Wimberley, Texas, and surrounding area
Adventures
Mostly outdoor adventures.... tidbits of this and that from Texas.
Thank you for stopping by.
Best wishes, and happy adventuring!
Buffalo's at LBJ Ranch, Stonewall, Texas.
In His hands
The Anoles Lizard have been in abundance the past couple of years in Wimberley.
Wonderful for nature, and the anoles give great photo ops.
Friendly drivers in the Wimberley Valley :)
When you come into the Wimberley Valley, one thing that you may notice is how friendly, and courteous drivers can be around here. Please, be one of them ;)
In Wimberley, on River Time, drivers are usually taking things a little slower.
Of course you have your speed racers, teens, occasional maniacs, and out of town drivers, along with minor middle of town traffic jams, but for the most part, it is pretty peaceful, and easy to get around.
Country Drives
Yes, some times you have to watch for cattle on the road, and always watching in general ;)
Emily Ann Theatre in Wimberley, Tx, has an Annual Butterfly Festival that is fun for all ages.
Every year students from the elementary schools raise chrysalis, and release them at the Butterfly Festival. The festival has a butterfly conservatory, plants to take home that will attract butterflies, and butterflies released throughout the festival.
Students in the district all make butterfly art, that is hung on display at the festival, and prizes are awarded for best butterflies.
It is a wonderful sight. And a great photo op 😅
Through the months that follow, the butterflies make their way across the valley, visiting flowers along the way. :)
During the Christmas Holiday, Emily Ann Theatre is also where you will enjoy Wimberley's Trail of Lights.
A favorite for locals to gather, feed llamas, roast marshmallows, and enjoy the lights and sounds of the holidays.
Sit by the fire and watch a Holiday movie, drinking hot chocolate, topped with marshmallows donated by the community.
A simply wonderful Christmas spirit throughout the Wimberley Valley.
Texas Wildflowers
To see more Texas wildflower pictures visit Doily Designs Wildflower page.
Beautiful Plants
Wild Onion, Allium canadense
Passion flowers from a local nursery.
Passion flowers do well, if you can keep the caterpillars off of them.
Peonies
Prickly Pear Cactus, Opuntia
Water Lilies
Critters in Wimberley
Daring wild life that will eat the plants right out from under you, protectors, and. young.
Tom Turkey, friendly neighborhood pet.
River Goats
And the random middle of nowhere goat rescue
Crazy Squirrels
Snakes
Crested Caracara
Anoles Lizards
Buffalo (also not wild :)
Texas Longhorns
Wimberley, Texas has Fabulous Fall Colors
Photo ops, and great PUMPKINS locally grown, at the United Methodist Church
Beautiful Sunsets in the Texas Hill Country
Blue Hole (2019)
Blue Hole is our favorite swimming spot in Wimberley, Texas.
The always cool, clear waters of Blue Hole are just the thing for a hot summer day down in the valley.
And photo ops
March 2019
Blue Hole offers special fun events throughout the year, including the
Annual Boo Hole, Haunted Halloween Trails
Come out and enjoy costumes, scares on the Haunted Trails, Hay Maze, Smores, and more!
Halloween night, locals gather on town square, and parade costumes down the street. Trick or treaters' visit shops offering sweet treats and Halloween happiness.
The Fire Department sponsors a Halloween Party, next door to the Cowboy Church, also hosting a Halloween Bash, that the kids don't want to miss.
Wimberley Strong!
Other nights you may catch a fun event, like the Annual Ace Street Dance.
Ace's Street Dance offers Music, Raffles, and FUN WITH FAMILY & FRIENDS.
Local Fire and Police help out, and golf carts are running, offering rides to your vehicle.
Plenty of music, fun and dancing for everyone.
Wimberley Ace Hardware is also a big supporter of local sports teams.
Supporting players and games, offering free popcorn on game days, cheer gear, cheer support, and Texan apparel.
