Our Visit To Paradise

One of Jack’s coworkers mentioned Hamilton Pools down in Austin, TX earlier this week and with nothing else planned, we decided to make a day trip of it.  We woke up early and made the two hour trip while the girls napped and the sun peaked over the horizon.

We had been warned that the maximum capacity on weekends is reached quickly and then, it’s generally an hour and a half wait.  Judging by the stretching line of cars when we left, they weren’t kidding.

It’s just over a mile hike down the the pools.  The rocky trail took us a while toting two little kids, picnic foods and beach towels.  We didn’t mind though.  The trail was winding and the scenery spectacular.

Under an etched out rock cliff, surrounded by trees is a clear pool fed by a trickling waterfall.  Being the first to arrive, we were able to enjoy the serenity before the roaring crowd rolled in by noon.

Since it was still chilly when we made it to the pool, we walked around the stoney trail until the sun was able to rise a bit higher.  We snapped some photos . . .

We surfaced every once in a while for snacks and to warm up.  Though the girls were blue-lipped and shivering, they kept asking to go back in.

We floated out to the waterfall several times but the water spilling over the edge was even colder than the pool and made the rock underneath slick with algae.  Jack braved it while the girls and I watched on.

There we are in the yellow and green floaties!

By the afternoon, it was pretty obvious our time at the pool was running short.  On our final trip across the water, Claire fell asleep while adrift in her dragon floatie and we were all feeling a bit scorched by the sun, despite our frequent applications of sunscreen.

On the way home, the girls crashed in the backseat and we stopped by a renowned Austin barbeque restaurant for a delicious dinner.  It’s sad that the weekend went so quickly but we did enjoy our visit to paradise.

Claire kept herself busy dumping rocks and water onto daddy while Evelyn drifted out in the water on her own.  I think we’ll be visiting pools and lakes frequently this summer!