Off the Beaten Track
Unaccustomed as we are to sightseeing, Neil and I decided to go off the beaten track to see a sight about which we'd read. Really, this was a conscious decision: we actually CHOSE to go sightseeing, and it necessitated about 20 miles of driving on county back roads in Texas.
So there we were . . . turning off I-10 to go see Pedernales Falls. The AAA Texas Tour Book made it sound beautiful, definitely worth the short distance to see the sight. And hey, we were sightseeing, right? I mean, does it get any better than that?
After driving the county road, we came to a fork, turning left to go down a twisty, turny road to Pedernales State Park. They were going to charge us $10.00 to go see this wonderful waterfall . . . and I'm not my father's daughter for nothing!
I said, "$10.00 just to walk down to the overlook?" I wanted to clarify our position -- we were not there to picnic, play in the water, or camp overnight, after all.
"Oh, yes!" came the reply.
As we'd driven along, I'd begun to wonder at the wisdom (or lack thereof) of this sightseeing adventure, and I use that term loosely. After all, it is Texas, it is the end of the summer, actually the end of a dry summer. In fact, we'd just learned that Austin has come through one of the driest summers on record, with September being its driest in over 100 years. What were we thinking?
So I asked the attendant, "Is there water at the falls right now?"
"Well, no, there isn't any water going over the falls right now, but it's still really pretty."
Declining the temptation to ask how a waterfall can be pretty without water falling, I also declined the opportunity of donating money to the Texas State Park system, so we turned and twisted our way through the dryness, back to I-10, and continued our journey.
But you've got to give us credit for trying to be sightseers, don't you, and for getting off the beaten track? I'd prove it with a picture, but why would we take a picture of a waterless waterfall, even if we had gotten close enough to do so?
So there we were . . . turning off I-10 to go see Pedernales Falls. The AAA Texas Tour Book made it sound beautiful, definitely worth the short distance to see the sight. And hey, we were sightseeing, right? I mean, does it get any better than that?
After driving the county road, we came to a fork, turning left to go down a twisty, turny road to Pedernales State Park. They were going to charge us $10.00 to go see this wonderful waterfall . . . and I'm not my father's daughter for nothing!
I said, "$10.00 just to walk down to the overlook?" I wanted to clarify our position -- we were not there to picnic, play in the water, or camp overnight, after all.
"Oh, yes!" came the reply.
As we'd driven along, I'd begun to wonder at the wisdom (or lack thereof) of this sightseeing adventure, and I use that term loosely. After all, it is Texas, it is the end of the summer, actually the end of a dry summer. In fact, we'd just learned that Austin has come through one of the driest summers on record, with September being its driest in over 100 years. What were we thinking?
So I asked the attendant, "Is there water at the falls right now?"
"Well, no, there isn't any water going over the falls right now, but it's still really pretty."
Declining the temptation to ask how a waterfall can be pretty without water falling, I also declined the opportunity of donating money to the Texas State Park system, so we turned and twisted our way through the dryness, back to I-10, and continued our journey.
But you've got to give us credit for trying to be sightseers, don't you, and for getting off the beaten track? I'd prove it with a picture, but why would we take a picture of a waterless waterfall, even if we had gotten close enough to do so?
posted by Patty @ 8:48 AM
1 Comments:
At 3:47 PM,
Kim said…
I realize this comment is months late, but this is a great story! Brought a smile to my face. Kim K
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