On The Road Again.....

After a long winter’s nap we are on the road again seeking sunshine and flowers.  We are happy to report we have found both.  There is a picture below to prove we have located the first bluebonnet bloom and are awaiting a full carpet of these beautiful Texas state flowers in just a few weeks.  The central purpose of our trip is to catch some rays and observe the wildflowers as they announce spring is here.  Admittedly, you may say this is not much proof, but for anyone weary of the cold and wet this is enough to provide the soul with inspiration to hang in there a little while longer.  We have definitely located the sunshine and are reveling in it.

We ran into a couple of travelers from Indiana and Kentucky that are experiencing sunshine for the first time in a couple of months.  They wintered down south around South Padre Island and told us they haven’t seen the sun because it was either raining or the fog was too dense to let the rays of the sun penetrate.  It was fun to see their excitement and glee as they headed off to the golf course for a day in the sun before continuing their trip back to their respective homes.

Speaking of Indiana, the last time we were there we saw and wrote about our encounter with the golf cart community.  If you recall, we were amazed at the folks “taking their constitutional” daily by riding in their golf carts throughout the RV park instead of walking.  Well, we have now experienced a situation that is close to just as amazing.  There is a fellow here in this park that takes his cats for a walk daily.  Now you may say, that is not that amazing and you may even conjure up a picture of cats on a leash or something but you would be wrong.  This guy has a pet stroller into which he loads his cats and then pushes them around the RV park.  This stroller has a zippered compartment with screen mesh openings so the cats can sit and observe the many sights around them as they are pushed along by their owner.  The cats are not receiving much exercise but have the owner trained pretty well to give them a view of the world outside the RV every single day.  Not much physical stimulation for the cats but I suspect mentally they are fully engaged in all the sights and sounds as they are merrily pushed along in their stroller.  Oh well, it takes all kinds and that is part of what makes our journeys so interesting!

Rolling along....

singing a song--Side by Side

When we left it was cool and evidence of rain from the day before was everywhere.  As we drove further south and west, this gradually changed.  When we arrived in Fredericksburg, we could see there had been rain (which is good for the flowers) but not the frog strangling kind we experienced in East Texas.  Our first full day in Fredericksburg allowed us to experience the sun rising while turning the sky from a dark azure blue to gradually lighter and lighter shades of blue accented by striations of pink, white and wispy clouds until the sun was fully up and the sky a pure baby blue color dotted with white puffy clouds.  It was marvelous and allowed us to sit outside just enjoying and relaxing while soaking up the warmth as we mentally prepared ourselves for exploring.

These first few days we have done some exploring.  Our first adventure was to set out to experience and climb the Enchanted Rock.  Just a warning to all, if the lights are flashing on the sign (about 15 miles away) on the side of the road heading towards Enchanted Rock which reads ‘Park is Closed when Lights are Flashing’; then it really means the park is closed.  We pushed on past this sign as if it was meaningless and soon found out that was not the case.  There is limited parking and the park attendants do not want any accidents from overcrowded hikers/climbers so the park is closed periodically to allow some of the overcrowding conditions to dissipate.  We have put this on our list to try again later during the trip but for now, we have not climbed the rock although we have a nice picture that shows a lot of folks that are since we were obliged to keep on driving past the park as it was closed to new arrivals.

On another day, we have made a trip to Kerrville to eat catfish at the Lake House located on the Guadalupe River.  Here we encountered a woodpecker that was either crazy or highly territorial.  This bird would hang from a tree branch upside down swinging back and forth in front of a big picture window.  Eventually the bird would leap from the branch to run into the window with its beak only to fall to the window sill looking around for something.  Then he would jump back up to the branch to repeat this process all over again.  Our conclusion, the bird was seeing a reflection of himself in the window and attacking to run the ‘other bird’ off.  We did see another bird feeding on some berries in the same tree and since our crazy bird left this one alone, it probably was his mate. 

First one side

and then the other

Finally the attack that leaves him stunned for a moment

From the restaurant, we meandered around exploring Kerrville and then found our way to Luckenbach, TX.  None of us had ever been and since they are having the Mud Dauber Festival there next weekend we wanted the opportunity to look it over without a crowd of folks obscuring the view and to pay homage to the title of this post.  We can now say we have been to Luckenbach just like Willie and Waylon and all the boys.  Oh and we probably will pass on the Mud Dauber Festival since this was interesting place to say we have been but it does not make our top ten list of places to see again.

This must be the place

...and it is!

After leaving Luckenbach and making a quick stop at the local Sonic during Happy Hour to get our half-price drinks, we made our way to the Willow City Loop to see if there were any indications of wildflowers making their appearance yet.  This trip was mainly a very nice drive in the country with David and Beverly wanting to see what the plants look like so they could get a sense of when we might begin to see the flowers.  After stopping the car so Sophie could point out the plants, Beverly spotted this one flower that had just poked its head out early and we just happened to stop and find it among these many acres and acres of countryside.  So we designated it the first ‘official’ bluebonnet of the year.  Come back again for future reports as we know there will be a great wildflower season this year.

First "official" Bluebonnet bloom - can't wait for more