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!!

Zedler's Mills, Luling

It was 76F today and you can actually see the green tinge starting ... We have been working most mornings on the 5th wheel, waxing, cleaning, etc. It's a lot easier to do than trying to stand in the dinghy and hang onto a boat!! We usually explore in the afternoons. Today we visited the Zedler's Mills, established in 1874. It was originally a gristmill and saw mill and later a cotton gin and power plant. There is a stone dam across the San Marcos River - the end of this part of the Texas Paddling trail.

These river barges go up and down the river but of course we hoofed it so that we didn't miss anything.

More views of the River Walk

Who's the handsome man walking along the river???

The River Walk

The River Walk or Paseo del Rio winds through the heart of San Antonio. We had a late lunch, early dinner at Casa Rio one of the outdoor patio restaurants along the water's edge, complete with cerveza - nice on Jan. 27 with the temp in the high 60's!

Remember the Alamo

Today we drove into San Antonio, the first of many trips I'm sure. We toured the Alamo with our friends Al and George who were wonderful guides. I was surprised to find the Alamo in the heart of the city. It was odd to step out of history into downtown!! More than 3 million people visit the Alamo each year.

Gonzales, Birthplace of Texas Freedom

Another old town with lots of history, Gonzales was settled in 1825 near the junction of the Guadalupe and San Marcos Rivers. The town was originally laid out with 7 public squares which are still in use today. The survey of the town was completed in 1832 and Gonzales is the only town in Texas that has retained its original Mexican survey. Gonzales rose from the ashes of the Texas revolution to become a mecca for ranchers and cattle barons who built cotton plantations and majestic homes, many of which are still standing today.

Above is a photo of the old jail, built in 1887 and in actual use until 1976 when a new jail was built.

This town looks like the original old west and how about that, the First Lockhart National Bank!!!

More of Lockhart

This is a photo of the Caldwell County Courthouse which stands in the town square in Lockhart. The building was originally completed in 1893 and has recently been completely restored. Court was in session so we couldn't take any interior photos but it is beautiful.

Lockhart, Texas

Yes, there really is a town named after us!!! Actually the town was named after a surveyor, Byrd Lockhart (no relation). In the 1800's Lockhart was a major northward converging point for the herds of cattle being driven along the Chisholm Trail. From Lockhart to Abilene was nearly 1000 miles - at only 10 miles per day it took three months to get the cattle to the railroad. The famous Texas barbecue of today originated on those cattle drives. Mesquite and oak wood was plentiful and those are the same kinds of woods used today to produce the mouth watering barbecue in which all Texans seem to take great pride. The towns of Lockhart and Luling fiercely compete for the best barbecue. We had barbecued prime rib in Lockhart and it was nothing like I've ever tasted - no sauce or spices just cooked over the mesquite coals - it was fantastic. We're hooked now and plan to sample all the local "pits" to make our own comparisons.

Granddaughter

For those of you who haven't heard about our granddaughter, Sienna Rae Gulevich, here she is at about 4 months. Isn't she just the cutest baby??? we sure miss her, she'll be crawling before we see her again.

Cold

Abby's wondering where the promised warm weather has gone. It's pretty chilly here today, only 40 F!!! Considering it's minus 20 something where we come from with 50 cm of new snow .... I better be grateful we are where we are. We had a visit today from old friends from our Mexican days, Al and George. They look the same, how can that possibly be???? They are now living in San Antonio so we're planning some get togethers.

Baking

This cardinal was just one of the lucky birds who enjoyed my first batch of molasses cookies. From my cruising days, I remembered that the flour here in the US has less gluten than Canadian flour. Since I couldn't find any Robin Hood I decided that self rising flour was just what I needed. Unfortunately I didn't read the directions until after the baking flop. The cookies were awful, which is understandable when you think that the batch had the equivalent of 9 tsp of baking powder and 4 tsp of salt with the self rising flour. The birds actually didn't seem to mind but I'm not sure if they suffered from indigestion afterwards. For my second attempt, I used regular Wal Mart all purpose flour and it worked just fine.

Shopping

We finally visited the outlet mall in San Marcos. WOW, 130 stores - San Marcos is rated 3rd in the world for shopping and apparently busloads of people come to shop and browse. It was pretty impressive. Can't say we found any great bargains - I guess if you are used to paying $1,021.00 for a sweater, then $398 is a pretty good buy .... We did however find some great buys at Marshalls and the 5th wheel is starting to feel like a cozy nest now even though Ray continues to growl about my "junk". Ray has a new camera so he's very preoccupied at the moment - it even has a remote control!! and I'm not going to comment any further on that.

Sightseeing

It's been chilly this week so we've been getting our shopping and some sightseeing out of the way in anticipation of warmer weather!! Despite the caption, we've decided against skydiving ...

Yikes, things are bigger in Texas

I can't believe it but it seems to be true - things are definitely bigger in Texas, get a look at this acorn.

The liquor store is unique, even has a drive up window for seniors (we qualify).

Luling

We bike into town most days - great exercise and lots to explore. Abby gets to hunt every day and she's discovered that standing on top of the hay bales offers a great view of field mice!! She sure is an enterprising creature, she will hunt almost anything from crabs to mice. There are two small cats here at the park and they play around the common buildings. Abby decided to chase them and had a great time putting them under a trailer in record time - great fun until one came out from under the trailer on his hind legs swinging with both arms and really put the run to Abby - she even had scratches on her butt. Very embarrassing to say the least and it happened way too fast for my camera. We mostly ignore them now.

