Summer Relief

...passing thru windmill country on the way to Ruidoso, NM...

...geocaching....

 

...geocaching is a free real world treasure hunt, using a GPS or smartphone to follow clues and coordinates to locate a treasure (geocache)....you are to sign your name and trade trinkets and leave the geocache as you found it...they are located everywhere....we began searching for them after a quick session led by a park ranger in a state park...we have enjoyed the activity in most all the places we camp...

...a drive thru the Hill Country...

 

...off the Old San Antonio Road, is an abandoned tunnel that was originally part of the Fredericksburg and Northern Railway Co. that operated from 1913-41...now it is the home for up to   3 million Mexican free-tailed bats...we were there during the day so we did not get to see them emerge from the tunnel...it was a great hike to the bottom...another time....

 

...just two blocks from the tunnel is a wonderful spot to relax and grab a bite to eat and drink an ice cold beer...on weekends, they have bands out on the back patio.....

 



 

...Bill did manage to eat all of his burger....

...Texas Napa Valley...

...Napa Valley has nothing on Texas...oh my, so many wineries, so little time....

 

 

...the William Chris vineyards is a rather new winery....the tasting is held in an old farmhouse...located in the city of  Hye...they have plans to put Hye on the map with dance hall, BBQ in the old Post Office known for LBJ mailing his first letter and swearing in his Post Master General there...the Hye Market was a very interesting place featuring tasting of wine, bourbon, bread, balsamic vinegar, beer and gelato...a ways up the road was Becker Vineyards, our favorite...where after many sips of wine everyone became your friend...he he....

...Hill Country Wildflowers...

 

...this morning, as I was walking along the road outside the park, I saw the beautiful flowers the Texas Hill Country is famous for...I saw all of these within the mile walk...what a beautiful world we live in....

...The Texas White House....

 

...the LBJ Ranch is about 14 miles west of Johnson City...it is a self-guiding driving tour...if you have a driver that can keep up with the CD...he he...it tells the history of the ranch and highlights sites along the way...

 

 

...the first stop was at the one room Junction School...Lyndon attended at age 4...

 

 

...the next stop was the family cemetery...generations of Johnsons are buried there including President Johnson and Lady Bird Johnson...

 

 

...driving the ranch road became a challenge for our dear friend Johnny when the cattle would not move off the road...after a lot of yelling, honking and laughing and inching our way along we continued to the Texas White House....

...LBJ's actual roadster with gun holders and bar in the back was on display...below is the picture of the bridge he loved to take visitors on making it look like he was going under water....

 



 

 

...at the time Lady Bird was living on the ranch, our friend visited the ranch many times...he had some very interesting stories to tell...

...a dome of pink granite...

...Enchanted Rock is the second largest outcropping of granite in the US...first, being Georgia's Stone Mountain...I fell for the "summit Trail" a path to the top only 0.6 mile trail...yeah right...straight up...he he....beautiful area...would love to return and try again!!!!

...Peach Country...

...arrived around 12:45...only about 60 miles from Canyon Lake...got set up pretty quick...nice big level sites...Joyce is a wonderful friendly,energetic person...Stonewall is home to the LBJ Ranch...both state and National Parks are here...it's also halfway between Johnson City and Fredericksburg...AND lots of wineries....perfect location...let the fun begin!!!

Canyon Lake

 

...we arrived around 2:15....short trip from Goliad...beautiful park on Canyon Lake...Reggie and Phyllis and Bobbie and Arky were already there and set up...30 minutes later, Jan, Kent and Tucker showed up...it was so great to see everyone again....

 

...Monday morning was a muggy, drizzly morning, but nothing could put a damper on us...we took a short drive to Gruene, Tx to the Gristmill for lunch...had a great time visiting with friends we haven't seen since last August in Ruidoso, NM....

 

...Tuesday, we drove to the Canyon Lake Dam and then on to the History of the Hill Country Museum...very interesting site of dinosaur tracks and history museum of the pioneer settlers in the area...

