...and the adventure begins...

...arrived at San Angelo State Park on Tuesday...the campground was empty so we had the place to ourselves...beautiful spot under some tall pecan trees...we had rain, thunder, and lightning all nite the first nite...by morning it was gone and we had a beautiful day to explore San Angelo...it really is a cute little town...we first went to the Visitor Center that was on the Concho River...beautiful...then we had lunch at Miss Hattie's, a famous bordello in its day...the interior was a museum and looked like back in the day....after lunch we walked over to Eggmeyer's General Store...OMG...they had a little bit of everything...it has been featured in Texas Highways and I can see why...we also walked down the street to the jewlry store and learned everything there was to learn about the Concho River Pearls...yes, from mussels found in the river...they were pinkish in color...very pretty...later, we took a driving tour of Fort Concho and then out to the BX on Goodfellow AFB...we can't miss an AFB if there is one around...as we came out of the BX a storm had blown up and hail was on its way so we headed back to the park....luckily, the storm had passed and we had an uneventful nite....left around mid morning for Balmorhea State Park....

...getting ready for the trip out West...

...we are getting ready to go...Gus has been checked inside and out...Bill has built shelves under the sinks in the kitchen and in the bathroom for more storage...stackable drawers have been installed in the closets...and a trip tomorrow to the container store for odds and ends...June 1 can't get here soon enough...

Spring has sprung....

...spring has sprung at the Hoggard's...this is my favorite time of the year...not only do we get to enjoy all the flowers blooming but we get to watch the pelicans in our back yard overlooking the lake...AND we know it's getting close to travel time...this year we are heading out west...yep, today I made reservations for two Texas State Parks and one in New Mexico....California Here We Come....

Rockport 2010

...and the travels of 2010 begin...

...we've decided we are going to begin and end the travelin' season with trips to Rockport...we WERE supposed to leave on Tuesday, Feb.23, but a freak snow storm blew in...could not believe the white stuff everywhere...beautiful but not for traveling, so we left the next day...I had had a handquilting class scheduled for Wed so that was canceled but the day was wonderful for traveling...sunny and cool...no problems...we arrived around 4 pm...got the site we wanted and set up camp and were ready to walk to the pier...a bit windy but beautiful...the campground was full..."winter Texans"....our main objective was to take a boat tour to see the whooping cranes...we did that on Sunday afternoon...OH MY Gosh...beautiful birds and huge...our tour guide got us so close we could almost touch them...lots of friendly people from all over on the tour...AND free wine....by the end of our four hours, the captain was trying to get us to come back in late spring for a sunset cruise...was he trying to tell us something...he he...after the cruise we went with a couple from Witchta Falls to Port Aransas for hamburgers....had a great time...we drove to Corpus one day and toured the Naval Station and found out where the military famcamp was...I'm thinking that's our next spot to stay...we also ate Whataburgers on the site of the original Whatburger burger joint....we ended up on Mustang Island looking for shells...the waves were the biggest I've ever seen there....not many shells but a great walk...our last nite in Rockport we spent at the "Oysterfest"...lots of local music and the beer kegs were flowing....as we left the campground many of the spring breakers were coming in...I'm thinking we are just a little past the age of all nite parties on the beach...we arrived home on Friday the 5th ....Gus is already cleaned out, restocked and ready to go....

...brewery,twins,church,snow...oh my....

yes, it continued to rain all night...however, the next day was beautiful...so, we took off to tour the painted churches and to meet up with Kristi for some wonderful chili and cornbread AND some out of this world bread pudding with I'm sure low cal topping...he he...our first stop was in Shiner, Tx...the Sts. Cyril and Methodius Catholic Church...it dates back to the 1890s...if you haven't seen any of the painted churches, they are beautiful....being of Czech and German decent, it was extra special to see and learn about the early settlers...the Edwin Wolters Museum had wonderful displays and collections of everything from WWI and WWII memorabilia to antique furniture and farm equipment from the early settlers...it is worth a stop...we were soon on our way to the other attraction in Shiner...yep, the Spoetzl Brewery, founded in 1909...it is Texas' oldest independent brewery...those early Czechs and Germans missed their beer...they even brought over a Bavarian brewmaster, Kosmos Spoetzl to get it going...it continues to brew in the same tradition today...after a short tasting of four of their brews, we decided to visit another church before our visit with Kristi and the twins in Weimer...Praha,Tx and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary...Praha...our next stop...finally, we got to meet Jordan and Winston Okruhlik...and two of the cutest babies ever...Kristi, you are going to be a wonderful mom...an evening of visiting and learning all about the Jack Daniels legacy from an actual owner of some property in Tenn. where the distillery operates...a real Tennessee Squire...we were impressed...we just had a great time and hope to get back to Wiemer again....tomorrow, more churches....

...someone opened the floodgates....

here we are in Shulenburg,Tx,and it is pouring down raining...good news, it at least waited until we arrived and got set up...we did manage to find a few shops to spend a little money in...he he...tomorrow we plan on seeing a very good friend and her two cuties...but for now, TV and listening to the rain...