Tuesday, April 27, 2010

TX Hill Country

Johnson Creek RV Resort and Pecan Orchard

Becky near JCRV

JCRV
David behind the clubhouse
1-6-10:

Arrived at Johnson Creek RV Park in Ingram, TX, just outside of Kerrville.  It's a pretty little spot, maybe 40 sites, in the middle of a pecan orchard.  Johnson Creek runs alongside the rv park.  It's a beautiful creek about the size of the Guadalupe River which is also in the area. 

Rocky, Bec, Private and Major

1-1-10:  Went to Fredricksburg.  Fun little tourist trap loaded with German heritage. Got cowgirl hats for Laura Lee, Brooke, and me. Learned to play Hand and Foot with some of the ladies at the rv park clubhouse.  Really a fun game! I'm off bingo.

1-12-10:  Ate at Hole in the Wall in Ingram. The perfect burger!! Homemade buns.  Learned to play Screwy Louie today. 

Elk
Antelope
WMA turkey
1-16-10:  Took a drive up hwy 39 to FM 1340, to 41 and back to 39. Gorgeous!  Saw exotic animals at several game ranches. Drove through Kerr Co WMA.

Stonehenge
Easter Island at TX Hill Country
Happened upon Stonehenge!  And Easter Island statues. Much of today's drive is on the Guadalupe River -- beautiful. Homes and ranches all have names and the gates are sometimes more elaborate than the home!

Nimitz Museum
Nimitz Museum
1-18-10:  Went to the Admiral Nimitz Museum in Fredricksburg.  Now, I'm not a big museum buff, but this one was great!  Kind of a tearjerker. WWII, Sullivan Bros, Pearl Harbor, Midway, etc. Worth a repeat visit!

Playing Pennies from Heaven
Dee and Ann - card peeps
Card Peeps: Bec, Sarah, Dee, Ann
1-19-10:  The card playing ladies: Dee and Ann, decided I was ready to learn Pennies from Heaven. I'm hooked!  I've gotten these ladies hooked on wearing visors while we play, as Cookie and I used to do in college.

JCRV birds
woodpecker at jcrv
1-21-10: June and Pinky -- our friends from Admiralty -- came to visit today.  Met at the Lakehouse for lunch, then came back to the camper for a visit. Fun to see them again.  Pinky was Santa at Admiralty.

1-23-10:  Met Al and Annette today who used to live in Greeley, CO.  I asked them if they by any wild chance knew Janis and Roger. They said they used to live in the same neighborhood and went to church together.  Kristy used to babysit for them. Small world.  Also learned today that Sarah -- one of my card peeps -- has a niece who is married to Mike Young from Texarkana. Sarah is from NC.  Small world!!

Bandera
1-25-10: drove over to Bandera today.  Cute little cowboy town.  I think the night life is hopping, but we don't like sharing the road with the Axis deer at night.  So we'll let others enjoy that.

Rocky with Boo Boo and Sugar Baby
Cooooold!
Snow at JCRV
1-29-10:  SNOW!!  little tiny flakes. and the sun shining the whole time. Hill Country peeps call it "dry rain".

2-2-10:  Went to Boerne (pronounced Bernie) -- another German town full of yuppies. Loved it. We took 479? to get too I-10 today. Saw signs that said "Loose Livestock" and cattle guards on the road. Herds of sheep crossing back and forth on road. Saw several mini-donkeys, and black-buck antelope. So cute!

2-3-10:  Wanda back in hospital in Wichita. Compression fracture in back causing lots of pain. Then, a staph infection.

Shopping in Fredricksburg
2-4-10: Some of the RV girls: Dee, Shirley, Ann,  Sarah and me went resale shopping in Kerrville/Ingram.  Hit about 7 shops. Fun day.

2-8-10:  Played cards all afternoon with the girls. Then again tonite with the hubbies.  Yep, I'm hooked on Pennies from Heaven.

High Tea at Queen B's
2-9-10:  Had "high tea" at Queen B's in Ingram with Dee, Ann, Shirley, and Sarah.  They provided minks and old lady hats for us to wear thru lunch.

2-11-10:  Snow in every state of the USA today! Dallas and Texarkana getting record snows.

2-12-10:  David and I drove to San Marcos via the scenic route. Went thru Comfort, Sisterdale, Kindalia, Blanco. David did a little shopping at the Columbia outle in SM.  Came home thru New Braunfels, Boerne, Bulverde.  Saw Indian antelope, sheep, goats, whitetails, axis, black buck antelope, female elk....

Valentine's Dinner at JCRV
Tom and Dee -- NOT AR fans!  Thx Jakeb!
Shirley and Chuck from Wisconsin
2-13-10:  Enjoyed the Valentines Day dinner at the rv park tonite. Great food and entertainment. Got to talking to Chuck and Linda Moats about workamping.  Found out they used to own land in New Meadows, ID -- where Jerri and George live.  Small world again!

