McKinney Falls State Park

Well the time has come and we are now leaving Houston for our year long journey.  Plans including traveling through about 10 –15 states.  Time will only tell if we get to them all though.  As we travel through Texas we plan on staying at state parks as much as possible as we hope to see every state park in Texas.

Our first stop was at McKinney Falls State Park just outside of Austin.  It is hard to believe that such a beautiful park sits just inside the city limits of Austin.  With it being winter time Onion Creek that feeds the fall was not as full and the area was not green and lush but it was still a really nice park. 

 

 

The RV camping area is really nice with lots for room with water and electric.  There is lots of day use area in the park for picnicking and hiking as well as great area for tent camping.  We were able to put up a large fence in area for the dogs so they really enjoyed staying here. 

 There is a lot of hiking trails all over the park and some of the trails will take you by ruins of the settlers that use to live in the area as well as some Indian ruins.  We hike to the Upper and Lower Falls, even though the water levels were low, both falls were still flowing and it was quite a site.

Upper Falls

Lower Falls

 

 

 

 

Onion Creek is where the water comes from for the fall, but this time of the year the water is low.  It was very interesting to see the formation of the limestone of the bottom of the creek and within the falls area since there was not much water in the creek. 

Limestone formations VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We even had some fun with Fred trying to catch some water at the Lower Falls.  He did not get to wet though. 

 

 

Christmas day was spent with my cousin Chuck McKinney.  Neither one of us had spent Christmas with cousin and extended family in years so it was nice having something different.  His wife’s mother, 93 years old, came and spent the day with us also.  She was very alert and active for a lady of her age.  Chuck’s daughter from Arkansas and grandson also came in, so it was really a fun filled day with some great food.

Christmas Day VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Chuck is also an over the road truck driver and this past Veteran’s Day he has his truck painted and then all of the family members that served in the military names and service dates were painted on it.  He was one of the feature trucks in the Veteran’s Parade in Springfield, Missouri.  We got some pictures with Fred at the truck.

Veteran’s Truck VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

 

Now onward and forward to the next park . . . . .