All good things must end

  After a nearly 9 hour drive we arrived safely back home. Had fun, relaxed, met some interesting people, visited 2 state parks. I call that success. The goal was to separate ourselves from the tragedy of the flood. We came home to an empty field where debris trucks were staged when we left. Progress. Sadly an excavator was working right beside our community pier. Terrible job that needs doing to try and bring closure for Celi's family. Let us hope they are successful quickly.

 Next up beginning September 26th, a six week excursion thru the Ozarks. Things to see and do.

resting till next time...   

Playing tourist

  Today was a light schedule day. Some shopping, some history and touristy things. First on the agenda was an historic section of old route 66, the Mother Road. Sadly it was not as we remembered it to be. Instead of quaint shops, mostly bars. No picture perfect murals to capture nostalgia. No problem we have other opportunities in our near future. Next up was some shopping and that was both successful, surprising and informative. We went to Hobby lobby and were surprised at it's size, probably three times the size of the one at home. We were able to secure a few yards of batting for our quilts. Next up came a small quilt store across street from Hobby Lobby. I scored some route 66 fabric and some neutrals. Ended up recounting our flood story to some ladies. Doing so got us all choked up. The Big lots store in Kerrville closed and is being replaced with an Ollie's. One was nearby so we stopped in to get an idea of what to expect. Don't believe we will be a valued customer by any stretch.

 If one travels at all, you quickly learn about tourist traps. Amarillo has a big, well known one. Fully aware of what we were going to, off we went to the Big Texan steak house. Some times you just have to check off a tourist trap list of places to visit. No plans ever to return, but our meals were decent.

No, we did not try and eat a five pound chunk of meat...

carpe diem

Prairie dogs and bison

 If one drove straight to Amarillo from Lubbock, it would be a fairly short trip. But our goal for the day was to visit Caprock Canyons state park and Palo Duro state park. Long day but mission accomplished.

 The state bison herd was a little timid but the prairie dogs picked up the slack. We were blessed with good weather and enjoyed our visit. Doing what we enjoy most, just roaming around exploring nature as best we can.

 

 We enjoyed a nice meal at Chuy's restaurant. A restaurant we have never tried before. Very tasty, large portions at a reasonable price. What's not to love? To top it off the Drury suites offers free drinks from 5:30 to 7pm. Nice way to finish out the day.

 On tap for remainder of our stay is a museum or two, old route 66 shops and many quilt stores. Should be a relaxing 3 days, just what we needed.

back to gathering rosebuds...

At long last

   This year has been one for the books for sure. So many planned trips only to have to cancel them. Doctors, delayed remodel, floods all played a part. As the title suggest, we finally left home on September 6th. First stop in Fredericksburg to view a reenactment of a WW2 battle. Very enjoyable presentation.

 Then it was on to Lubbock to spend the night. Tomorrow brings two state parks and a visit to Amarillo.

Blanco wrap up

 Well we were expecting rain. But...

  We got back to camper without any additional rain. However about midnight some strong thunderstorms rolled thru. Bumpy for awhile that led to river rise. That is important because the entrance is across a low water crossing. They closed it due to high water. No problem we were not going anywhere. While soggy Wednesday was a relatively nice day. They were however predicting rough weather. On most occasions you see it develop out west then move east. Radar was clear so perhaps an error in forecast? Not to be. About 1am storms developed on top of us. Worst rain storm we have ever been in. And the lightning, oh my was it severe. Learned later in day it spawned two tornadoes in Wimberly, about 20 miles away. Too close and too rough for our liking.

 The remainder of our stay was quite pleasant.

 

Just part of the adventure. Home till mid July then off to Cloudcroft for two weeks.

carpe diem

Blanco day 3

 As previously advertised today was wedding day. We made the trip to Belton for the wedding of Cory and Jasmine. It was an outdoor wedding and thunderstorms in the morning made things seem a little iffy. The skies cleared and the festivities went on without a hitch.

