Day 7 McKinney Falls and Going Home

We got up bright and early and left Marble Falls and headed towards Austin and McKinney Falls.  As we waited for Daddy, I took the opportunity to snap a photo of John and his map.

Out first stop was the Upper Falls.  The water level was lower than we expected and it was somewhat of a letdown to see the falls.  (It reminded us of the time we had gone to Pernedales Falls and was greeted by less than impressive water flow.)  But it was neat to see the smaller pools of water in the large holes that had been cut out of the stone by the water.

And even though it didn’t seem like a lot of flow, JHP was definitely respectful (read: scared) of the flowing water and the sound it made. 

John relaxed enough to scramble down some rock and around to the “island” that was on the other side of the falls, seen here in the background.

Then we trekked over to see the Lower Falls, not expecting much more than the Upper Falls had been.  This was a slightly longer hike over what looked like a poorly taken care of parking lot, which was in fact just rock.  The Lower Falls were, in fact, a tad more impressive.  A total of four stream flowed across the rock, including one that had cut a large hole into a rock face as it flowed down.  John opted to jump down into the “beach” area to take this photo.  There were lots of people at the park that day – some kind of Father/Daughter outing.

After we left McKinney Falls, it was past lunch time.  We lucked into a good burger and fries at a place called Dan’s Hamburgers in Austin.  Then we set off for home.  JHP wasn’t thrilled when I told him we were going to have quiet time in the car.  He fussed about it and I finally told him to close his eyes and rest.  Before I knew it, he was actually asleep and we all enjoyed his hour long nap.  I didn’t touch him this time.  I’d done so on the initial trip and woken him up.  Oops!

We got home and unpacked, while John explored the toys he hadn’t seen in a week.  One of the packages that came while we were gone was his Halloween costume:  Diego, animal rescuer.  He had to put it one and wore it until dinner time.  So fun!

It was a good vacation for the most part.  It was relaxing, but we had some adventure.  We probably should have gotten into the water a bit sooner and more frequently, but there just didn’t seem the rush to do it.  While it didn’t at the time seem like a break for me, it was somewhat refreshing not to have to worry about household things and keeping the routine.  I only wish I’d gotten two books to read on the trip, since the one I brought didn’t last long enough.

-EBP-