Cowboys and......

We have been anticipating Saturday's events for weeks now, and finally the day arrived! It's time for the 14th Annual Cowboy Mardi Gras in Bandera, Texas! The festivities started last Thursday evening, but culminated today with a parade at noon and Cajun/Zydeco music all afternoon with several side streets blocked off to accommodate the party-goers! Our focus was the parade, so off we went to Bandera, just a 1/2 hour south, thinking that we would be among a small crowd of maybe a thousand or so...Wrong! With a normal population of 898 souls, I can comfortably say that Bandera hosted many, many thousands today! I can say that because parking was to be had only on the outskirts of town or in the front yards of unsuspecting homeowners when we arrived at eleven.

And it was a show!

I was honestly surprised that every person in our area stood as the flag passed by. God Bless America!

Followed by the state flag of Texas!

This event is sponsored by the 11th Street Cowboy Bar in Bandera, and over the years has grown into a great crowd pleasing event as well as a revenue producing shindig. The 11th Street Bar float had the honor of leading the parade:

This set the tone for the day.....all the parade entries threw candy or colorful beads to the crowd!

You don't see many of these anymore!

The Sisters On The Fly group were all decorated:

Rather out of place, but nice to see, a nicely restored vintage Airstream cruised by.

Green, purple, and gold were the colors du jour.

It wouldn't be Texas without horses! See the young ladies in the front? By the end of the parade they had fist sized bundles of beads around their necks!

Horses? We don't need no stinkin' horses...

There were a lot of nicely decorated trucks.

The girls are beginning to get the hang of the bead thing...

And the beads are stacking up...

This gentleman with his dancing horse caused quite a reaction...except from the young ladies...no beads, ya know. But an extraordinarily well trained horse...a beauty to watch it prance!

Nice car...get out of the way, girls!

With visions of Mardi Gras finery in our heads, we left Bandera with a smile on our faces!

Not wanting to go directly back home, we headed south toward Hondo, Texas. Ok, that took a minute, so we headed west on US 90 toward Uvalde, TX, passing through D'Hanis...

Then Sabina and Knippa before arriving in Uvalde, where we ate a nice lunch at MacGillicudys. This is a combo BBQ, Mexican, Burger, and Steak restaurant. Hey, in a small town...

So now we had a choice: Go home via Leakey, TX, or Utopia, TX. Both towns sounded like they had something to offer, but considering our age we figured we already had experienced Utopia and that Leakey better suited our physical state these days...

US 83 took us to Leakey through the resort community of Rio Frio, situated along the river of the same name. We saw Big Horn Sheep, wild Boar, and hundreds of deer along the way. We also saw this big boy watching over his harem.

Donna managed to catch a handful of beads and a Moon Pie as souvenirs of the Cowboy Mardi Gras parade:

And a Texas sunset to end a great 205 mile day trip!

What, Exactly, Have We Been Doing?

Like the 7-year-old said: "I dunno...."

Since the last post, some twelve days ago, we've done a lot, but not much. Huh? Well, we have been busy....

The day before Valentine's Day we took a short thirty mile trip southeast into the town of Boerne, pronounced "Burn-ey" hereabouts. Boerne is a big suburb of San Antonio, with hundreds of businesses stretched along the I10 corridor. Once you get off the main highway, however, there is a cute downtown area with a number of shops and restaurants. The weather had turned cold and windy again, so we scooted right along with Sasha pulling at her leach, wanting to get back in the car. We left her to be warm and had lunch at the Dodging Duck, along the Cibolo River. What a nice lunch and the view from the wind-proof patio was very peaceful.

On Valentine's Day, Thursday, Donna gave me a particularly sweet gift: she allowed me to wash and detail a very dirty car! That might sound a bit odd, but things like a car that hasn't been washed in a month bug me, so it was a great low-pressure day with late coffee and a sense of accomplishment at the end.

Having gotten a taste of how nice a vehicle can look with a little TLC, on Friday I climbed up on the roof of the motorhome and washed and waxed it. Whew! There is a lot of stuff up there! So, now I'm on a roll.....Saturday saw the front of the motorhome and a few feet down each side being washed and waxed!

Sunday, the 17th, was a day to collapse...well, sort of. Instead of working outside, we spent most of the day gathering our tax info and getting it off to the "tax man". Not as physically demanding, perhaps, but harder work mentally for sure!

Still not recovered from three days of vehicle care, we took off Monday for a day trip to New Braunfels, TX, just a few miles north of San Antonio. At one point we had to make a decision where we wanted to go...

