The drive in is so pretty. There is once spot on Park road 4 with 3 huge, steep hills, on a straightaway. It was like a rollercoaster, but you controlled the speed. "Floor it!" We almost turned around just to do it again. There was also a strangely out of place castle on the hilltop. An Austin lawyer traveled to Germany, saw this cool castle, bought the floor plans and spend 10+ years recreating it here. It is available to rent for special occasions.
We arrived 30 minutes before our scheduled canoe tour. Made a quick sandwich, changed clothes, and were on our way to explore Devil's waterhole. We toured with a family which had 1 to many kids, I gladly took the girl on our boat and put her to work. While at DW, we swam a little, then continued to pass near a Great Blue Heron nest where a pair was actively "roosting". We took a short walk along an area which had been a Native American trading spot. We didn't find any arrowheads, but there was plenty of story telling.
After the 2 hour tour, we swam at the swim beach for hours. When the time came, we found our site and made camp. The tent pad and table were down the hill a ways from the parking spaces. I was not going to carry everything down there and back for every meal. The executive decision was made that while at Inks, we were tailgaiting.
I did need to do a little laundry. When I finished, my son wanted to take a bath in the big green rubbermaid I used. He had a blast. If you have ever seen a photograph of a kid bathing in a tin dog washing tub, in a field of flowers.....well, this was NOT exactly like that, but the backround was real pretty. The rock formations in the area are superheated limestone, caused by volcanic activity and the new limestone rocks are called Gneiss. There was an area on either side of our site of this rock, and cactus.
Our site was waterfront. We did take a quick dip but it just wasn't as fun without any other kids there, like the beach. We had squirrels playing, wrens trying to nest in my sons drying shorts, male mallards resting on the rock formation, does escorting us to the restroom, and a tarantula walking past the front mud flap of the tent. Oh, and a scorpion chased my son out of his shower stall. ( He stuck with the rubbermaid bath technique while at Inks)
In the morning, we went to the Inks Dam Federal Fish Hatchery. It's free, open, and close by. Luckily we went on a transport day. We watched the men prepare the truck, corral the 7000 catfish, net them, lift the dump bucket with a crane and release them into the transport truck. Those fish were going to 2 Indian Reservations in NM.
We went to Longhorn Cavern ( seperate report )
Returned to Inks to swim, again at the swim beach until about 630pm.
Next morning, went into Burnet to the CAF air Museum located at Kate Craddock Field, on 281. The man was very knowledeable and walked us thru the whole exhibit. Another family came moments after us but it was clear the kids weren't interested in being there. We spent about 1 1/2 hours checking it all out ( at a leisurely pace ). $5 for adults, $2 for kids?, He waived the fee for my son.
Drove down to Marble Falls to the Sweet Berry Farm. It cost nothing to get in, buy what you pick, $1.99 for strawberries, $2.99 blackberries. We picked just over a pound of strawberries, and were to hot to pick any more. We got a drink and snack from the car and went back to pet all the cute little goats they had at the back of the property, in the shade. They had 2 donkeys and 2 horses also. They sold "Fain's" brand honeys and honey blends in their little store. While we were there, a group of young kids was on a field trip from Cedar Park TX. It was slightly busy while they were there. Another 2 hours spend having fun, making memories.
Back to Inks to swim Devils Waterhole. There is a cliff you can jump from, but it's advised NOT to jump. My son really wanted to try. He loves to swim, and can almost do it, but is afraid of heights. He jumped from the 2 foot rock, then it went to 6feet. It took him a few minutes to work up his nerve for that. After that, he went to the 8. He was so proud of jumping from the cliff. He wanted to keep jumping. I had to tell him no. I was tired from treading water for the whole time he was climbing and waiting to jump. I need a floatie!
On the last day, we drove to LBJ SHS, spend about an hour at the living history farm. He got sent to the hen house to fetch some eggs. Also got to take a grub from the corn they were shucking, to feed to the baby turkeys. He thought that was really neat.
We stopped at the Wildseed farm in Fredericksburg. We were both bored, had an icecream and left. We weren't old enough to truely enjoy that place if you catch my drift.
By now, we're really hot, Hmmmmm, Blanco State Park is on the way, let's stop and swim for an hour or so. The water was not clear or cold. Some of the little local kids had an attitude and were shoving other kids off the ladder, cutting ahead in line. The parents watched and did nothing. Time to go. Now we can say we've been there and done that.
Inks,
Seclusion/privacy - 9
Swimming-9
restroom-3 ( must be the yuckiest SP RR I've ever seen, cobwebs, and scorpions )
Wildlife-8
Store-8
Hiking - not sure ( save the hiking for when it's to cold to swim)
playground - plenty, just never went
staff - 7
We will definately return to Inks again, we'll just drive to the restrooms in the RV section of the park where they are newer.
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