McKinney Roughs

In Texas, during the summer, it's not always a good idea to say, "Hey, we should go for a walk," without having a really good idea of where you're going, what time it is, how long are you planning on being gone, what time is it, what are you bringing with you, and what time it is. If you're going to go walking around the woods at two o'clock in the afternoon, you damn well better bring some water with you.

A whole lot of nature

And that's totally what I didn't do when I went for a walk with a friend of mine. At McKinney Roughs. Which I now hate forever mostly because of my lack of planning but also for promising a river and not mentioning that it's, like, ten miles away from the sign that says "<- River."

Still not seeing a river

We saw the sign and thought, yeah, let's go down by the water. After the first mile we realized it wasn't going to be that close. After the second mile we started thinking about turning around, but, what if it's just around the next corner? It wasn't around the next corner after mile three. Or four. But, after the fifth mile it was at the bottom of a hill.

Whoop, there it is!

The trail, by the way, is made of rocks and sand. Climbing back uphill was unpleasant, like walking across the worst beach in the world. On Jupiter. In the end, I didn't die and I was happy about that.

Driving back to Austin on SH 71 we decided to stop at a place that sells pecan related items and, much to my delight, cold drinks. They also had a giant squirrel. 

America needs more odd roadside attractions