The San Marcos river is very pretty, looking forward to canoeing on it. (above the damm of course, it's part of the Texas Paddling Trail)

Luling is a quaint little town, lots of neat shops and quiet streets. There are oil pumps all over and many are decorated. The one in the photo is in honor of the Watermelon Festival.

River Bend RV Park, Luling, TX

Here are a few photos of our "home base" for the next few months. The Cypress is only 32', 4' shorter than Sea Holly but sure seems like a lot more space - I still have empty cupboards!!

We're Here!!

Happy Birthday Ray, we're here, safe and sound, 2902km. Austin was really our only boo boo and that's because we couldn't decide which route to follow (Mapquest or Good Sam) so we ended up taking our own after a few moments of intense fellowship but we arrived without incident and I think our route was far less complicated. River Bend Park is exactly what we had hoped for, quiet and private. Our site backs on the San Marcos River (where we hope to do some canoeing) and we are well away from the crowd - don't even have to pull our curtains, the birds don't mind at all. The temperature was 22 C when we arrived at noon. Yeah, no more winter stuff (at least till we head home in April). We are actually in the little town of Luling, Texas (famous for it's barbeques and watermelon and still a few oil wells), about 20 miles from San Marcos; 30 miles from Austin and 40 miles from San Antonio so there should be lots to keep us busy for the next few months. Abby's loving this, lots of room to run free, no crabs to dig but she's making do with birds, cows, goats, a few horses and a llama (he's not too sure about her).

Texas

Texas at last!! not sorry to see the end of Arkansa. Some of the ranches we passed would make "Southfork" look like shantytown, WOW!! Had our first telephone call via On Star in the truck - we got a free subscription when we bought the truck - it's great. Stopped in Waco, TX for the night. Wal Marts here are stocking fertilizer, mulch, flowers!! We have almost everything unpacked now although the 5th wheel is still winterized and a shower would be sooooo nice. I think of the cruisers especially when the sun sets. Sundowners just aren't the same when you don't have company (but it's ok, we aren't doing without).

Sun

The sun is pretty bright!!! Check out the green grass. (Arkansa)

Temperature's Rising

Left Illinois and as we entered Arkansa the temp hit 11 C and finally the rain has stopped and it's sunny!! We crossed the Mississippi as we entered Misouri. We always wanted to cruise down the Mississippi in our boat but I must say it didn't look too inviting, pretty muddy and lots of dredges working. Skirted Tennessee, Kentucky and Missippi and stopped just past Little Rock, Arkansa for the night. Clinton might have like it but Arkansa sure isn't my favourite state. We've gotten a little more brave and now put out all our slides when we stop, besides, we're still drying out carpets!! I must say it's more comfortable than trying to squeeze between things. It's interesting to see how the merchandise in the stores (mostly Wal mart of course) has changed, lots of Mexican food on the shelves - we're loving that. Alana laughted at our Walmart locator guide book but it has been one of our better investments - just think 3700 Wal Marts at your fingertips.

Still Raining

Travelled through rain, at times heavy, for Monday and all day Tuesday until we stopped in Effingham, Illinois. At least the temp stayed in the double digits and our plan was to get far enough south before the front passed and the cold weather returned. Most of our "westing" has been accomplished and we're ready to head south in the morning. Our roadside slide apparently leaked with all the rain and road water so we had a lovely mess to clean up. I guess it doesn't matter whether it's a new car, truck, boat, house or whatever - there are allways warranty issues - we'll see how the RV Warehouse/Newmar handles this one. We managed to clean up most of the mess thanks to our trusty Honda generator which Ray would absolutely never part with. Driving through Indiana was beautiful even in the rain. You could easily pick out the Amish farms, they are immaculate and so neat and pretty. Interstate 70 must definitely be a truckers route. Ray counted over 100 18 wheelers in just one mile!!!!!!! The good news is that the highways are heavily patrolled (all you speeders beware) and we didn't encounter even one rude trucker. Too bad we can't say the same for the Canadian highways! The size of our rig might be helpful - it's always nice to look out at the doors of the big rigs instead of the hubcaps. Today we crossed Michigan, Indiana and Illinois.

Heading South at Last

We left the RV Warehouse in Cookstown, ON on Monday, January 7 in the fog and rain. It was interesting trying to set up the electric brakes on the wet pavement. The Cypress hauled like a dream, you would never know it was there - at least until we ventured into a gas station or a parking lot - it's going to take some practice. However, it's a piece of cake compared to trying to get Sea Holly into a dock with wind and current, at least we can stop at a predetermined spot (most of the time anyway). We crossed the border at Sarnia/Port Huron and there was no line up. The customs lady took our eggs but heck that's ok, she left the rum and wine.

Stopped for the night in Lapeer, Michigan at our favourite overnite campground - Wal Mart!!!

The Land Chapters ...

Well, to quote an old friend, we've "swallowed the anchor". Sea Holly, the sail boat, has a new caretaker and home in Montreal, Quebec. We are continuing our travels on land for awhile. Our sailboat left for Montreal in April, 2007; we sold our house in Nova Scotia in June; bought a house near Georgian Bay in Ontario; moved in July; bought a Road Trek in August and travelled across Canada from coast to coast; met our new granddaughter in Jasper, Alberta in September; traded the Road Trek for a Cypress 5th wheel; had an incredible family Christmas in Jasper (first time we have all been together at Christmas in 15 years) and are now ready to continue our travels in 2008. We plan to head south January 7, weather permitting, some things just don't change ... will keep you posted.