Smoky and Shann's Excellent Adventures: Traveling the Fredericksburg Back Roads

Early Wednesday morning (a little after midnight actually), a serious thunderstorm hit Fredericksburg and a lot of the surrounding areas. I didn't get to sleep before it arrived, which was too bad because it was quite a noisy and well-lit storm, with heavy rain, lightening and thunder. I finally got to sleep between 2 and 3am. Oh yes, and Smoky slept through the whole thing!

Enchanted Rock, a massive granite batholith.

The sun came out and the day was beautiful! We tried another popular wildflower route -- State Route 965 out of Fredericksburg past Enchanted Rock State Natural Area. Enchanted Rock is a massive pink granite batholith that is a popular rock climbing spot. We pulled into the parking area, took a closer look at the rock and the people climbing it, and decided it was a bit out of our league.

Bluebonnets along Route 965 past Enchanted Rock.

Besides, the road past Enchanted Rock was framed with beautiful wildflowers. From 965, we turned north on Highway 16 and found a small road marked as a Texas State Wildlife Route. Smoky and I looked at each other and said, "Why not try this?"

One problem we had been having on the more heavily traveled roads was finding a spot to pull over so we could take photographs. We hoped this road wouldn't have much traffic and we might see flowers and wildlife!

We saw wild turkeys first followed further down the road by a deer. And the flowers were lovely. We turned around and headed back to Highway 16 and into Llano, Texas.

Wild turkeys in Texas look a little different from those back in Tennessee.

This cow may not quality as wildlife
on the Texas State Wildlife Route,
but she wanted her photo made!

Because it was past lunch time, we decided to look for an ice cream shop. Instead we found Berry Street Bakery, and my, my, was it full of deliciousness! We bought an apricot twist for dessert and ate it (along with our packed sandwiches) for lunch, sitting on the bakery's porch. Afterwards, Smoky bought a cinnamon roll to bring home and I got some homemade granola. Absolutely everything in their display case looked incredibly yummy, including the doggie treats!

Apricot twist from Berry Street Bakery. It was as yummy
as it looks!

Introducing Heaven, who works at the
bakery and served us heavenly treats!

Llano's striking stone courthouse.

After a walk around Llano's amazing stone courthouse, we headed back to the wildflower route, taking FM 2323 to Route 87 back to Fredericksburg.

Our plans for the evening included a trip to Old Tunnel State Park, where an no-longer-in-use railroad tunnel is home to millions of Mexican free-tailed bats, who emerge from the tunnel around dusk to feed. We knew we were taking a chance, because most of the bats are migratory, and it is a little early in the season for them to be in Texas. But about a thousand bats of a different species live in the tunnel year round, and we hoped to see them.

Unfortunately, when we arrived, the volunteer rangers who monitor the area each day said they had not had a dusk emergence in a good while. The bats are coming out later, after dark, when there isn't enough light to see them. If we get back to Texas Hill Country between mid-April and September, we'll check on the bats again!

Here are some of our other favorite photos from today.

--Shann