Yesterday, we walked around the town of Llano (pop 3,200). Nice little place. Then, we drove up towards Brady (pop 5,300) and found a nice little highway rest area for the night.
We did about 4 miles (6.4 kms). We walked across the bridge and over to the official municipal RV parking area by the river. It was just a paved parking lot with full RV hookups. Self Serve. But they wanted $35 USD ($49 CAD) per night! Our free spot on the opposite side of the river was much better!
View crossing the bridge at Llano, Texas.
Funny looking dude!
Nice day for a walk.
Looking back at the town of Llano.
Scissor tail Flycatcher.
Ruth, and the oldest surviving house in Llano.
Stone art in the riverbed looking down from the bridge.
We headed west towards Mason, then north towards Brady.
We took a break in the town of Mason.
Typical Texas.
A few miles before Brady there is a pull off picnic area by the San Saba River. It's fairly close to the highway, but it's a fairly quiet back road highway so it's not that busy. The parking area isn't the nicest, and we had to work to get level, but the view of the pretty San Saba River is worth it.
Our overnight spots by the river.
The San Saba River.
It's a pretty spot.
We watched this fellow for a while.
He looked like he was hunting.
But we didn't see him catch anything.
We enjoyed a nice happy hour overlooking the river.
It almost hit the freezing mark overnight. It was only 45F (7C) inside the motorhome when we woke up, but it seems that is the end of the cold spell for now.
Here's our roundabout driving route since we left Guadalupe River State Park. Good thing gas is cheap!
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And in Canada...
Pretty area. I love those older buildings. Do you have heat in Sherman?
ReplyDeleteWe love Sherman's Mr. Heater Buddy propane heater!
DeleteThoughts on those older buildings and older Civic spaces...at one time even Texans were were proud of their local government, and towns built for people instead of for cars are much more welcoming for people.
DeleteI think that many Texas towns still take pride in their downtown squares and the upkeep on them to keep them attractive and promote more local business as well as tourists to their towns. Many other small towns that we pass through in other states, especially some of the more northern states seemed to have their downtown areas almost all closed up because of the box stores on the outskirts of town have drawn people away from the downtown areas.
DeleteThat town is "Lay-no" for all you non-Texans. (Drives me crazy.)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tidbit of information, we were wondering how it was pronounced. :-)
DeleteInterestng. I grew up in Austin and everyone there pronounced it "Lan- no"
DeleteWe have found from living in a small town in Saskatchewan where the majority of people who don't live there pronounce it wrong, is that you have to talk to a local from the town itself, then you know for sure how to pronounce it. :-) I guess even in Texas, people have their own way of pronouncing Llano.
DeleteBeautiful country side and river is gorgeous.
ReplyDeleteYes, the area is very pretty and the colour of the water in the river was beautiful.
Delete$35 a night, puhleeez. You're spot is better.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree on that!
DeleteA great part of Texas. Mason is know for blue topaz, the state mineral of Texas. You could find some along the river from time to time, but some of the ranches let you look for topaz on their land....for a fee.
ReplyDeleteIt is a really nice part of Texas, we have been enjoying the area a lot.
DeleteNext time we are in or around Mason we will check out some of the rivers to see if we can come up with any blue topaz. I am not sure that I have ever seen blue topaz before.
Like the small towns that show their history by maintaining the downtown buildings.
ReplyDeleteNice Pictures.
Be Safe and Enjoy!
It's about time.
We love these little towns as well. They have worked hard to keep the central "downtown" area looking like it did way back when which entices people to come and visit and walk around. We only wish that we could do more of that but times aren't normal at the moment so we try not to venture out into the towns, that will have to wait for another visit one day.
DeleteHi Kevin and Ruth! "Llano" is a Spanish word that means: Open grassy plain and it's pronounced: yah-no. Saludos!
ReplyDeleteYes, we understand that "Llano" is a Spanish word and what it means and we too would have pronounce it this way but we have also found that Texans might not pronounce it as a Spanish word. The best way to find out how to pronounce the town's name is to ask a resident of the town itself.
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