 

...daily visitors to our campsite were the unusual Egyptian Geese and a herd of about 16 deer...beautiful site...the beach shore line was covered in shells....

 

...the last evening, we gathered in our RV for a bag folding session and...pie and coffee and trying to solve the worlds problems...had a great evening and everyone is anxious to see each other again in Ruidoso, NM in July....

 

 

...the last morning, the guys were visiting and putting off getting things ready for a road trip...

a good time was had by all

 

...Goliad, birthplace of Texas Revolution...

...after missing the turn off, we arrived at a very beautiful state park....Texas has some of the best state parks...Goliad State Park is located on the San Antonio River...it has something for everyone...I had a great picnic spot along side the tree line and Bill had a space to park his bike...he he...lots of hiking trails led to geocaching....

...one of the historical sites around the town of Goliad is the Fannin Battleground...this is the site where Fannin and his men fought the Mexican forces but were overcome and had to surrender...thinking they would be treated as prisoners of war...instead they were led to three different locations and were executed...When the Texas forces overcame Santa Anna at San Jacinto, the battle cry rang out "Remember the Alamo, Remember Goliad!!!!

...a presidio is a fort...they were built to protect the missions and the families that lived there...the Mission Espiritu Santo was home of the largest ranching operation in Texas in the 18th century...the Presidio La Bahia was built to protect this Mission...the Mission Espirtitu Santo is located on the grounds of the State Park...there are lots of artifacts that were found in and around the mission grounds...

...the Presidio La Bahia is located about a mile from the mission...it houses the Our Lady of Loreto Chapel...it is still used today...it is the oldest building in the compound...it is one of the oldest churches in America and also one of the only buildings in existence that has its original "groin vaulted ceiling"....

...we took a walking tour of downtown Goliad...most of the buildings in today's Old Goliad date from the early 1800s....Goliad's Courthouse Square Historic District was entered on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976....

 

...at various times between 1846 and 1870 the "hanging tree" was the site of court sessions...during the 1857 Cart War, this site witnessed a number of unauthorized lynchings before the conflict was brought to an end by the Texas Rangers

 

...while we were out and about, we found McMillan's BBQ...excellent BBQ...Louis was very personable...he has been featured in Texas Monthly and is proud of his providing BBQ for the Smithsonian...

 

...a drive and walk around Goliad is alive with nature.....

...Goose Island State Park....

 

...this year after we left Lagoons RV Resort, we decided to spend a few days at Goose Island...we parked right on the bay...we could walk out the door and throw a line in the water...how cool was that...we had wonderful weather...riding bikes and walking along the shore line...one day we saw them unload a huge truck load of oyster shells...we found out they were going to bag them this Saturday and place them in the water to reseed the oyster beds in the park area...we wished we were going to be there to help the volunteers but we are headed to Goliad...maybe next year....

...a walk in the park...

...just outside our RV park are two wonderful hike and bike areas...just perfect for us since Bill likes to bike and I like to hike...the city of Rockport just finished the Tule Trail which is a wonderful paved 2 mile route AND it ends up at Walmart...Bill was in heaven...the last morning I was hiking the trail a deer greeted me...

...the second is to the right of our RV park...Memorial Park...they host many soccer, softball and tennis matches...this year they hosted the Whooping Crane 5K strut...it was the same Saturday as the oysterfest parade and well, we couldn't miss that....a new addition to the park this year was a dog park...great area to walk dogs and let them run free in a fenced area...one morning I crossed paths with a coral snake...I let him have the right of way...he he....

...yummy in the tummy...

...so many new places to eat, so little time...this year we found a few new eating establishments...JD's will be on Diner's Drivins and Dives in June...they have a colossal hamburger served with two onion rings on top...the Beach Cafe, in Port A was very good...their bread pudding was to die for...the Butter Churn in Aramsas Pass was an all you could eat buffet...I think you'd have to have a week to try everything...at La Luna's I'd have to recommend the Portebella mushroom sandwich...yum...our favorite is still Moondogs...sweet potato fries, shrimp nachos and Blue Moon beer ...for fish, we both would recommend Shempy's...soft shell crab and their fried catfish can't be beat....and I can't leave out the American Legion on Sundays $5 oysters ...best deal in town!!!!

