’t be fooled by these pics. They were taken at dusk and people were headed home).
The grounds include a butterfly garden that is breathtakingly beautiful. Yes it attracts lots of butterflies!
Now, the camping is another story. People are camped in tents hodgepodge throughout the park with cars parked everywhere. There is an RV area, where we are located, which is just a place where the RV’s are lined up in a row. At least we are parked under beautiful shade trees which definitely helped in the Texan sun. I’d give this place a C+. I expect it would be completely different on a weekday, but then again it’s summer, hot and we’re in Texas so who knows.
