Q. How did you manage to get a piece of property surrounded by Inks Lake State Park?

A. E.T. Kelley (affectionately called “Kelley” by his friends) purchased the property in 1978, and was told a little about the history of the six acres. He told us it was originally a bait shop – a small cabin near the road with some stone basins for the tiny fish. It’s still a mystery to us how Inks Lake State Park didn’t end up with it as they developed the state park. Most of the fencing around the property was put into place around 1930 or 1940—cedar posts and barbwire – we think – by the CCC. We have to also say that we have the best neighbors—Inks Lake State Park. “They” are very quiet!

Q. Why did you name your property Blue Truck Ranch?

A. Kelley bought the 1956 Dodge pickup and drove it between Burnet and Inks Lake, unless it was at “Junior’s” getting fixed because it wasn’t the most reliable mode of transportation. At some point it was declared the truck was prettier than it was functional, so it was parked in the front field of the ranch for the past 35+ years.

Fast forward to the most recent decade. As we started calling workers to drill the new well or to excavate the old cabin, we would give the description of the property because we didn’t have an address. “It’s down Park Rd 4 across from the Inks Fish Hatchery Rd, just near Peters Creek. There’s an old blue truck in the front field.”

Many folks in town seemed to know the truck and the property. “Oh, the place with the blue truck?” “Yeah, Kelley’s place with the blue truck out front?” Burnet County had the property listed with it’s legal description and no address. So, we called Burnet 911 and they provided us with an address! Even so, folks up and down Hoover’s Valley still refer to the blue truck as the property landmark.

The paint on the old truck is fading and the tires have lost their gumption, but we love this old truck!

Q. How many generations of your family have enjoyed the property?

A. Four! Starting with E.T. and Betty who bought the property about 1978 (generation 1), their only son, and his wife, (generation 2) had two children,(generation 3) who are now grown adults with children (generation 4) who play in the fields, climb the trees and ride their bikes up and down the gravel road. We know that E.T. and Betty would be thrilled with what we have done on the ranch as their great-grandchildren are now adventuring through the trees on their own expeditions.

Q. Up near the road is a small structure with a green roof. What is it?

A. Kelley was a dreamer and spent almost every day after retirement from the German-American Restaurant, on the ranch, puttering around, accumulating “junk” and building stuff. Because the front of the property has a rock hill, he added a stone-tiered basin that he hoped to turn into a waterfall.

At the foot of that waterfall, Kelley built a “pavilion”. Its a small, very primitive structure. Betty often brought lunch to Kelley and they would eat under it’s roof. Our dream is to repair it without removing it, add a deck and to get the water feature working. Our “to-do list” is lengthy.

Q. There is a very cool, stone well on the property. Is it in use?

A. The water well is not in use, but does have water! It was built (as best we can determine) in the early 1900’s. Inside, the walls are built with mortared, handmade brick. A metal ladder is embedded into the brick for access to the bottom of the well. As near as we can tell, the well is over 30 ft deep. Experts in “well history” have told us not to use the well. But we did add stacked stone around it to preserve it and have had the top covered to keep critters and grandchildren out.

Q. What’s the story on the Old John Deere tractor?

A. We don’t know much about the old tractor, except Kelley managed to keep it running most of the time to shred the front and middle fields. We have some attachments: a shredder, a seeder and a scraper. Kelley last drove the tractor in 2010, but it hasn’t been used since. It’s an old John Deere and our grandchildren enjoy climbing up on it to pretend to farm.

Q. Anything you can tell us about the native trees and animals in natural habitat?

A. The property has a variety of native vegetation including: live oak (huge and gorgeous), pecan, walnut, elm, persimmon, mesquite, oak, cedar, boxwood, prickly pear cactus, agave, bermuda, native grasses, and many kinds of wildflowers including Bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, thistle (and more). There are a lot of wild plants that we try to tame back away from the paths.

We’ve seen white tail deer, silver fox, bobcats, rabbits, opossums, raccoons, squirrels and ferrel hogs wandering across our ranch, usually at dawn or dusk. Our fields have beautiful dragonflies in early morning and evening. And, we do have snakes on the property, just like all other country property, so be aware and watch where you walk if you are out and about.