Thurs, Oct 28, 2010

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Peace I ask of thee, O’ River peace, peace, peace
When I learn to live serenely cares will cease.
From the hills I gather courage visions of the days to be
Strength to lead and faith to follow all are given unto me
Peace I ask of thee, O’ River peace, peace, peace.               Author Unknown, Camp song

This was the day of water… glorious clear flowing water.  Doesn’t everybody feel a peace envelope them with just the sight of a calm body of water or a flowing stream?  If you spend much time on the dusty dirt roads in the hill country of Texas then coming around a curve to the sight of a flowing clear river is like heaven on earth.

Today we spent the entire day driving the dirt roads around Llano and Mason Texas which are two of our favorite small towns.  We are familiar enough with the area to know which creeks are seasonal and which ones can be counted on to provide relief from the dust when the summer has been a dry one.  So we just wandered from one great spring or creek or river to the next and just by accident we started with the smallest (Cherry Springs) and ended with the largest one (Llano River) right at dusk.

Water in the hill country almost always flows over rocks of one kind or another.  It may be limestone or even marble or often granite.  Add the combination of rocks and water and you get some of the prettiest clear water you’ll see.  Another nice thing about water in this area is that is it fairly shallow and this makes for easy access and great places for the pups to play.

One of the first funny things we saw this morning was a poster planted outside a ranch gate with a picture of former President Bush saying “Miss me yet?”  Charles and I got a real kick out of it so had to include a picture of it.    

I had originally thought that we would not take many photos today but it turned out to be a beautiful day… actually it was perfect with the temperatures only reaching the low seventies and just a slight breeze. We also found some good photo subjects so it was a fairly productive day photo wise and a very relaxing day as well.

We found a beautiful German Lutheran church building that was built in 1906 and was in perfect condition.  It serves the small community of Cherry Spring, TX.  Another neat old building we found today was the Onion Schoolhouse built in 1900.  Unfortunately its usefulness as a school has long passed and it is now used as storage for farm equipment.  Still, it is a beautiful rock structure.

The majority of our day was spent playing in the springs, creeks, and rivers and we were lucky to arrive at the Llano River crossing just as the sun had set and the light was absolutely magical.

Of course, between stops we had a great BBQ lunch at our favorite BBQ restaurant, Coopers in Mason, TX.

We are staying tonight again in Llano and are very well after a perfect day on the road.  We hope that you all are well too!

Peace, Hope & Love,

Donna, Charles, Paris & Dodger