Strawberry Picking

On Sunday we drove to Marble Falls to pick strawberries.  In Peoria we usually do this around Father's Day weekend, so it's quite a bit different here.  On the way through the hill country we saw lots of wildflowers from the recent warmth and rain - possibly some of the best wildflower groupings that I have ever seen.  We saw lots of people pulled over along the roads taking pictures (and we took pix, too).


We also went to see Lake Buchanan (pronounced "buck-cannon").  It is a large reservoir on the Colorado River far upstream of Austin.  Like Lake Travis, the closer reservoir, the level dropped a lot during the drought, but has risen a bit with the recent rains.  (By the way, Austin's drought level has now improved to "abnormally dry".)  Anyway, Lake Buchanan is located in a granite bedrock countryside and instead of seeing sandy beaches they were made of pulverized granite - kind of like the pathway in front of our apartment.
On the bus ride home today a grizzled, older gentleman dropped a few coins. I helped him retrieve them, and in a gesture of friendliness he offered "Want weed?" I politely declined the unlit cigarette, but I wish I could have seen the look on my own face.