Crazy gate!

This morning we took a drive along the Willow City Loop, which offers some great views of the Hill Country, passes numerous ranches and would normally be great for wildflowers, in particular bluebonnets, the Texas Sate flower, but due to the prolonged drought they're not good this year and we saw very few. We did pass this wonderful gate though! From there we went further north to Enchanted Rock, a great granite dome, rising about 450 ft above the surrounding land. Folklore of local Native American tribes ascribes magical and spiritual powers to the rock (hence the name 'Enchanted Rock'). We climbed to the summit and the views were amazing - I could have stayed up there for hours, just soaking up the beauty and watching the birds soaring overhead.

Back in Fredericksburg, we went for a walk along the nature trail at Ladybird Johnson Park, where we saw quite a few wildflowers and a number of birds, including hummingbirds at the feeders. In the evening we treated ourselves and had a wonderful meal at a somewhat upmarket restaurant - it was well worth the price!