Cedar Cliffs State Park

 Today, Charlie and I planned one adventure but enjoyed an alternate one. We wanted to go hike on an Audubon property with quite a few miles of natural trails southwest of Dallas, but when we got there it was closed because they've apparently had more rain than at JoJo and Charlie's house. A bit weird since Charlie called last night and there was no notice about closure. Anyway, there we were at the locked gate looking for other options. One of the reasons Charlie wanted to go there is that it's the edge of what's known as the Texas Hill Country, considered the border between the Southeast and the Southwest. The Hill Country has limestone and granite escarpments.

Here you can see that the area is not flat at all.

As opposed to the general Dallas region which is flat. This is looking northeast from the hills into the flatlands and Dallas.

Dallas is in the Blackland Prairie which is very similar to much of the midwest prairie. Similar plants, birds, etc. I looked through a Texas wildflower book, and many of the same genera are here with the same or related species.

Back to us... sitting in the car... looking for an adventure. Cedar Cliffs State Park was nearby.

Their natural surface trails were also closed, but they did have some options. We walked a paved trail along Joe Pool Lake. This was built in 1987 to save meadowlark habitat.

Here's a plant example that fooled me momentarily.

Because it's growing in the winter (and although today was very nice, it's been cold here, and will be bitterly cold next week) I was momentarily fooled by the purple color.

It's one of the sow thistles (not really a thistle), Sonchus oleraceus. This picture of the leaves and flowers isn't very good. The leaves curl distinctivly around the stem. This is not a high quality plant, but it's interesting, and this same species also grows in Michigan. Also, it had the nerve to bloom in the middle of January, so I could see it!

Here's a better Texas tree, Mesquite. Look at those thorns!

And mistletoe, which is parasitic, growing on Texas Cedar Elm trees. That elm is new to me, but all I could see in January was bark. It's a common southern elm (so named because it is often growing with "cedar"- reall juniper).

The other trail that was open at the park was to tour an historic farm that was on the property. The barn was the first structure, built in 1859. Look at the hewn logs.

There was lots of old machinery on display. This was a new one to me. This is a grain binder. The grain is pulled into the blade by that wooden-bladed wheel, then it travels sideways into the binder where bundles are tied and then spit out. The bundles (sheaves) have to then be stacked by hand into shocks. There are videos on YouTube where you can see them in action.

We walked about five miles. Very interesting, even though the hillier natural trails would have been a little more fun.

When we got home, JoJo had made homemade vegetable beef soup and biscuits. She didn't think she could walk that far, so chose not to go. The meal was delicious, and we swapped more stories and pictures. I am so comfortable here... it's pretty awesome.

Cedar Cliffs State Park, Texas, 5 miles- various

See Dallas Arboretum, Jeremy & Shep