Crawfish Boil

It has become a tradition on our Texas field trips to have a crawfish boil one of our last nights, as we pass through Louisiana. And, this year's version was as good as any.  Much crawfish, shrimp, potatoes, andouille sausage, mushrooms, and corn on the cob was prepared by our host, Chad Hebert, and consumed by one and all. (Thanks to alumnus Carmen Nezat and her family for helping arrange the event!)

What is this stuff?

After a whole trip with nary a drop of rain, we drove into a downpour shortly after entered Louisiana

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Granites of the World

If you cannot travel the world over examining granites and other igneous and metamorphic rocks in outcrop, then the next best thing is the wall of slabs at the Cold Springs quarry just west of Marble Falls.  

Cap Mountain Sandstone

A highlight of any geology field trip in this area is this glauconite-rich, fossiliferous sandstone. Some of the fossils here, some trilobites and inarticulate brachiopods, made their shells out of calcium phosphate, rather than calcium carbonate. Great examples of a variety of sedimentary bed forms in this outcrop as well. 

Ladybird Johnson

Our drive to breakfast today in Marble Falls took us along some very picturesque roads in the Texas Hill Country. We are told the wildflowers we enjoyed are the result of a seeding program started by Ladybird Johnson back in the 60's. 

Enchanted Rock

We awoke to a cloudy morning today. We have a few rock stops early, and then a long drive to Louisiana. 

Fredericksburg

We finished up with a few free hours to explore Fredericksburg, TX after our last rock stop today. Of course we started with a visit to the world-famous Opa's Smokehkuse, and the. Folks spread out it explore town in smaller groups. Now we're getting settled in for the night at Enchanted Rock State Park.