Pedernales Falls

We're taking advantage of the beautiful wet spring and headed out to the Hillcountry again. The wild flowers are still going like crazy, but the colors have shifted from the purple of the Bluebonnets (you still occasionally see some late stragglers, but mostly they've gone to seed by now) to the yellow and orange of Black-Eyed Susans, Indian Blankets and Mexican Hats. We also saw some cool Prickly Pear cacti blooming, but they're still not in full swing.

We were going to do some hiking at Pedernales Falls State Park with the O'Reillys, but got there a bit later than anticipated (damn that GPS navigation), though still ahead of them. We walked down to the ford to see if it was crossable -- it is for adults but not for a stroller or small kids. It's maybe half a mile from where we parked, but Magda walked the whole thing (with plenty of complaining) so it took a while. The river was beautiful and pleasantly cool. The dogs had lots of fun in the rushing water and Magda loved standing in the current and proclaiming that "we're moving!"

On the way back from the river, Magda found a huge fat caterpillar in the middle of the path. It actually had the appearance of a fat slug or -- to be honest -- a decent sized turd. Once we got home, we figured out that this was most likely the caterpillar of a Titan Sphinx Moth. The adults of this species are sometimes mistaken for humming birds!

After our foray to the ford, we hooked up with Meredith, Michael and the rest of them and headed over to the falls. We took the stroll to the overlook but from then on Magda spent the rest of the hike on my shoulders. I'm happy to say that I didn't slip on the rocks, but I'm considering putting her on a diet.

After the falls, we had dinner with the O'Reillys at their camp site grilled over their camp fire/coals. Magda enjoyed being outside with "the dark". She's said that she'd like to spend the night in a tent, so that's something we ought to look into. I remember enjoying camping quite a bit as a kid -- these day's I'd pick a room with a shower over a sleeping bag any day, but I'm looking forward to sharing the fun with her.