My Blogging Experience

This semester has been full of ups and downs when it came to assignments in my classes. Our blogging assignment was one of my favorites! It allowed me to go around and explore the hill country more thoroughly than I ever had before. I drove down lots of backroads, explored interesting places in Austin, San Marcos and Wimberley, and got to see all the beautiful sights that the hill country has to offer!

 

Exploring the Texas Hill Country

 

I really enjoyed getting to share my interests with my class and all the other bloggers on WordPress. I got feedback and comments from students and bloggers, that really made me feel like my blog was interesting others. After writing this blog, I may start another.. as well as keep this one going!

Not only did it help me to get out and explore more, it also helped me learn more about social media and how to build my own personal brand.I thought my blogging experience was so helpful, and I can see why it is important to get out there are show who you are, and what you’re about on the internet. Instead of just using Facebook and Twitter as points of reference of what I am about, what my personal brand is.  feel confident that if a future employer looked up my blog they would be impressed with what I have come up with.

If you’ve happened to stumble upon my blog and are interested in writing your own, I have found a lot of sights useful.

• If you’re wondering why writing a blog is such a good idea, here is a great article on reason’s to blog.
• If you’re confused on how to go about blogging, here are some great blogging tips.

 

 

Barton Creek Greenbelt, Austin, TX

The Barton Creek Greenbelt is the reason I moved to Austin. I will never forget when my friend Jenny took me hiking there. It was closed because the weather was supposed to be rainy, but we snuck in anyway. When we got down to the pools we jumped in! There is a shallow rocky area that water rolls over, or you can dive into the pools and swim around. We also had lots of fun sliding down the waterfalls, and watching the tight ropers. My favorite part was when it started sprinkling. That made most of the people leave, so it left us alone in this beautiful secluded paradise. I remember us all laughing so hard that we were crying, and having the best time of our lives. After that, I knew I had to move to this magnificent place… and I did 6 months later.

I took these pictures on this slideshow when I went for a hike a few months ago. I have to say it is one of my favorite hiking spots. It has tons of different ways to explore it for hours and hours.

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Mount Bonnell, Austin, TX

Panoramic View from Mt. Bonnell

Mount Bonnell is in Austin, and is one of my favorite spots to take in beautiful views. There are many entrances but the most used is the huge flight of stairs that takes you right to the top of the mountain, to a nice covered area that you can sit and relax and enjoy the view.

Stairway to Mt. Bonnell

Mt. Bonnell is known for its gorgeous views, but I wouldn’t recommend going there for a hike. I went and it took me about 30 minutes to walk the trail twice, but if you want to get some cardio in, you can definitely use the stairs and get in an awesome workout.

While you’re driving up the mountain, there are also spectacular views of the 360 bridge. I found myself pulling my car off to the side of the road to get a good picture. The 360 bridge was a bit too far away to get a great shot, but I still got a decent shot of the view.

Tiny view of the 360 bridge. I promise it looked bigger in person!

Mt. Bonnell doesn’t just have views of the lake and the 360 views, it also has a nice view of downtown Austin. If you go down the trail to the right, you can view the lake and the 360 bridge. If you take off to the right, down a smaller, less groomed trail, you can also get a stunning view of the Austin skyline.

View of the Austin skyline at Mt. Bonnell

There are tons of other exploring spots around Mt. Bonnell, if you just take the time to look! If you’re wanting more about Mt. Bonnell and the surrounding nature areas go here to get more information! It’s definitely one of my favorite spots in Austin to relax and check out the view!

 

Going Down River Road in Wimberley, TX

When we first got the assignment to make a video and post it to our blog, I wasn’t sure what to do. Finally, I decided to do what my blog is all about: going down a scenic route. After I decided that the project got easier because I already knew my favorite scenic drive, River Road in Wimberley, TX. This little road curves down the Blanco river, and even has a special part where you get to cross over the river. The turn for the river is right after you get into Wimberley, while you’re watching my video you can see where the turn is.

After all the rain we’ve been getting, it has filled up quite a bit. Last year when I went down River Rd, it was all dried up. This year it has a good flow going through it. When you’re driving along, the road tries to take you back to town, but if you just go along the smaller road you an get some beautiful exploring done! If you live close to Wimberley it would really be a shame for you not to take the 20 minute cruise down River Road. Go on and try it out! What do you have to lose??

Here is the website if you need a little more information on this scenic adventure!

Storify: The Texas Hill Country

Storify is a great way to get a lot of different posts from different webpages, and order them all together. I did my Storify on the Texas Hill country. I referred back to my blog, added photos from Instagram, Flickr, and some posts from twitter. I love the way it organizes everything together to come up with a story you can share! I’m sure I’ll use Storify again when I’m trying to make a point on something that I’ve been interested in and have posted about on my different webpages. Another component of Storify, that I really love, is being able to put captions throughout your story to describe what you’re posting about. On my photos I added extra content to make sure that’s viewers understood what my story was about.