Supporters line the streets of Wimberley with signs, and yell cheers of encouragement to busses as they head out of town, for out of town games.
Mr & Mrs Claus had even talked about being part of the Pride Parade several years. 👀
4th of July Parade is an even bigger hit here in Wimberley, Tx.
Along with the VFW Annual Rodeo and Firework show.
Or listen in on the Wimberley Valley Radio, for some wonderful shows like this one with Paul Simon & Edie Brickell
Edie & Paul, what a beautiful couple. 💞
Check out Middletown Brewery, and grab a brew. Middletown carries some great local brews, and hosts local musicians.
Enjoy a cool drink and live music, sitting by the water at Cypress Falls
Savages Bar & Grill, for more outdoor music, food, and drinks.
Northeast of San Antonio you will come across the oasis town of New Braunfels, Texas, supporting conservation of natural resources, including the aquifer, and their unique living bridge animal crossing over IH 35.
While in New Braunfels, visit Landa Park, tube the Guadalupe, Schlitterbahn, Greene Hall, and so much more!
Head back North to Canyon Lake, nestled between San Antonio, and Wimberley for some water fun.
Find caves through out the area, like our favorite, Natural Bridge Caverns,
located West of San Marcos.
Back in Wimberley
Put your name on the sign on the way to the infamous Jacobs Well.
Well known for taking the lives of many underwater spelunkers.
You can still hike the park, and climb the rocks surrounding the spring, and enjoy the peaceful quiet of nature.
LBJ Ranch in Stonewall, Texas, Living History Farm, and so much more.
Down the Road from Stonewall, you will find Fredericksburg, Texas.
While you are in Fredericksburg, you can visit the Admiral Nimitz's Museum.
Venture off the main road, on your way to Fredericksburg, for some music in Luckenbach, Texas.
Kerville, Texas
Brewsters (things that were)
Cacklebarry
San Marcos used to be the home of Aquarena Springs
As a young child, it was a favorite of my family to visit. The swimming pig with the mermaids were great, but my favorite was, for $.25 you could play tic tac toe with the chicken 😅 Well that, and the glass bottom boat... STILL cruising the aquifer.
You can read about the magical days of the mermaids in Texas Highways.
To this day, Mermaids are still very popular around San Marcos.
Aquarena Springs now is dedicated to conserving the water ways. Wimberley, San Marcos, and others are part of the Edwards Aquifer
Cool Eclipse Events
Several times, Wimberley has been lucky enough to witness some major Eclipse events.
The best one, in my opinion, was October 14, 2023, when cool shadows accompanied the Eclipse. Dancing circle shadows covered surfaces, as the eclipse passed slowly over.
Wings Over Wimberley
All sorts of Bats come out at the Annual Wings Over Wimberley bat festival, including the thousands of bats that emerge from under the city bridge in the evening.
Hill Country Freezes
We have seen several hard winters in Texas over the past 10 years. Several causing severe issues, including loss of power, water, and property damage.
The 2022 Freeze, left trees so heavy under the weight of the frozen water, healthy trees, along with huge branches, were snapping in half under the weight. It was something like I have NEVER seen or experienced.
Freezing rain came down all through the night, and the morning offered a cold eerie silence, with frequent, and sudden snapping sounds echoing though the woods. "Creek, Creek, SNAP! CRASH!!"
Over, and over....all through the day. Huge branches of healthy trees broke under the weight. Some large healthy trees just snapped in half like twigs. You were very lucky if one did not damage something of yours.
The days that followed that freezed, proved more of Wimberley Strong, as neighbors worked together to gather the fallen trees, and branches, to be taken to the local church. If you had a truck, you'd pitch in, and a trailer, even better! It was a nice sight.
This tree is bent over and touching the ground because it is so heavy with ice. The tree eventually snapped in the center.
Beauty with the freeze.
A local favorite for tacos, Mima's Tacos, has a cool waterfall as you walk in, and well, this happened...
