Pics from the country (of Dripping Springs, Tx) and a panorama

[kentauros]

As I spent my Thanksgiving with family, I took along
my cameras and had some good (and early!) walks around
their property. Here are just a few of the better shots.


First, some unidentified bugs











Early morning Friday













Big Sky panorama





Sunset on Friday





Red Dragon (fly)

[Celebration]

1. kentauros!

You just made me want to visit Dripping Springs! These are beautiful. Love the autumn bugs and butterflies.

Thank you.

[kentauros]

2. You're welcome, Celebration!

Glad you liked them :D
The flowers and bugs are from their garden near the house, while everything else is from points further away.

My parents' property is pretty extensive and I explored an area of it I had never gone through, almost thinking I was lost and on someone else's property at one point, but I had never crossed a fence-line. I'll see if any of those are worth posting. I never could quite "capture" the depth and expanse of a ravine-like area there, so maybe on some other trip I'll figure it out :)

Speaking of figuring things out, there is one pic amongst the above that is different from the rest and not because of composition. I hope someone figures it out ;)

[Celebration]

5. no wonder it looks familiar

It's near Buda, where my sister and brother in law have a ranch! It's been a long time since I visited there. I think it is about time I went back. My daughter found an arrowhead there once. There are meteorite pieces everywhere, and lots of fossils. Oh, also a centuries old stone fence. It is a really fun place. There's a couple of "tanks" (ponds) for the cattle.

I love to get "almost" lost, btw. Not a scary feeling type lost, but sort of a hmmm, wonder if that path will take me back. My sister used to worry about getting lost on their place--she is both terrible at directions and scared--but now I think there is some sort of cell phone tower she can see.

[kentauros]

10. Yeah, I'd say it's about time to go back

Especially now that they've had enough rain to bring them mostly out of the drought years :D

Looking on the map, I see Buda is about as far away from Dripping as Blanco is from the same. We went to a restaurant in Blanco for lunch on Friday. It's right across the street from the old courthouse, and the food was delicious! Not a lot of vegetarian fare, but I was still full after :)

I see Buda is right on Onion Creek, too. I know that one from crossing it to and from Austin. It seems to go quite a long way. Is your sister and BIL's ranch along the creek, too?

Well, I'll definitely be doing even more exploring of that NW corner of my parents' property the next time I go, which will be Christmas :)

[Celebration]

13. they are on an old dry creek bed

At least it was dry when I visited. It used to be an actual creek, where people fished, but the water table got lower as the area became more populated. It dried up decades ago. I don't really know if it has a name, or more probably it runs into Onion Creek.

They are pretty near I-35, which means the ranch now even has subdivisions around it. If they didn't have cattle, their property taxes would soar. This place has been in my brother in law's family for a long time.

And Boerne is where my parents had a much smaller place out in the country. There are really nice views there. My memories of that place are that we went in March one time to visit, the temperature hit one hundred degrees. But, the air was so dry that it was semi-pleasant!

Anyway, any photos you get of the Texas Hill Country, please post them! And, if you want a scenic drive, be sure to go to the "Stonehenge" near Kerrville, Texas. And, if that isn't enough for your attention, "Easter Island" is only about 100 yards away. :rofl:

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/7819

This is a bit of a trek, but this is one of the top "roadside attractions" I have visited. It's just so funny seeing Stonehenge and Easter Island out in the middle of nowhere, in the real heart of the hills. The road that goes there actually goes THROUGH the Guadalupe River. There isn't an actual bridge, so don't attempt if the water is up or the weather threatening.

[kentauros]

14. Plenty of tributaries out there don't have names.

And if theirs was dry a long time back, it may never have had much in it except during flash
floods. You see flood gauges all over any time the road drops to a low area that could have
water flowing through.

I know about how if you do anything with the land, whether using it or protecting it, you
get tax breaks. My father protects their land and I noticed the State Forest Service sign
on their gate when I left. He talks to them often, to get information and so on, but he
also got his Naturalist training some years ago, and that helps him a lot. While I was there,
he had to write up his annual report about the property and send it off. He's almost 80 and
he's still out there feeding the deer, lopping off the "cedar" trees as they come up, planting
native grasses like switch grass and trying to keep the fire ants controlled. If I lived out
there, I'd probably be just as active ;)

Okay, saved your link to Stonehenge and Easter Island, though I'm a bit wary about having to
ford the Guadalupe in my Civic, no matter how low the water level. Are there any other ways
of getting to it?

We talked a little about "Bernie" over lunch and its pronunciation, at least in the Hill Country :P
Damn, 100 degrees in March! But, that's Texas! lol

Here's some more photos from the rougher part of their land, including a "comparison" shot to
their neighbor's "neat & trim" land ;)


Here's a section of the "valley" or ravine for the upper tributary. That seeming "path" of
lighter and exposed limestone is where the forest people made this big trenching cut through
the property to prevent the spread of Oak Wilt disease. It actually makes a decent pathway at
some points.





Upper tributary to their pond:





Ours on the left and neighbor's on the right along the fence, looking south:



Sorry for the spot in the middle; I must have gotten something on the lens...

[Celebration]

16. Beautiful!

And they have a real "pond" instead of a tank! Wow! Definitely the landscape looks familiar.

I looked it up again, and sadly there may be a bridge over the Guadalupe now instead of a low water crossing. Ah, progress. If so, it isn't decades old or anything.

I semi-confirmed that on Google Earth and one website reference. Honestly the drive around the Guadalupe near Hunt, Texas is awesome. It is up there with Highway 1 near Mendocino CA, as far as I am concerned. I would love to take my digital camera there now. Next time I go "home" I am going to head there for sure, even if it is out of the way by more than a bit. In my adult life I have only made the trek once, and I was saying, "What is this, paradise on earth?" Hopefully it isn't built up too much now or something.

[Blue_In_AK]

3. These are very pretty.

My husband's brother and his wife live in Dripping Springs. I think they're enjoying it after all the years in Houston. I can see why. :)

[kentauros]

15. Dripping Springs is growing, too.

I know they just got a bigger post office, too. Do you happen to know if they collect their own rainwater? My parents do that. The supplier of tanks and systems there also bottles it :)

[HarveyDarkey]

4. Those are some REALLY BIG bugs

great shots, I particularly like the first sunrise photo

[Celebration]

6. if you live there you live with REALLY BIG bugs

Trust me, I grew up near there--june bugs, locusts, cockroaches, whatever, they are all oversized, and get in all the houses.

[HarveyDarkey]

8. I've never lived there, but I did work in New Orleans

during the mid to late 80's.I know about big bugs, especially cockroaches. Nothing you can do about them. When I moved back to the midwest it took me a few months to get used to opening the kitchen cupboard in the morning and not hearing scurrying little feet. The silence was deafening.

[Celebration]

9. hehe

When I moved to NYC I could never figure out why everyone was so upset about those itty bitty practically cute baby cockroaches!

[kentauros]

11. Technically, they're not that big;

I just got in really close ;)

Glad you liked the sunrise photo. I woke up really early, earlier than I had hoped, so I went out and took advantage of it.

[JeffR]

7. The first early morning shot is serenely beautiful.

Very, very good.

[kentauros]

12. Thanks!

I love taking nighttime and twilight shots. Those always seem to be the most serene times of day :)

[kentauros]

17. Since no one mentioned it or guessed,

the first panorama is only the reflection off my parents' pond and then turned upside down :)