[View the story “I Love Exploring the Texas Hill Country” on Storify]

Explore the Scenic Route App

When me and Tedye went on our exploration from Midland to San Marcos I kept wishing that finding these beautiful backroads was easier. That’s where the idea for my mobile app came from!

I wanted to make an app that you could type in your start and end point and then the app would map out many ways to get there. This app would show you the best rated backroads, conditions of the backroads, what you will see while driving, and all the different stops you could make along the roads; Such as: historical markers, activites, trails, the most beautiful parts of the road, rivers, creeks, outlooks, restaruants and gas stations.

I  would  have an “Around Me” option, for if you just want to explore the senic routes of the area around you. I would also add an option to add your own backroads that you think people might enjoy. So I could keep my app up-to-date.

I’ve looked, and there isn’t much in the iTunes App store that is comparable to this. I feel like it is needed, and that there would be people interested in this idea. It’s great because you could be a lazy as you want and just sit in your car, and sight see; or you could be more adventurous and check out the trails and other stops along the way. If it wasn’t so expensive to make the real thing I would make this app. I know I would use this app all the time, and I really don’t think I’m alone! Let me know what you think 🙂

Explore the Scenic Route App

Let’s Take the Backroads from Midland to San Marcos!

Backroads have always been my thing. It probably has to do with the fact that my parents were always taking “shortcuts” to get us to whereever we were going, and taking many interesting little stops on the way. I had always wanted to take trips like this, and just explore whatever I came across, but I never got an opportunity until about a year ago.

Me and Tedye were taking a trip to my hometown (Midland/Greenwood, TX), and I thought this would be the PERFECT opportunity to try out my exploration skills! It started with us mapping out a couple options to stop at. We decided we wanted to go to the Caverns of Sonora, and float the Frio River in Concan Texas at Andys, then we just mapped out ways to get to our destination that looked interesting.

The route we took from Midland to San Marcos

We left super early the morning of our exploration, to make sure we had enough time to see everything.

The beautiful sunrise that started out our journey

I tried to make sure we stopped at every mile marker we saw, but after awhile Tedye persuaded me to just stop at the ones that looked interesting. My favorite historical marker we stopped at was the one for the
Stiles Courthouse. It was amazing seeing something so old, beautiful and deserted.

The Stiles Courthouse

My favorite part if the whole trip was going down all of the winding back roads. The first set of back roads that we went down were on our way to Sonora.

Midland Texas to Sonora Texas

We arrived at the Sonora Caverns in the middle of the day, and everything around us was gorgeous. There is a cute little building that you go into to pay for the tour, and it has a really neat gift shop inside. Its stocked with rocks from the caverns, sweets that they make on site, and lots of other fun souvenirs to take home with you!

The Caverns of Sonora

The caverns were stunning. We went down thousands of feet and saw the most beautiful earth-made, thousand year old, formations!

Who knew the earth could make something so beautiful?!

We were in a group of about 15 people for the guided tour of the cavern. We went thousands of feet under the ground. Everything in the caverns sparkled! It was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen! I took so many pictures that my phone died before we were done with the tour but I still got a couple of snaps for y’all to see!

After we got done exploring the caverns we headed towards the Frio River and saw lots of enchanting scenery along the way!

Sonora- San Marcos

We went to Andy’s to float the Frio River in Concan, TX. I didn’t get any photos, but it was beautiful. The float was so relaxing, with all the trees shading the river as we floated along. I highly recommend floating the Frio River, if you ever get the chance.

When the 3 hour float was over, we headed home. After our long day of sight seeing we were exhausted, but it was definitely worth it! And we got to explore so much of Texas! I can’t wait until we go on another trip like this one. It’s really rewarding to see all the beautiful sights Mother Nature has to offer.

“If you can’t be in awe of Mother Nature, there is something wrong with you.”- Alex Trebek

Purgatory Creek Natural Area

I thought I would share one of my favorite hiking spots with y’all today, Purgatory Creek. It is an amazing hiking spot in San Marcos, with so much room to explore!

Purgatory Creek

I’m truly in love with this place, I’m almost reluctant to share it!  I’ll never forget the first time I went there. I had just moved here from Lubbock, TX (where everything is flat, dry and brown) to San Marcos, and this place was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Trees, flowers, hills, green every where  and there are even little creeks after it rains!

