Do not recommend camping in the middle of a Texas summer (unless you bring a fan).
Time was winding down. Texas A&M was about to start up classes and my job with Amazon was fixing to commence. We knew we wouldn’t have much more time to get in another trip to a state park, so we went out with a bang. On the weekend of August 15-16 we took a short trip up above Austin towards the Highland Lakes. We had Longhorn Cavern, Inks Lake, and Lyndon B. Johnson State Parks on the schedule. We knew Longhorn Cavern would be different since the main attraction is an underground labyrinth of limestone. Inks Lake was a park that we had heard a lot about; some cool hikes and nice swimming holes would be perfect for a Texas summer. LBJ was kind of another check on our list; we didn’t really know what to expect with it.
The weekend started with our drive up to Longhorn Caverns. Winding through the hill country was pretty, but the caverns were even better. Longhorn Cavern was very interesting since so much history resides in these caves. The tour took an hour and half to get all the way through. Kaylee took tons of pictures of all that there was to see in the cave. It was a cool 70 degrees underground which was a welcomed feeling since the outside air was about 107 degrees. Going caving was a good way to escape the heat and start our last trip before we split for an extended period of time.
Inks Lake was a short 10 minute drive down the road from Longhorn Cavern. We knew we had two days here, and it was going to be the first place we camped out at. So, once we got there we took a good hike around the north side of the park to the best swimming areas. We stayed at the Devil’s Waterhole for a few hours before heading out to our campsite. The campsite was quite a walk to and from the car, and we were worn out by the time we got our campsite set up. First came dinner, which consisted of summer sausage, cheese, and crackers. It was a great dinner to bring along for one night of camping since the only tools needed for the meal was a pocket knife to cut the sausage. We also brought along some UNO cards to keep us entertained before attempting some astro photos (which didn’t really work out). After a long, hot night we woke up early to take down the campsite and get a morning hike in before heading on to LBJ. The morning hike was nice and had lots of pretty views.
Leaving Inks Lake was difficult since it was a nice park, but LBJ would make another park we would get to mark off the list. LBJ is a state historic site, a state park, and a national historic site all in one. It is still an operating ranch to this day along with all of those things. The state park mostly consists of little exhibits and a small farm. The national historic site is a drive through tour of the back side of the ranch. Not what we were expecting, but it was a pleasant surprise, especially getting to see a glimpse of LBJ’s home and refuge during his presidency.
On one of the hottest weekends of the year, Kaylee and I finished up our last state park adventure before I started working full-time at Amazon and she began her final semester at Texas A&M. It was a very nice couple of days we got to spend together doing what we love to do. We even rode over to Fredericksburg for some ice cream! We didn’t know when the next time we would be able to go to a park was, but we knew that it would be coming up!
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