2-14-10:  For Valentine's Day I gave David ..... a break! Played cards all afternoon. Like I don't do that most days anyway. Temp dropped 20 degrees while I was playing.

Rocky and Private w/Major on the way
Rocky w/ Boo Boo and Sugar Baby
2-16-10:  David went to Wichita to see Wanda, who is still in the hospital. 30 or so deer in the orchard this evening, when Rocky and I went over to feed carrots to Major, Boo-Boo, and Sugar Baby. Mr. Ken gave me a Razorback belt buckle during my card game today.



When was the last time you saw one of these? This one is in Kerrville
2-17-10:  David gave me a good report on Wanda.  Still in the hospital, but better.

Snow on the ground at LBJ Ranch

LBJ bison
David at LBJ Ranch
Part of the historical working ranch at LBJ
One of these is a dingaling
2-25-10:  David and I went over to LBJ Ranch in Johnson City.  Snow still on the ground in spots. Interesting ranch!  LBJ memorabilia when he was born, car collection, airport, working farm from the days and bison herd. Saw some camels outside of Fredricksburg.

Zunft Baum in Fredricksburg
In downtown Fred, there is a tall wooden or metal tree on the square. It's called a Zunft Baum. A sort of trade tree. German towns put them out in the town squares to show what kind of trades or businesses are there. Trade symbols decorate the trees. Thx Andy and Lisa for that info!

Harley and Becky w/Becky
3-3-10:  Got together with Harley and Becky at Paw-Paw's bbq.  Fun visit.  Been a long, long time since I've seen them.

3-4-10:  Wanda's kidneys shut down.  Packed the camper up in record time and headed for Wichita about 3:00 pm.  Got just north of Ft Worth about 10:30 and spent the night. 

3-5-10:  Left Ft. Worth about 7:30 a.m. and arrived at the hospital at 2:00ish.  Spent the night with her there. 

3-6-10:  Wanda died shortly after 4 this afternoon with family by her side.

Pallbearers
Gus corrupting Andrew
Laura Lee and Asher
3-11-10:  Wanda's funeral.  Gus and Laura both drove to Wichita for the funeral, so we got to spend a little time together for the first time since Fall. All of Mac and Wanda's kids and grandkids made it in for the funeral. Sweet family.

Asher and statue
End of the day
Ride 'em
Taking it easy
On guard
Brooke and Andrew
The boys and their new friend
So much to see
Here's a cool donkey!
Looks a little familiar
3-23-10:  Went to the zoo with Justin and family. Fun day.  David took lots of pix and made Andrew and Asher a book online of their day.

Playing Panties
4-3-10:  Went to Justin's for supper and cards.  Taught them Pennies from Heaven.  All -- even the guys -- wore visors. They thought I was saying Panties from Heaven.  So that's what we'll call it now.

David's first pedi
4-7-10:  David got his 1st pedi at a little shop in El Dorada, KS.  As he sat there, I snapped pix and emailed them out without him having any idea. Quite fun! The lady painted his toenails clear!! I removed that when we got home.

4-8-10:  Babysat the boys today. Whew - were we tired after! Came home and both of us fell asleep.  haha.  But really enjoyed the time with Andrew and Asher!

4-9-10:  Had the guys vs girls Panties rematch.  Girls won again!

David, Greg, Linda Sue, and Rocky on the dam hill
4-18-10:  Dandelions everywhere at campground.  Asher would love it! Linda Sue and Greg visited today and we all climbed the dam hill. Met Excel owners Ron and Belinda Miller from Topeka.

Z Bar Ranch
Nat'l Historic Preserve
Flint Hills Area
4-20-10:  Drove to Cottonwood Falls and Council Grove (I could live in CG) Lots of range burnings going on in the area.  Matfield Green --60 trains come through there each day.  Visited the Z Bar Ranch at Strong City which is a Nat'l Preserve.  Pretty cool.  I really like the Flint Hills of KS.  Very pretty. Cattle are brought in from TX and all over the country to graze there from May-June.



Our Rocky
4-23-10:  Laura Lee's 28th!! Wish we were there with her. Rocky hurt his back jumping off the bed today.  Took to El Dorado vet and he gave him muscle relaxers and steroids.

4-27-10: Staying in Topeka now as we head toward Iowa. Drove around Shawnee Lake. Happened upon an Excel there and it was Ron and Belinda Miller.  funny.

Heading out in a couple of days to spend some time with Laura Lee in Iowa.  Can't wait to see her!  Not looking forward to staying in the Midwest during tornado season - in a camper.  But really anxious to hang out with our baby girl!