...in the skies over Rockport....

 

 

...Mike Carpentiero owns a vintage biplane and travels around the US bringing people the sights, sounds, and feelings of the Golden Days of Aviation...he was in the Rockport area and we saw him fly over and went to the airport just to see the plane and before we knew it he was handing us the leather flight caps (boy did we look like Snoopy...he he) and we were off...what an experience...the skies over Rockport were beautiful...spotted our RV park, Copano Bay, Little Bay, Fulton and Rockport Harbors...a wonderful memory we won't forget....

Only in Texas

...last year we had missed the Belt Sander Races at the Pickled Pelican...this year they were on our priority list....

 

...Saturday, we were there...

 

 

 

...the crowd was ready and waiting for the race to begin....

 

 

...I had the best seat in the place...with beer in hand and winning tickets, I was ready....

 

...Mean Green was the winner for the day....

a fun, fun, event....only in Texas...

 



Rockport Bound

...our first trip of the new year is again, Rockport, Texas...last year was so fun with all the Winter Texans...they were from as far away as New Hampshire, California, Kansas, Missouri and Indiana...we were hoping they would remember us when we arrived....

...got the RV all loaded and left March 1

...arrived at Lagoons RV Resort around 4 pm...by 5:30 we already had a dinner invitation to a wonderful fish restaurant with our Missouri friends...

 

 



 

...all settled in for the month of March...beautiful weather....

Hello, 2013!!!! Good-bye, 2012!!!!

Oh my...as I look at my blog, I see I haven't posted since our last trip in January to Arizona...the year has flown by and I realized I've been lazy and a little sad....we lost a couple of very dear friends and travel partners this past year and looking over this blog brings back so many wonderful memories of those two big trips, one to the east coast and the other to the west coast...I'm back on track and looking forward to making many more trips and memories and making new friends along the way...we were by no means homebodies this past year...I thought about trying to go back and post all the trips with pics but quickly got overwhelmed, so here it is in a nutshell....
Janurary....we traveled by car to Arizona to visit our very ill friend and spent the month with her nursing her through some very tough times...drove out to Quartzite just because we were curious...
February/March....the end of the month we took off to Rockport for the annual Oysterfest...we fell into a group of Winter Texans and ended up staying the entire month of March...had a ball...made some wonderful friends and even made reservations for this March
May...back to Arizona for our friend's memorial...very sad trip
June....took off in the RV for Huntsville State Park in Huntsville, Tx...never again camping in Texas in the summer...the park was beautiful and would have loved it had it not been so hot and muggy...we did get to tour the George Bush (41) Presidental Library on the Texas A&M Campus...OMG...wonderful site...a definite destination if you have never been
July...I took a girls' trip to NYC...best trip ever...11 girls all related met in NY....had so much fun going to Broadway show, sightseeing, shopping and laughing .....a great time was had by all...
August...felt like we had to get out of the Texas heat, so we took off to Ruidoso, NM....started out for 10 days...again, we met a group of Texans and 1 lone Oklahomian and ended up staying for the month of August...made some very dear friends...meeting them in April of this year at Canyon Lake and again in Ruidoso in August...the weather can't be beat...dry and cool....
September...we again took off to Rockport for the Hummingbirdfest...hot and muggy and rained on us a couple of days...very few hummers this year
December...we spent a week in the Hill Country...Dripping Springs to be exact...traveled to visit friends in Marble Falls, saw the huge German Pyramid in Fredericksburg, visited old stomping grounds on the UT campus, attended the Armadillo Christmas Bazaar, had the best BBQ ever at the Salt Lick, shopped in Wimberly and drove out to my old school where I taught 2nd grade...still miss that place...
  and that brings us back to 2013....I will keep up this year...looking forward to all the travels....Happy Trails...