Something of a First for Suna

One of the things Suna doesn't do a lot of (other than run, gamble or eat sweetbreads) is travel just for fun. Most of her life, vacations have been visits to family, or sitting around the house due to lack of funds. Most of her trips to exotic locations have been for work--she didn't do a trip abroad in college, or go to school to study any of the languages she learned. And that's fine. She got a good education, enjoyed her family, and really enjoyed the kids. But, now is Suna's big chance!

Now that Suna and Lee have Ursula, they feel compelled to actually USE her. You can't let an RV sit around and disintegrate slowly! So, they decided to go somewhere very nice on their first non-farm trip: Krause Springs, which is located on Cypress Creek near Spicewood, Texas. It's a private park, owned by, of all people, the Krause family. Look at it.

Krause Springs with no drunk people, but there IS a turtle in the photo.

This place has over 30 springs, and it was a lot of fun to go find where the little streams that were everywhere popped out of the ground. And there were so many huge Cypress trees!

Tree hugger.

However, before Suna and Lee could enjoy their relaxing couple time, they had to have adventures. In good news, a neighbor said it was fine to park Ursula beside his house, so they could leave straight from work without having to go fetch her. So they set off bravely...only to discover on the very first tight turn that a visitor had not quite shut the cabinet door where the service for 8 of Corelle ware was. Oops. About half of it was rendered into tiny, razor-like shards of glass all over the main cabin. This meant that Suna spent half the drive to Krause Springs painstakingly collecting big and small pieces of crockery. Yes, Corelle is break resistant, but it is NOT break proof. She got all the major pieces up with the whisk broom, then Lee bravely pulled in to the South Austin Target parking lot, where we got a new set of dishes AND a really nice vacuum cleaner--it's a little narrower than usual, which makes it great for the RV space. Guess what our first fun activity at the park was? That's right! Shard removal! We each got one cut, but really, it was not as bad as it could have been.

We are in there cleaning. OK, really, Lee is trying to back into the parking spot.

Why do we have Corelle? Lee really doesn't like plastic or metal for eating. So, though Suna bought plastic cups for her own and visitor use, there are two glass glasses and two glass wine glasses, well padded, in the cabinet. Suna's loving friends have all suggested that blue speckled camping plates and cups, but that is not gonna work out for Lee's issues purposes.

Issues? He doesn't have issues.

After a rather scary jaunt down the very bumpy dirt road (made the farm road seem silken in comparison), Suna and Lee were thrilled to see how pretty the RV spots were. After a little trouble getting parked (even the back-up camera doesn't make parking a behemoth easy), it was fun to enjoy the quiet and explore the park in the late afternoon.

Proof it is pretty. Such cool roots.

This is one of the little streams made by the springs.

It was fun to make dinner together and sit outside in the lovely air. It was so shady and nice that it was possible to sit outside! And a LOT of Saturday morning was spent sitting by Ursula and drinking coffee, while watching all kinds of birds. There was a woodpecker that hid from Suna but chickadees and titmice were everywhere, plus huge families of cardinals. There were also black squirrels! And gray ones with black heads. Lee tried so hard to get a good photo of them...but alas they were always in the shade.

Corelle coffee mug. And a rumpled shirt.

In addition to the springs, the Krauses have made a really interesting "butterfly garden" near their house. It has huge wind chimes and a fern-covered grotto with odd statues peeking around in it. Plus, so many purple coneflowers! There were dozens and dozens of tiger swallowtails and black tiger swallowtails and many happy hummingbirds flitting around. Suna and Lee spent a LOT of time taking photos of flowers, butteflies, bees and such.

Coneflower Fantasy

Suna loved this big ole agave plant.

The grotto and the bottom of the big wind chimes. Dark, huh.

Trip Report: Krause Springs, Cypress Creek, Spicewood, TX—June 3-5, 2011


Highlight: Friday evening visiting the springs with hardly any people there, and looking at the turtles and colorful fish in the water. It’s just magical.

Lowlight: Rude people who left trash all around the beautiful location. Well, that and the dishes all breaking.

Meals:

• Peanut butter and banana sandwiches for breakfast and snacks
• Ham/ turkey and cheese sandwiches with home grown tomatoes and baby greens. These were lunches, along with bags of chips from a huge box Suna got.
• Macaroni and cheese (the easy Velveeta kind) with hatch chili tomatoes and beef franks. This is surprisingly good.
• • ?? Can’t remember other main meal.

Location Review: This is one of the most beautiful places in the Austin area. It would be just perfect if visited in winter or fall and/or on weekdays. Summer weekends are a bit busy. The campground is on dirt roads, and the camping spots not marked at all. They are quite close together. However, the RV parking spots all border a lovely woodland area with many beautiful birds to listen to and little streams full of moss and flowers to explore. You can find both frogs and toads! There are very nice restrooms. The park is not huge, but there is a lot of wetlands to explore, and if you are a tent camper, some really special spots to camp. The springs area has been well developed to look fairly natural, and the spring-fed pool is a delight. There is even a “cold tub” area for an intimate dip. The butterfly garden has one of practically every concrete statuary item you can think of, but the flowers are well selected and it is obviously lovingly attended to.

Lessons Learned:
1. Corelle ware breaks into tiny needle-like shards. Make sure all cabinets are shut well before heading out.
2. Slideouts need grease.
3. Ursula will not go anywhere if the levelers are not fully retracted, though one can be a little out and she will still run.
4. The air conditioning will drown out belly dancing parties.
5. The electricity at the RV storage place WILL run the fridge, so you can leave condiments and water in there.