I love this little Texas town. Since it is where most of our adventures happen, I will begin there...
Still the occasional floods, were roadways are blocked by water, but nothing like the Floods of May 2015. 🙏
🍃🍂🍃🌲🌲🌲🌳🌳🌳🍃🍂🍃
Written May, 2022 (Began May 2019)
The beginning of this adventure journal is a tragic but uplifting story. It also is a reminder how life is unpredictable and messy, how it can be beautiful and devastating all in the same breath, how we must carry on through all life throws at us and do our best.
It is titled, 'We Love Wimberley Strong!'
The first time I had brought my husband to Wimberley, he was hooked. Wimberley is a beautiful, quaint, artistic town, tucked away in the Texas Hill Country, just outside and between Austin and San Antonio.
Visiting Wimberley, we both agreed it would be a perfect place to raise our family.
In April, 2015, we bought the perfect hilltop home, our first home together. We all loved the home and the peaceful country life.
This home had won us over another charming house that was right on the river, it was one that my husband adored being so close to the water. And, I remember him asking the owner did we need a lot of flood insurance, being on the river, and the seller of the home saying, "Nay, we have never seen floods reach this house. Never."
Never say never.
It was only a few months later that we saw that same house damaged after it had been completely submerged under water when the May 2015, devastating, record breaking flood hit.
Below you can see the washed away road, and stumps from large knocked down Cypress trees.
Coming out the days that followed this epic flood, I could only imagine what people had gone through during this horrific experience.
So many giant trees were destroyed and laying scattered from the huge wall of water that had rushed so violently through this small town. The massive raging water ripped giant Cypress trees up by the roots, and laying on their sides, while others were snapped in half, bark stripped from their trunks.
Peoples belongings and debris from their homes, like the door stuck in the tree below, along with natural debris, littered the landscape with the scars of this awful event. Homes damaged, demolished, some completely gone.
People still missing.
It was heart wrenching.
Driving into town the day after the flood, there was a calm, 'quiet after the storm' feel. We were not from around here and little did we know the whole story.
As soon as the storm began to rain its terror, this quiet town was busy working together, officials, and citizens. Their stories are heart breaking but also so heart warming.
After living here I have see what they mean by, "Wimberley Strong". People pulling together and helping one another through this disastrous event, with so much warmth, love and generosity.
Some days as we go along the Blanco River, I will often remember the flood of 2015. The scarred trees that still remain make it hard not to think of the mass of water that rushed through this quiet town that unsuspecting day.
Trees still standing, snapped in half, living yet scarred.
🌱🌱Among those trees are all the saplings people have been planting along the river to replace ones lost, and this warms my heart. Reminding me of the resilience and strength, as I have seen time and time again in the Wimberley community.🌱🌱
Wimberley Boot-i-ful giant boots can be seen adorning business' and more all around the village. Grab a map at the visitors center and see if you can spot them all!
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| Ozona Boot is my personal favorite. |
The Wimberley Village Library has a book on display, "Floods of Wimberley, 2015", yes, there was a second record flood in October, 2015. In the book, there are pictures of pumpkins floating in the streets, and shops submerged in water, in the middle of the village.
My children where stuck at school, due to the water level going over the bridge, so every bridge in town was closed, me stuck on the other side, unable to get to them.
Maybe it was the book, and the trees, or maybe the resilience and kindness in this town that never ceases to amaze me. Maybe it is that we are coming up on 7 years after the May flood. Whatever drove me, I felt the need to share.
In remembrance of those who lost lives in the flood, and their families.
In reverence of those who rebuilt.
Kudos to all who plant tree saplings.
I am always impressed by the incredible strength of people in our town. Wimberley Strong!
