Burnet, Texas

Marble Falls, Texas

Weather: low 47 degrees, high 55 degrees, cloudy early, then clear skies, very windy

The wind blew hard all last night. At one point, it kept me from sleeping because the stove vent cover kept banging with the wind hitting it. Finally, I got up and secured the cover. Carolyn said she didn't hear anything. I think she could sleep through an explosion.

It looked like rain for the first three hours of daylight, but the clouds eventually cleared out and the rest of the day was sunny and cold. About 1000 hours, we decided to drift to the little town of Burnet, the county seat of Burnet County. Burnet is pronounced differently than might be expected. "It's Burnet, durn it, can't you learn it?", where "Burnet", "durn it", and "learn it" all rhyme. We have learned to not take pronunciations of words for granted.

In December of 1847, a company of the Texas Rangers established a station at the site of present-day Burnet for the protection of frontier settlers from Indian raids. In March of 1849, the station was chosen as a federal fort and named Fort Croghan. Over the course of several years, the town adopted the name of Burnet.

I didn't take any pictures of the courthouse because it is one of those modern lumps of concrete that seem to replace the old courthouses. The business square around the courthouse is very attractive, with the use of several older buildings along with newer ones that maintain the look of early Texas building styles.

Burnet is similar to many of the little towns in the Hill Country. The town is surrounded by the hills of the area, and several area attractions that utilize the natural beauty of the area are close by. Those attractions include Inks Lake State Park, the Highland Lakes, Highland Lakes Air Museum, Fort Croghan Museum and Grounds, the Vanishing Texas River Cruise, and the Austin Steam Train Association's Hill Country Flyer. A few miles south is Marble Falls, with all there is to do in that beautiful little town.

When we left Burnet, we headed west on Texas 29 to Lake Buchanan (pronounced Buck anan). Lake Buchanan was formed by the construction of Buchanan Dam by the Lower Colorado River Authority to provide a water supply for the region and to provide hydroelectric power. Buchanan Dam is a structure over 2 miles in length and was completed in 1939. Lake Buchanan was the first of the Texas Highland Lakes to be formed, and with 22,333 acres of surface water, it is also the largest.






From Lake Buchanan, we decided to start drifting back home, going by Inks Lake State Park. We stopped at an overlook that looks out over the park, and took this picture of a location where we would like to park the RV sometime in the future. When we got back to Marble Falls, we stopped at HEB and picked up a few groceries. Then it was on to the RV and rest.










The temperature is forecast to be near freezing tonight, so we're going to burrow in and stay warm.

More later, be safe.

Today's Town - Burnet, Texas: Lakes, Hills, History

Not all who wander are lost.