Let us hear from you all!

The Gamers




Friday, January 1, 2010

San Antone

My bingo peeps at Admiralty
12-2-09:  On our way to San Antonio.  Actually saw snow as we went thru Dallas!!  Arrived at Admiralty RV Park not far from Seaworld.

12-4-09:  After going to see a Travolta movie (Old Dogs) w/David -- and busting it on the concrete there -- I played bingo tonite at the rv park with the regulars.  It was a lot of fun -- and harder than I expected!!  Spent $4 and didn't win anything.

12-6-09:  We went to see Blindside.  Excellent! Didn't fall.

12-7-09:  Played bingo again.  I could get used to this.  haha.  Won $3.75. But spent $4.

Tip Top Cafe
12-8-09:  Ate at the Tip Top Cafe in San Antone. Mac had seen it on Drive-Ins, Diners, and Dives show.  Very good.  Might've been the best enchilada I've ever had. David said his burger was good, but not awesome.

David at the Alamo
12-14-09:  Went to the Riverwalk today. Rode the city bus from the rv park.  It was about a 45 min bus ride. Bus drivers here are tough as nails. And I see why.  Spooky passengers.  And sad. Got off downtown and instantly wished I was back on the bus. It reminded me of Gotham City. Not the riverwalk I remembered for sure. People came up asking for handouts everywhere we turned.  Homeless sleeping in shop doorways. Lots of thugs hanging around that look like they want all your money and jewelry. In years past, there were cops walking all over the place, Didn't see any this time except around the Alamo. We could hardly wait to get outta there. Really left us sad.  Pitiful situations.

12-14-09:  We awoke to a knock on the door this morning.  It was Fedex delivering Christmas gifts from Laura! She sent some really fun gifts! Such a nice surprise!

The newly engaged couple
12-18-09:  Will and Christena got engaged today! He sounds so happy!  He proposed at Spring Lake Park. Won $1 at bingo tonite (spent $4).

Bec at Garner SP

Garner State Park
Garner State Park
12-20-09:  Saw Castroville, TX today on our way to check out Garner State Park. Lots of German influence.  The hill country still has come fall colors going on. Very pretty. Lots of cacti. I always said I could never live in a place where cactus grows.  But I really like what I'm seeing here. Garner SP is one of our options for when we leave Admiralty. It's about 90 miles from San Antone. It's sooo pretty out that way. The Frio River runs through it and we were surprised at how clear the water is. Will check out a couple more before deciding.

12-21-09:  Daytrip to Kerrville thru Bandera - fun little tourist trap.  Drove thru Koyote Ranch RV Park. Very, very pretty spot up in the hills -- BUT NO PHONE SERVICE!  Don't think I can do that for a month.  Drove down to Ingram and looked at Johnson Creek RV Park. Fell in love with it, so we made reservations for Jan.

Our 1st Christmas away from family
At least Santa was there
12-23-09:  Sat by the pool with temps in the 70's, while Laura is in Iowa with blizzard conditions! She'd planned on flying to Texarkana for Christmas, but can't get to Omaha to catch her plane. Makes me sad that she's alone for Christmas. David and I went to the rv park gift swap. He rec'd a pkg of bunji cords and I got a box of chocolates.  Fun people. Becoming a teensy bit like family. My bingo peeps. haha. We met a couple from El Dorado, KS who have been hosts at the S.P. where we stay.

12-25-09:  Our 1st Christmas away from all family. :(  Did the potluck at the rv park and it was nice. Laura still stranded and even East TX is having a little snow!

?

This zoo had so many pretty birds
Tiger Country
My fave - the Giraffes
I don't know, but she looks cool
a little spooky
12-27-09:  Went to Brackenridge Park and the S.A. Zoo.  Beautiful weather and pretty nice zoo. I personally like Little Rock's and Wichita's better. And Tyler's. It is set among a lot of natural rock and bluffs, so that makes it pretty. And the plant life is great. I started sneezing as soon as we walked past the jaguar cage.  haha. Guess I'm allergic to big cats as well as domestic.  But no benedryl for me today. Gotta be on my toes for bingo tonite. We're realizing that San Antone has the worst drivers and the most honking of any town in the world!

12-31-09:  Warm, sunny day.  Watched the Seaworld fireworks tonite from our rv park.

1-1-10:  Hey, hey!  Won twice at bingo tonite.  Spent $5 and won $11!  First time I've won more than I've spent. Temp at Laura's in Iowa tonite is 22 below!!!

We've enjoyed our stay in San Antonio. Looking forward to moving out to Johnson Creek, where it'll be calmer and quieter!

Much Love from,

Davy and the Yellow Rose


Our Christmas snuggies from Edith
Rocky even got one!