I was super happy to find out that there was a carpenter here in town, that painstakingly collected the fallen Cypress trees and made beautiful furniture with them! He sold them on Facebook, and people that would buy them would donate them to flood victims. How great is that. (And I thought that I was the only one with ideas for that wood....lol :)
One book can be purchased from The Old Mill Store entitled "Wimberley: Epic Flood Test a Small Town's Strength".
The other book "Floods of Wimberley, 2015". can be purchased from the Wimberley Village Library.
This Youtube video gives a sense of the devastation of this event, and words and photos from a local.
Thank you for stopping by.
Hope that you find joy & inspiration!
October 19, 2022
A few boots in Wimberley, Texas. Keep Wimberley Bootiful!
Thank you for stopping by.
Keep Wimberley Bootiful!
Miss Mary, owner of Coral Theatre, is lovingly missed. Thank you, Miss mary for all the wonderful memories watching movies under the starry Wimberley sky.
Always there with a kind word and a beautiful smile. 💜
Speaking of special ladies, Betsy had to be one of the sweetest ladies that I have ever known. Her kindness, and sincerity reminded me of my Mom. If it wasn't for her pulling for us, we may not have ended up in our beautiful home in Wimberley. Thank you Besty 💜 A dear friend who is grearly missed.
Found out today, sadly, that Shelly Duvall had passed away July 11, 2024.
Being a big Shelly Duvall fan, this truly saddened my heart. She was truly a unique, and special person.
I was pleasantly surprised that my teen daughter knew who she was, and this brought me joy, as I spent the better part of the morning reminiscing about Ms Duvall, talking about her with my daughter, and watching Ms Duvall in things like her 'Tall Tales & Legends by Shelly Duvall'.
Turns out that she was from Texas, and died in Blanco, Texas, just down the road from Wimberley. I hope that it brought her great joy to spend her last days in her home state.
Familiar places
When I was a kid, we used to drive here to visit family. I like when things do not change that much.
Speaking of food, there are some good eats in Wimberley.
Betsy turned us on to the Leaning Pear, a local favorite. We were amused with the cute serving of ice cream in the 'Cookies 'n Cream' dessert.
Several times in 2019, Fear the Walking Dead filmed in Wimberley. We ran into a lot of filming, but did not actually see much. But watching the end result, it was fun to recognize familiar places. Even folks that were not fans, were tuning in to see the sights.
Below a few shots I got while they were filming FWD. Do you recognize any of them from the show? (Plus a favorite shot from the show.)
The cloud rainbow was hanging over were they were shooting one day, and I was driving by the area. The first cloud rainbow I had ever seen. I've seen several here in town since then.
You have to be creative when it comes to biking and skating out here in the country.
Just down the road is Canyon Lake, offering a large lake with cool waters for swimming, boating, and fishing, with plenty of accommodations.
Waters flow down from Lake Canyon into the Guadalupe River, offering great tubing, and fun on the water in many forms.
Head further down (about 3 hours South) to South Padre Island, or Port Arkansas Pass
to enjoy the summer weather, and the Texas Beaches.
The Bay
Talented Wimberley Locals.
These kids wrote, and illustrated their own book, titled, 'Goodnight Wimberley
A Bedtime Story for a Sleepy Little Town".
Bugs, Insects & Arachnids in Wimberley, Texas
Things bug me too, but we still need bugs :)
Wimberley, Texas, home of the Hired Killers... Just incase have you have, and do not want pests.
Lots of Cicadas
Junk Bugs, or Trash Bugs are definitely among the weird and interesting.
Wolf Spider
Lots of really BIG spiders. Keeping in mind that none of these large spiders will harm you, and they love to eat pesky smaller bugs.
One of the most interesting of the large spiders was this Giant Lichen Orb Weaver.
Lily
And lots of Scary Spiders...
like the Brown Recluse
.
Giant Red Headed Texas Centepede
These are 3 different Red Headed Texas Centipedes, unless of course, the same one kept coming back. Scary fellas. The one in the video is having fuzzy caterpillar a la carte.
Scorpions
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