2025 Wimberly & South Padre Island

In April 2025, our photography adventure began in the scenic hill country of Wimberley, Texas. At the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge near Marble Falls, we captured early morning light filtering through rugged hills and native brush. Birds flitted between branches, and every trail offered a new frame for our lenses. We rode eBikes for the first time in a tour of downtown Austin.

Wimberley was a haven of natural beauty. At Blue Hole Regional Park, we photographed the spring-fed waters beneath arching cypress trees. The dramatic Hamilton Pool Preserve gave us its beautiful clear pool and mossy cliffs, while Jacob’s Well revealed a glass-clear spring that seemed to plunge into the earth’s depths.

We soared high above the treetops with Wimberley Zipline Adventures’ mile-long adventure course ranging from 150 to 900 feet in length. As we zoomed down the zip line at speeds exceeding 30 miles per hour, we felt the rush of adrenaline and exhilaration of flying through the air. (see 1 min video below). At Old Baldy, we climbed 200 steps for a panoramic view worth every drop of sweat.

Wildseed Farms in Fredericksburg was a riot of color. Our cameras drank in endless fields of bluebonnets, poppies, and coreopsis swaying in the breeze. At Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch in San Antonio, we had close encounters with zebras, giraffes, and emus, often just inches from our windows.

From there, we headed south to South Padre Island. The Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge gave us peaceful wetland scenes, with roseate spoonbills and various migrating songbirds. The South Padre Island Birding and Nature Center brought us face-to-face with many herons, egrets, and lounging alligators. Green herons nesting in tangled branches just yards away, offering up intimate shots of shared nest-building behavior, midair landings, and egg brooding.

We wrapped up our journey at Starbase, Texas, where rockets stood tall—metal giants on the edge of space. It was the perfect contrast to the wild landscapes we’d explored, a reminder of both the earth’s wonders and humanity’s reach for the stars.

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