Turner Family Chronicles: September 2011

Over Labor Day weekend we found the best swimming holes! I can't believe it took us this long to investigate these gems but now that we have found them, we will be returning often. Let me also say that this summer has been absolutely brutal for heat and drought. In Austin we had over 70 consecutive days above 100 degrees! That kind of heat makes you want to stay comfortable inside your air conditioned home; the thought of going outside is exhausting. Over this past weekend we had a slight reprieve and it dipped just below the 100 degree marker so we ventured away from a/c. On Sunday we tried taking a trip to the famous Hamilton Pool Preserve near Dripping Springs. It's a beautiful water hole with a waterfall. Unfortunately we didn't know that they limit the number of people in the Preserve at any given time so when we got there it would be at least a 2 1/2 hour wait to get in. Luckily the park ranger informed us there was another area we could go to just a quarter mile up the road that was nice and you could swim in the Pedernales River. So we went there instead. It's called Reimer Ranch and it was perfect! There is a large rock beach area where you can spread out and the water was a perfect temperature - probably 75 degrees and came up to my shoulders. We spent a couple of hours there and Amelia had so much fun. We still wanted to see what Hamilton Pool was all about so we decided to go the following day since it was a day off for us. We got up early on Monday and planned to be at Hamilton Pool no later than 9am when the gates opened. At 9 am we pulled up to the gates only to find out it was closed due to the wild fires in the area. It's important to note that so much of Central Texas is currently on fire and it's extremely devastating; we can only hope they get the fires under control quickly. Like I mentioned earlier, we have had unbelievable drought in this region so everything is as dry as a bone. So, it was a bummer we couldn't go to Hamilton Pool again, but we weren't going to stop there. Amelia kept asking us when we were going to go swimming because she was dressed and ready for the occasion. Thanks to our trusty smart phones we were able to find another swimming hole in Wimberley that had good prospects. So we set out for The Blue Hole in Wimberley and it was a great find! The water was absolutely freezing at first touch but it warmed up as the day went on. Overall it was such a fun weekend! I'm glad we have these kinds of adventures to be had in our back yard. Enjoy the photos.