Before we head out to Burnett (pronounced like dernitt) for a tour, here are a few more shots around Inks Lake.
This is the State Park store with the little marina where you can rent boats and canoes.
Notice the large mountain in the background. Okay, well this is the hill country not the Rockies you know.
Yes, that me right next to the water.
And then the Buchanan Lake Dam. Both Buchanan Lake and Inks Lake are on the Colorado River and managed by the LCRA (Lower Colorado River Authority). We stopped at the Buchanan Dam. If you look closely at the picture, you will see some orange floats. This area is the swimming beach and the floats mark the far edge of it so boats won't come in close to the swimmers. So you can see just how far down the water is here as it is on many Texas lakes due to the drought. You can also see the lines on the dam where the water should be. While we were at the dam, one of the rangers came out to chat with us. If you look back at the photos of Inks Lake, you will see that it is not down at all. The ranger told us that because Inks Lake is very small and it is located between the two dams, they keep the water level within a 6" range at all times. It's size and the fact that there is a National Fish Hatchery on the lake are the reason for this. Another lake, Lake Bastrop, east of Austin is also managed at the higher level because it was built as a cooling lake for the electric plant there. That also means that the water is about 95 degrees because it flows throught the cooling fins. Nice to know!
After we learned all about the lakes and the dam, we were off to Burnett. Like many small Texas towns, Burnett is built in a square around the courthouse. In Burnett's case, the courthouse is not one of the unique old ones and the main road does not go round the square. We saw lots of cars but not lots of people so we were guessing they were all in the courthouse.
We stopped in the Cookie Cafe & Bakery.
They had so many cookies to choose from but we held back and only sampled three. They were delicious with ice cold tea.
This used to be a men's store but now is plants and other goodies.
Burnett has a Bluebonnet festival in the spring and this lovely metal sculpture is capitalizing on that.
This building is the jail and there is a sign with visiting hours which also urges you not to talk to the prisoners through the windows. We didn't see any prisoners so we were not tempted.
There is a huge church which has buildings and parking lots in a four square block area. Each corner had this unique sign on the sidewalk. I guess the church wanted to ensure that the parishioners were not just relying on divine protection when they crossed to another area.
It was a nice afternoon. As you can tell, I am trying to catch up on my trip. Not having Internet while out makes it a little more difficult. Just one more post to come.
A fun excursion!
ReplyDelete