Cuero, Texas

We recently visited Cuero, the largest town in DeWitt County on the Gulf Coast Plain in South Central Texas. DeWitt County boasts the title of Wildflower Capital of Texas, boasting over 1,000 species of wildflowers. As you can see from the photos, the wildflowers are incredible!! Cuero pioneered the turkey raising industry in south central Texas for years and during the annual turkeyfest, flocks of turkeys were driven on foot through the streets to market. The town also hosts the Great Gobbler Gallop which is an annual race between two prize turkeys, one from Minnesota and one from Cuero.

New Edition

We've now made our third rescue of one of God's creatures (hopefully this will be the last) ... Abby was our first in Mexico; next is a puppy for my friend Chris and finally this 15 week old puppy, Coda, just home from some surgery to drain fluid from his elbows - the result of 7 weeks in a crate. He looks pretty happy to have a home, Abby's not so sure!!

Muddy Rain

When we heard the forecast for "muddy rain" overnight we laughed. We weren't laughing in the morning when everything, and I mean everything looked like it had been sprayed with chocolate milk!!! It took us 4 hours to wash truck, chairs, patio mat, bbq and mostly the entire 5th wheel!!

Babies, Babies Everywhere!!

Spring has definitely sprung in Texas, everywhere you look there are babies - calves, lambs, foals, kids, puppies, kittens, armadillos. This little guy was born right here at River Bend Park and we're expecting another anytime!! The grass is green, blossoms on the trees and lots of little green leaves. The first batch of wildflowers have finished and the next wave getting ready.

Can't believe we'll be on the road again in less than a month and it's still snowing at home !!!!! We have to be in Indianna in early April, hope they have an early spring.

San Antonio Botanical Gardens

Our latest excursion was to the botanical gardens. The rose garden and wisteria arbor were not in bloom, but for February, it was still impressive. The orchid display was awesome!!

The old carriage house has been converted to a cafe and used the old stalls to make the entrance and booths, neat!!

Pictures say it all ....

Can you remember doing this????

Our granddaughter, Sienna, is certainly flexible. For those of who can hardly reach past our knees ...

Luckenbach, Texas

Everybody's somebody in Luckenbach or so they say (population of 3). The tiny town was established as a Trading Post in 1849 and consists of a Dance Hall, Beer Joint and General Store on 10 acres surrounded by huge 500 year old oak trees and two creeks. Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings brought Luckenbach to its ultimate worldwide fame with their hit song "Luckenbach Texas" #1 on the Country Charts for six weeks. I am actually starting to enjoy country music - help!!!

Palmetto State Park

Life's better outside (especially when it's warm)

Today we took our bicycles and toured Palmetto State Park, one of the many state parks in Texas. This park was named for the dwarf palmetto found in the swamps in a 289 acre tropical refuge in the middle of the brush country.

The San Marcos River also flows through this park about 14 miles south of Luling. We're looking forward to the canoe trip!!

At a bend in the San Marcos we came across trees full of roosting buzzards. It was an impressive sight but these birds sure are ugly!

Sienna

Sienna is sooo cute, I couldn't resist posting this.

Let's Rodeo San Antonio!!

The San Antonio Rodeo was awesome, billed as "more than an 8 second ride" it was voted the best large indoor rodeo of the year for the third straight year. Just a side note, if you like trucks, you have to come to Texas and if you REALLY like trucks, visit a rodeo!!! We arrived at the AT&T centre at 9:00am and didn't stop till 5:30, should have worn our pedometers. We were a little underdressed in our sneakers and tee shirts considering most people wore cowboy boots, jeans (high waisted none of those low rise ones) with belts loaded down with silver, fancy western shirts (long sleeve only), more silver, and to top it all of a fancy stetson (with more silver).

