It's only 15 minutes south of Killeen, but to a visitor pulling through the gate at 911 Gann Branch Road, it feels like a hundred miles from town.

Bradley Ware, 51, greets visitors with a huge grin that spreads the width of his sun-burnished face. He sports blue overalls, work boots and a white T-shirt topped off by a blonde safari helmet to ward off the sun.

Ware says he is the fourth generation to farm this land that has two miles of Lampasas riverfront.

It was originally 800 acres. Today it's 261. Farming and ranching have become increasingly hard. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has twice denied Ware's request for an irrigation permit to use Lampasas River water in a quantity that will take care of all his crops and cattle, he says.

Ware says he's diversifying. He describes a theme park on the Lampasas, a tourist attraction that will bring visitors summer and fall.

"I call it agri-tourism, agri-education, agri-entertainment," Ware said.

His eyes dance as he describes his vision of a place where children and adults can have fun on a day-long tour and also learn about life on a farm.