Life, love, & Lily.

cascade caverns: 7.22.17 // old tunnel state park: 7.29.17

July has been a stupendous month. Lots of outdoor-ing. We've visited Blanco State Park multiple times to swim, including for my birthday weekend. I sure do like that park. Angela came up for my birthday, along with my family. We grilled, karaoked, and went spelunking. Well, not really, but whatever. The day after my birthday, we decided to day trip to Boerne to check out Cascade Caverns. Lily had never been to a cave before, and with 100+ degree weather outside, the prospect of a 60 degree temperature in the cave sounded just right.

The drive wasn't too bad & we listened to MBMBaM (My Brother, My Brother, and Me for those of you that don't know - check them out, it's a hilarious podcast). We got to the cave just in time to catch the 2PM tour. Lily was hesitant at first as we entered, but she ended up really enjoying herself (minus when they turned the lights off). She saw bats hanging from the ceiling and got cave kisses and saw a waterfall. She even walked the majority of the way without falling on her ass. Ben can't say the same, as he slipped within the first five minutes. We had lunch in Boerne after the tour and headed back home.

Last night, we decided to head to Old Tunnel State Park to finally check out the bat emergence. Old Tunnel is just what its name indicates - an old, abandon railroad tunnel. It is home to about 3 million Mexican free-tailed bats that emerge nightly from May to October. We arrived at about 6:30PM, not worried about getting in to the Lower Viewing area (which sells out quickly) because kiddos ages 3 and under aren't allowed there anyways (BUT NEXT YEAR IT'S ON). By the time we got there, the Lower Viewing area was indeed sold out and we found a nice seat in the Upper Viewing area bleachers. It was hot and Lily got a bit antsy, but one of the volunteers chatted with us for a while about bats and answered questions while we awaited the emergence to begin. Finally, at 7:25PM, the bats started to come out and holy hell, it was SO COOL. It was 20 minutes of bats spiraling out of the tunnel, creating dark clouds in the sky from where we were and beyond.

Up next on our state parks list: Inks Lake & Longhorn Cavern.

the past three months.

I feel like so much has happened and time has flown by since moving to the Hill Country just three months ago. We are settled into our new home, I'm getting my feet on the ground at work, and we've been trying to explore the area and all of the fun places it has to offer. Let's see.... where to begin?

The house is perfect, albeit haunted I'm pretty sure. I've got cows in the backyard, armadillos, wild turkeys, and three different types of deer that pass through, and I've seen a number of beautiful storms in the past few months. It just really feels like home in a way that the valley never did. It's quiet & peaceful & slow-paced.

I swear I've had more visitors up here in the past three months than I did in my two years down in the valley. Kim, Angela, and Amber have all come to visit at least once and we've had adventures to Enchanted Rock, South Llano River, Blanco, wineries, dance halls, trade days, and concerts. I think so far my favorite state park close by is Blanco State Park. It's only 30 minutes away and the swimming was perfect. South Llano River State Park was very nice, don't get me wrong, but the water flowed a little faster than I'd like with a toddler. Blanco was slow, deep, and on a Friday afternoon, it was quiet and low-key. I think that'll be one of our go-to spots to beat the heat this summer.

Some former Park Hosts that I worked with at Mustang Island, Kay & Butch, decided to come spend the summer here. It's been lovely having them around & they've been watching their granddaughter, Sydney, all week so it has been nice for Lily to have a playmate. She doesn't start in her daycare until August so it's been good for her to have another kiddo around.

We have discovered this amazing place called Albert, TX. There's an ice house and dance hall and they have live music every Wednesday and most Fridays. It's become a regular place for many of us on Wednesdays. They have a food truck that makes some great food, the beer is cold, and there's plenty of room for kids to run around. Families come & eat & play together while enjoying the shade of a giant oak tree and some bluegrass-y tunes. It's such a cool atmosphere. I've still yet to go to Luckenbach, but that's on my list of things to do soon. Perhaps for my birthday...

Other exciting news: I PAID OFF MY CAR!!!! Which means... I'M DEBT FREE!!!!!!! Damn, does that feel good. I've got a plan to save up a three month living expenses fund (for use in emergencies), then I'll be on my way to save up for home ownership. I've yet to decide what exactly I want to do on that front, but I've got plenty of time. I either want to buy an investment home in San Antonio or somewhere, put it on a 15 year mortgage and get it paid off by renters (with me supplementing the monthly payments), then use the profit from that to get some property out here in this area and maybe build a small house? Or maybe I'll buy a fixer upper. Who knows, like I said - I have no clue what exactly I want yet but while I figure it out I'll be saving for at least a 20% down payment. It feels so good to be doing this responsibly! Suck it, PMI!

Now here is a photo dump of some of the latest adventures.

bluebonnets at the baseball field

hiking at south llano river

blue ribbon in the peach jamboree parade

 

 

river swimming

             

josh abbott band

                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

 

upcoming changes, new adventures.

I'm the worst blogger ever. I'm really going to try to get better about it because I foresee a lot of new outdoor adventures in our future.

Last week I accepted a position at LBJ State Park & Historic Site. Lily, Dottie, and I are moving next week into a beautiful, historic German farmhouse to begin another chapter. We'll be an hour away from my family, some of my best friends, and my brother (not counting Austin traffic). Lily will go to a small school in Stonewall (population: 505), we'll have fresh produce and wineries all around us, and she'll get to spend time growing up on the living history farm at the park, exploring LBJ's Ranch, climbing Enchanted Rock frequently, and swimming in the Pedernales River. To say I'm excited is an understatement, but it is somewhat bittersweet. I will cherish my time down here at Bentsen and take all the challenges and successes I experienced with me.

The next few weeks will be hectic, I'm sure, but I really, really, really am going to try to be more active on here once we get settled and begin exploring the hill country more.

Photo credit: TPWD