A creek that formed after a rain last spring

Purgatory is the most beautiful in the spring, but I went for a hike just this week and there were these sweet yellow flowers everywhere! It is so peaceful and serene on the trails; I only saw one other person. There are upper and lower areas of Purgatory. I was in the upper area, It tends to be less crowded. (I’ll give directions to both at the bottom!)

You can see for miles!

I loved these little yellow flowers!

flowers, flowers and cactus

My absolute favorite part about Purgatory Creek is that you can explore your heart out. There are lots of trails that are on a map at the begging of the upper and lower areas. I would rather take the path less followed, and there are plenty smaller trails for that! I’ve gone to Purgatory at least 50 times, and there is still a ton of it that I haven’t explored. I think that makes the best hiking spots!

Me and Tedye at Purgatory Creek on our 2 Year Anniversary

The upper and lower areas are easy to get to, and relatively close to each other! Lower purgatory is located at the intersection of Wonder World Dr. and Hunter Rd., you should see the parking lot on the NW side of Hunter Rd. The address is 2116 Hunter Rd. San Marcos, TX 78666. The upper area of purgatory is located at the intersection on Wonder World (Ranch Road 12) and Craddock Ave., you turn west on Craddock and take a right onto the dirt road. Follow it until you reach a parking lot. I can’t find the exact address for the upper area, but here is a link to help out if you’re still having trouble finding it.

Directions to Upper and Lower Purgatory Creek

If you’re in San Marcos, it would be a shame to miss out on this treasure. This place is too stunning to not check out!

“It was the closest to purgatory that I’ve ever experienced while I’ve been living.” –Dave Thomas

I’ve lived in San Marcos for almost 2 years now, and I’ve explored a lot of it. One of my FAVORITE spots to go to is snuggled in one of our city parks (John J. Stokes), on the San Marcos River. Me and my girlfriend (Tedye) have probably gone here 15 times since March. We will hopefully go a few more times before it gets too chilly!

Tedye on the path up to the river spot!

There are so many reasons that I love this place! The first, is because it beautiful. (Duh! Look at that picture!) There is even an awesome waterfall. Here’s a picture of it! The waterfall normally attracts most of the people, but if you just keep walking along the trail you can find more secluded spots (that’s where you can find me). The second, is  how clean and clear the water is, and how perfect the water level always is. It’s the perfect height to take a fold up chair into the middle of the river, and hang out as long as you want with the water rushing beneath you. I get really motion sick, so for me this is the PERFECT substitute for floating the river, plus you can get out whenever you’d like. Just pop your chair into the water, lay your head back, put your legs out, and enjoy the sunshine!

Tedye and our friend Josh enjoying the river!

The third reason I love this river spot, is  because of how close and easy it is to get to. It’s right off of I-35 and Highway 80. I think the easiest way to get to it is to exit 205, go east on HWY 80 (toward the Wal-Mart), right after you pass the Wal-Mart you turn right onto River Rd., then turn left on Cape St. (about 1.2 mi), go down Cape St. until you see the John J. Stokes park, and pull into the little parking lot in front of the sign. If the parking lot is full you can just park along the road down the street. You will see a concrete waterway, and just follow that back behind the John J. Stokes sign. It will take you back to the waterfall. If you want a more secluded spot to hang out, just follow the trail along the river until you see a spot! Here is the address of the park if need it:

John J Stokes Jr. Park

Cape St

San Marcos, TX 78666

 

The last reason this is my favorite spot in San Marcos, is because you can always find a gorgeous spot to relax… as long as you’re down to explore a little! Sometimes the waterfall part of the river can fill up, but if you just keep walking away from the waterfall, you can find another spot to enter the river that’s more secluded. Every time I get in at a different spot I’m shocked at how beautiful it is. Every spot is just as spectacular as the next. You HAVE to check it out! I promise you wont be disappointed!

 

Our dog (Tucker) exploring!

 

Lets explore together!

Well Hello!!

My Name is Brittani, and I’m a Senior at Texas State University. I’m doing this blog for my Fundamentals of Online and Digital Media class, and I’m really excited because I’ve always wanted to try out blogging.

I’m from west Texas (where everything is flat and brown), so I really appreciate the hills, water spots, trees, and all the beautiful scenery that living in the Hill County has to offer. Also, when I get the time, I LOVE to camp and Im always on the lookout for the best camping spots that I can drive to.

I’m always trying to find the best places to hike, camp, swim, explore, and the best backroads with the most amazing views. I’ve looked, and I haven’t found many sites that list the more hidden spots around the south… So that’s what I’m on a mission to do! I hope my blog leads to people getting up and getting out there!

Benefits of Exploring the Outdoors

“What is the good of your stars and trees, your sunrise and the wind, if they do not enter into our daily lives.” -E.M. Forster