Two Big Destinations

Friday Mountain -- Picnic with Great-Granddaddy #3

When Great-Granddaddy's friends implored him to write a book, they found funding for him for a year and offered him a room in a beautiful and isolated location so he could do it! That place was Walter Webb's Friday Mountain. It had a camp dormitory with large, simple rooms and Great-Granddaddy had a nice little setup with a big fireplace for cooking. It was all he needed to focus on writing. It worked -- and his book, Adventures with a Texas Naturalist became a classic in Texas literature.

In the introduction of the book, he describes his daily life there and writes about a person's choice about when to do dishes and what it says about their character -- he believed that those in the "let them soak" camp were just avoiding the issue because if you wash them soon after eating, there is no need to soak them. Ha! I imagine we all could get into a great debate about this one... And this is what was on my mind while I was doing my dishes this evening -- a combination of left over dishes from the morning and my freshly dirtied dinner dishes!

This wall used to be the exterior wall. The Temple enclosed the porch and drywalled all the rooms. I didn't have enough information to figure out which room was Bedichek's.

Today, Friday Mountain is now Barsana Hill -- part of the Radha Madhav Dham which bought the property in the 1990's. They built an impressive Hindu Temple and several homes. They renovated the dormitory for guests and community meals. The dorm looks very little like it used to, but it still has the nice old stone walls. So, I wasn't able to figure out which room Great-Granddaddy was in, but I really wasn't expecting to.

My host at the Temple was kind enough to let me hike up Friday Mountain. On the way up and on top, it looked like very little had been touched in a long time. I can imagine that some of the rocks and older trees on the trail and on top were the same ones that were there when Great-Granddaddy would trek up.

On top of Friday Mountain. Our regular PB & J with Goldfish Crackers. (The benches were added by the Temple.)

View from Barsana Hill | Friday Mountain.

I got magnificent vistas of the surrounding area -- which is being built up at an astonishing rate. It is such a beautiful area I can't blame folks for wanting to move there.

As I came back down, there were lots of birds in the field below. I sat on a bench and meditated while listening to the varied songs.

Next Stop...Barton Springs

I headed next to another very important stop on this trip -- Barton Springs Pool in Zilker Park. For decades, Great-Granddaddy would go daily to the Springs to get relief from the Texas heat. The springs are very cold -- too cold for me. He would sit on a limestone outcropping and when he got too hot, he would jump in for a chiller. He was often joined by his dear friends and thought-partners J Frank Dobie and Walter Webb -- both of whom were well-known in Austin and nationally. Bedichek was such a regular that the rock outcropping upon which he sat became known as "Bedi's Rock."

Barton Springs Pool. Bedi's Rock was described as "just beyond the diving board."

In 1994, a statue by Glenna Goodacre was installed right in front of the pool entrance. It has become a beloved landmark and parents tell me that their kids love to get into Bedichek's and Dobie's laps.

Bedichek, Dobie and Webb (who never swam and is therefore depicted in rolled up slacks).

Planting Letterbox #2

I found a great spot -- I hope -- for the Adventures with Bedichek Letterbox #2 along the Barton Creek Trail. It was so much fun to prepare it and stealthily bury it near a rotten tree.

Shh! Don't tell anyone there's a letterbox under that rock!

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Bonus Stops

Zilker Botanical Gardens -- highly recommend it! Only $5 and such a gem.

Texas State Cemetery -- I visited Dobie's and Webb's graves. It was also great to pay respects to other great Texans: Barbara Jordan, Ann Richards, Jerry Jeff Walker, James Michener (some honorary!)