But we managed to find the town. A drive through downtown showed us that while the town has a long and storied German heritage, there wasn't much to intrigue us. Just outside of New Braunfels is another old German town named Gruene, where many European immigrants settled and began to farm. Monday was a holiday, so the town of Gruene was mobbed with families out for a day of fun. We allowed as how we had been having way to much "fun" and decided to cruise on through with only a short stop for Sasha to leave her DNA on the lawn at City Hall....Sorry about that.

There is a chain of convenience stores in Texas called Buc-ee's. These are not your local 7-Eleven.

Looking over Donna's shoulder, you can get a hint of the size of the building. Assuming each light fixture is four feet long, with four feet in between fixtures....do the math...it's huge!

One can purchase everything from Jerky to Bison Burgers to snacks here.

And, of course, a visitor must say hello to Bucky!

Two rows of gas and diesel fuel pumps parallel the building. We guess-t-mate upwards of sixty pumps! What a store!

And back to Buckhorn Lake RV in Kerrville, completing a 170 mile day trip! This was almost as much work as waxing the motorhome...

After a nice long rest, we got back to cleaning the motorhome on Wednesday and Thursday. Almost done! I think one more day....

But that will be later!

On Friday we shot into San Antonio to check out the northwest corner of town. This is a newer part of a fast growing city, and has many shopping opportunities (oh, joy...) We were able to find another location of our favorite seafood restaurant, Pappadoux's. The decor, presentation, and service here is phenomenal, and while not inexpensive, is worth every bite.

We enjoyed servings of Texas red snapper with grilled shrimp, with salad, and the single largest baked potato I've ever seen! Roughly half of the meal came home with us!

Pappadoux's offers fresh beef as well. These cuts were on display near the entrance. The Ribeye steaks in the center row were....I kid you not....a full 2" thick! So do the math on the filets on the right side!

So, that took us up to Friday. Then what?

Kerrville, Texas, First Blush

Ed and Rosemary left us on Friday, and Saturday the temperature plunged and the rain/snow/sleet/freezing rain began again. Other than "necessary" trips outside with our faithful canine companion Sasha, we stayed indoors.

However, Monday the 11th, the temp began to rise and we ventured out. We wanted to revisit Fredericksburg, and so we took off on a 100 mile loop that started by heading east on I10 to the little town of Comfort. Advertised as "An Antique City", we found that they meant that there are several antique shops along the short Main Street!

Moving north on US 87, we sneaked into Fredericksburg ready to check it out. Unfortunately we found that many stores and restaurants were closed, either because it was Monday, or because the tourist season is not in full swing just yet. Back to Kerrville, where we found a restaurant advertising "A Taste of the Hill Country". Yeah! Well, maybe not....Donna ordered a Reuben sandwich that came with 6, count 'em, 6 slices of corned beef, and I ordered a Chicken Fried Steak that even my Cardiologist would approve of, given that it was approximately the size of a silver dollar....OK, we tried BG's....

Today, the 12th, Lincoln's Birthday, we decided to explore a bit more of Kerrville. We drove into downtown to walk about just a bit and came upon PAX Coffee and Tea. Thinking that we could get a warm drink (it's still only in the low 50's during the day) and talk to some local people about what to see and do, we popped in, only to be greeted with "we're closing!" What? early in the afternoon? No...forever! Well, we got a cup of coffee (to go) and kept looking.....

Just a few miles northwest of Kerrville, in the hamlet of Ingram, lies a beautiful park with a most unusual centerpiece: Stonehenge II!

In 1989, Kerr County native Doug Hill had a large stone left over after a backyard project. A neighbor, Al Sheppard, took the rock and stood it on end on his property outside of town. An idea was sparked, and soon other stones and monoliths were found or created out of concrete and the two men recreated a 60% sized Stonehenge. After visiting Easter Island, Sheppard added Moai head statues to the collection. After Shepherds death, the entire project was moved to the grounds of the Hill Country Arts Foundation in Ingram. Not exactly what would be expected in a small town in Texas!

Donna and Sasha took a break from their walk. Sasha thoroughly enjoyed the wide open grassy park! The original limestone block that started the whole thing can be seen behind Donna.

Stonehenge II is located along the banks of the Guadalupe River, and provides a beautiful and quiet place for contemplation.

A variety of trees grow along the Guadalupe, including this one whose bark has an extremely abrasive appearance.

Taking a bit of a detour on our return to Buckhorn Lake RV, we happened onto "The Empty Cross".

This Sculpture Garden celebrates a fundamental, bedrock religious faith found in very few places these days. A statue of Jesus Christ greets the visitor and invites a walk toward the centrally located cross. Just in front of the 77' tall cross is a large statue named "The Returning King", showing Jesus returning to Earth and engaging in a final, apocalyptic battle with the forces of evil.