The laser and pyrotechnic show was amazing and the opening ceremonies were impressive. We saw the bare back riding; steer wrestling; tie down roping; team roping; saddle bronc riding; barrel racing and bull riding. However the best event, in my opinion, was the Mutton Bustin'. This even was open to children between the ages of 4 and 7 weighing in at less than 50 lbs. The contestants rode sheep and the object was to stay on as long as possible. The little guy who won was only 5 years old and he clung to his sheep like a burr. In fact he refused to let go as he started to slide sideways and actually pulled the sheep over. These are the future rodeo stars!!! The picture doesn't do it justice, it was sooo cute.

We also spent a lot of time checking out the exhibits - lots of silver; hide covered furniture; interesting stained glass and lots of stetsons. The fudge was delicious too!!

I was on the edge of my seat during the 6 horse hitch demonstration. They did consecutively smaller and smaller figure eights and then charged at full speed around the arena - the dirt was flying from the wheels!

The grand finale was Ronnie Milsap in concert. Ray loved it but I'm not quite so enthusiastic. The sound on my ipod was a lot better and there's no screaming and yelling in the background. Guess I'm getting old.

Flea Market

We arrived at Bussey's Flea Market with great expectations. 20 acres and over 500 vendors but the only bargain we found was a camera tripod for $2.00 and a spiffy dog crate for my friend's puppy. Overall we were disappointed, the armadillo was pretty neat though.

Bastrop and Old Friends

Today we visited Bastrop, a town about an hour's drive NW of Luling. The Visitor's Center was very impressive.

The town has changed a little over the years as you can see from the before and after photos of Main Street.

There are still many beautiful old homes.

We had lunch with Franchesca, an old friend from Mexico, at the Roadhouse. It's been more than 4 years since we've seen each other so had lots of news to catch up on. It was great to see her again and the Roadhouse serves the most amazing jalepeno and cream cheese hamburgers - WOW!!

Wimberley, Texas

Wimberley, about 15 miles northwest of San Marcos, was our first venture into the Texas Hill country. This little town is part of the Blanco River Valleyand home to many artists and authors. Texas is divided into 7 regions: Big Bend Country, Gulf Coast, Hill Country, Panhandle Plains, PineyWoods, Prairies and Lakes and the South Texas Plains. We have barely scratched the surface of this huge state.

Our first stop was at the Gourmet Tamale Kitchen (food first of course). We enjoyed Black Russian Cake (just like the drink); cherry scones and bought chicken, beef and pork tamales to take home. On full tummies, we visited the Central Texas Bonsai Exhibit at the Jade Gardens. Owners, Chuck and Pat Ware, have been working with bonsai (tree in a pot) for 20 years. Their exhibit includes more than 160 species of trees and more than 1000 containers of speciman trees. In some of the photos you can see the wire wrapped around the trunk of the trees to encourage growth in different directions. Chuck smiled as he told us of the people who got "bonsai seeds" for Christmas and then came to him wondering why what grew didn't look anything like his bonsai!!

Next stop was Old Baldy, a large hill with 284 stone steps leading to the top and some pretty fantastic views. Not surprising, Abby is in the best shape and climbed effortlessly.

On to Pioneer Town, a recreation of an 1800's town which has been the set for many movies.

Somehow I doubt the settlers who built this cedar log cabin actually subscribed to Bell Express Vu (note the satellite dish) but it's all in the spirit of things.

Our final stop was a stroll around the market square and all its quaint little shops. Abby enjoyed browsing at Purfect Paws, a doggie boutique. She fancied a new dish set ($58) and a lovely collar ($32) but like the good girl she is, took "no" for an answer. Since the fudge shop was closed, we followed our noses to a store advertising "healthy chocolate" - can there really be such a thing???? Yes, there is - we paid $3.78 for 1.6 oz of chocolate which contained no sugar or dairy products. This delightful little morsel, made with organic ingredients, contained virgin coconut oil, raw agave syrup (from the agave plant - tequila!!); cocoa powder, soy, banana, and almonds. Truly, it was delicious despite the price.

Zedler's Mills

Here's a view of the river from the top of the dam and a tiny part of the old mill buildings.

Ray is enjoying his new camera and seems to have that photographer's eye for neat shots, unlike your's truly.

Abby likes our afternoon excursions, mornings she just hangs out with a bone and watchs us work!!