After over a dozen trips going back and forth between LBJ and Leander one day around 2018 I threw the trip into Google Maps and it gave me a new route through backroads that cut 10 minutes off the trip. These backroads are very scenic and along the route there is a nature reserve that offers two stops: a lookout and a ranch filled with hiking trails. Trip after trip while passing by this preserve I dreamed of taking Finn and hiking on whatever trails this ranch had, from before he was born I have had a motivation to make sure he gets as much time outdoors as I can accommodate.
About three months ago I found myself driving back from the week with Finn and without a schedule, so we stopped and stumbled around the shortest trail the ranch had. This trail was short but had a few nice scenic views, I could tell Finn had fun because afterwards he rambled around the parking lot at extra 15 minutes looking for another trail. I promised myself to come back with him more prepared to take it on.
This weekend I met my dad with Finn at Bluebonnet Cafe for breakfast, Finn's first time eating at this famous establishment. Finn loved the bacon and the activity, luckily there was a blue bonnet outside so I could point to it as an example of the name. After my dad left to go back to Odessa we hit up a new park in Marble Falls (one with two playgrounds), and then after a trip to the Dollar Tree ("drink store"), we stopped by the ranch again on the way home.
At first Finn didn't want to hike, as he was upset we got close to the lake without actually going to anyone's houses. But after we chilled in the covered areas for a while we finally went hiking on the Creek Trail. It was a little muddy but about a quarter of the way it opened into a huge field full of butterflies, unlike anything Finn has seen in his short life. We also got at the bottom of a trail into a creek, and found what were likely arrow heads in the dry bed.
As we passed an older couple on the trail I had a moment to really soak up that I was finally living my dream of getting Finn out into nature.
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