 

 The wedding also presented the opportunity for 6 cousins to be together. A rare thing and probably the final time.

 While the rain spared the wedding, it paid us a visit early Wednesday morning (1am early). A rough night to say the least.

  That lovely storm left us with this result.

 Which led to this result

 Plan was to go out for dinner, will have to see about that. Probably is an escape route, just need to find it.

gathering soggy rosebuds....

Blanco day 2

 Monday was forecasted to be the best day of the week weather-wise. Because of that fact and the fact we had never been there before, we drove over to Wimberly. A hill country town we had heard about for decades. The hip town, the place to be and be seen. Well we have a different opinion. On your average Monday the place was crowded and congested. If there had been a group of shops we wanted to see, parking was really not visible. Had considered dining at one of the local restaurants but quickly gave up on that. Beautiful drive over to Wimberly so we took that same drive back to Blanco.

 We were going to try a restaurant that we had never dined at before. Sadly we got there just as they were closing. No problem as we had a plan B. In the meantime that freed us up to stop into one of my favorite places, Uptown Blanco textile studio. INFO HERE Fabric store for us common folk. They have fabrics I really like. Went in with the intention of picking up some neutrals, basically fabric in lighter shades. On that we were successful and I scored multiple yards of flower design fabric. A good day indeed. From there it was on to plan B for lunch. A simple, inexpensive lunch at Chicken Express. Sometimes the simple things work out best.

 Tomorrow brings a trip to Belton for a wedding. Friends and family are supposed to be there so we can catch up under good circumstances.

(...gather ye rosebuds while ye may...)

Blanco day 1

  June 8th found us making the short trip to Blanco state park. Nice park that we enjoy. Here for the week although we make a run to Belton for Cory and Jasmine's wedding on Tuesday. Rain in forecast but we will persevere.

carpe diem

Lake Texana

 Brackenridge park on Lake Texana was a new park for us. A beautiful setting amongst many Oak trees. The park is very large with over a hundred sites plus a lot of open area. Many good things to be said but alas some negative ones as well.

 We enjoyed our visit but was lucky in that very few other guest. Had it been a busy weekend the experience would have been quite different.

carpe diem

Lake Corpus Christi State Park

  May 8th found us traveling to Mathis and another stay at lake Corpus Christi state park. We like this little park and use it as a staging area for our visits to greater Rockport Fulton area. We have stayed at several commercial parks in Rockport area but they are too expensive and do not provide the setting that we seek.

 If we are in the area then a sure bet is to find us at Paradise key for lunch. Link to more info Never a bad meal, great ambiance.

 We also like to frequent a small joint in Mathis called Vans. A dive sort of place but good food and service. Vans

 Our campsite, #31, was a little tight but provided a lot of privacy. The lake is very low and the fishing not so good on this trip. Last trip I caught 36 white bass, this trip only one.

 None the less we enjoyed our stay. Tomorrow we are off to a new to us campground. We have made 4 prior reservations only to have to cancel. Looks like this time we are going to make it.

gathering rosebuds...

South Padre Island

 On April 15th we headed south for a couple of days. We needed to go to Sandpipers and pick up some chairs left behind. Achieved that goal plus visited with Bill and Jocelyne, our Canadian friends. Then it was on toward South Padre island. On the way we  stopped at Longhorn Cattlemans bar b que in San Benito. Good food and revived memories of previous stops when on bike rides on the Spyder. More info HERE 

 Then it was on to South Padre Island where we had been many times. This would be our first time spending the night. Our lodging choice was Isla Grand beach resort, details here It turned out to be a good choice. Room was nice, view better than expected. Enjoyed walking the beach, people watching and surprising entertainment.

 In all of our previous visits we had failed to visit Sea Turtle Inc, link . A great organization doing wonderful work. Of course one must stop and view sandcastle display if on the island, even if none are castles.

 Some scenes from our visit