The Carbon and Cor-ten steel cross weighs nearly 70 tons and is anchored in the bedrock of the mountain. It is the centerpiece of The Coming King Garden and can be seen for miles.

Located at approximately the same latitude as the country of Isreal, and roughly midway across the US on I10, it is both a beacon and a symbol for believers.

The statue of The Coming King is a magnificent bronze and stone piece by Max Greiner, Jr, of Kerrville.

Whatever one's religious beliefs, this remains an awesome tribute to a higher power.

What a Ride! - Part Three

From Las Vegas we cruised south to Tucson, Arizona, with an overnight stop in Gila Bend, AZ. We had planned to stay at a small rv park there, but found it to be full by the time we arrived,  so we dry camped in the back lot of a truck stop. Not a bad spot at all...a bit noisy, but certainly do-able.

After loading up with diesel fuel in the morning at the truck stop ($2.79 a gallon was great after Cali prices), we completed our last leg into Tucson where we stayed very briefly in Mission View RV Park, the same location that our friends Ted and Phyllis stay in. A couple of dinners with them and a great lunch with our Minnesota friends Dave and Sue who are wintering in Tucson, and off we went east.

We crossed the Continental Divide going into Las Cruces, where we had the unfortunate pleasure of staying at the Coachlight Inn and RV Park.

We were parked next to "Amigo", as noted by the hand-painted sign on the back of the neighboring motorhome...

This rv was in the park the last time we were here....anf frankly I expected it to have either blown away or collapsed upon itself.

We were asked to wait an hour while an electrical problem was repaired in the site we were assigned. OK. After two, I asked when the site would be ready. "Soon", I was told, "and let's take care of the checkin while we wait, ok?". Second mistake. The problem never was fixed, management left for the evening, and we were left dry-camping in an rv park. Oh, joy. Well, Sweetie, scratch another one off the list....

A quick overnighter found us on the road early, hoping to leave New Mexico in our rearview mirror!

Welcome to Texas!

 Yup, this is Texas.

We pulled into Ft Stockton, Texas, about 4 in the afternoon with a beautiful afternoon sky over Interstate 10.

Even though our reservation had been misplaced, the kind folks at Ft. Stockton RV Park found us a perfect pull-through site. It was great not to have to worry about utilities or derelict rv's.

The Texas sunset was very watchful(?).

On Friday, February 1st, we pulled into Buckhorn Lake RV Resort in Kerrville, Texas. It's a lovely, small park primarily designed for motorhomes. This is the view from the front window of the motorhome in our pull-in site 6124:

The sites here are spacious, and include a nice patio in the adult section where we are. We've met the nice neighbors, most of whom are spending the entire winter here.

We've discovered that friends Rosemary and Ed are spending a few days in San Antonio, so we've arranged to share a few hours sightseeing with each other. Donna and I braved the evening rush hour into SA to visit them on Tuesday night and enjoy dinner at one of the city's many Bar-B-Q restaurants, Rudy's. The meal was adequate, but more importantly, we learned a bit about navigating through the second largest city in Texas (after Houston).

On Wednesday, we picked up R and E and plunged into the depths of downtown to check out the famous San Antonio Riverwalk. It did not disappoint! But first, we considered taking a couple of public access scooters from the parking lot to the Riverwalk.....no.....it didn't happen...but only because "they" didn't want me to.....

The River is every bit as beautiful as we remembered it from years past.

Of course we had to have lunch along the river! We found a small restaurant on the second level that afforded an outdoor view of the activity.

Restaurants by the dozen....

and souvenir shops with a sense of humor line the Riverwalk.

We had a lovely afternoon walking, shopping, and people watching. This is a must-do!

Finally, today, Thursday, we took a drive north to the German rooted town of Fredericksburg. After walking, talking (and shopping), we found ourselves having lunch in one of the original 1856 buildings in town. Completely remodeled of course, a number of times, the building has a rustic, comfortable ambience. And the lunch was great!

 A sign in one of the shops defines southern relaxation!

Fredericksburg is the birthplace of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, who rose to the rank of Fleet Admiral in 1944 after serving as Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet after the infamous attack on Pearl Harbor. A museum in his honor occupies a prominent  location in town, and while we didn't have time to visit today, we will return.

After several days of mid 70's temps, we are in for a bit of cool weather in the near future. Yesterday the high was near 80, and tomorrow is predicted to be about 44. Wow! We may have to stay inside and do our taxes or something fun like that!