Souvenirs From The Road: April 2019

I will just say this: March has been a whirlwind for us! And it’s been great! Some of our best memories ever!

We will start with a cook-out we had March 8 for one of our LBJ Ranch co-workers Tina. She was changing jobs and moving on to Enchanted Rock State Park. We so enjoy our friends here. And we were honored to have some of our Brazos Bend State Park friends Steve and Lynn join us.

Lots of good food was brought! Check out Johnny's jalapeno chicken wraps!

Ron and Johnny Wade

Carolyn chatting with our Brazos Bend Friends Lynn and Steve

And there's Tina!

Getting a chat in with Lyndon Nugent

Lyndon, Ron and Billy

The best thing about this evening was we were also expecting both our daughters and grandkids to arrive for spring break weekend.

So there's 2 grandkids, 2 daughters and 2 dogs sleeping in the motorcoach this weekend!

Saturday morning we got up and got moving over to Enchanted Rock State Park. This place has become so popular that you need to make an online reservation to have a parking spot. The weather was cool and even though I don’t like heights and am still babying my bad ankle, we headed up the Summit Trail. Had some awesome views!

Papaw strapping the backpack on Aiden

Headed to the top of this big dome of granite!

Amy, Lucy and Aiden

My two rock climbers!

It's a straight up path to the top!

View from the top!

Knuckleheads!

The next morning after some vanilla pancakes we headed over to Pedernales Falls State Park. Unfortunately they had already closed the parking lot for the falls and we were diverted to another parking lot several miles away. We found a trail along the river and enjoyed the views.

Yummy!

Pedernales River

Next stop was the Science Mill in Johnson City. This is a very fun place for kids and big kids alike!

Amy and Aiden playing mind games!

He looks like a scientist!

Building a car and then seeing if it works!

Captain Ron to the rescue! Aiden, Ron, Lucy and Liz

Amy and I decided to leave the kids behind with Papaw and go hit a winery or two and do a little shopping.

Amy at the 290 Wine Castle

Love the food truck's name. Located at the Fat Ass Winery.

We love their frozen wine slushes!

Next thing we know Papaw is blowing up our phones. It seems that Lyndon Nugent, LBJ’s grandson, has his helicopter on the runway by our motorcoach and asks Ron if it would be alright if he took our grandkids for a ride! As Ron said, those kiddos ran as fast as they could to the hangar and had such a great experience. Our thanks to Lyndon for that!

Strapping the kids in!

Take off!

Lyndon asking if the kids want to go for a ride!

The next weekend started on a Wednesday when our great friends and lifelong camping buddies Donna and Greg arrive. That Wednesday was Albert Dance Hall and the Lost Sounds of Texas Honky Tonk. Thoroughly enjoyed this!

The band's dog. He lets them know if he doesn't like a song!

The Post Master of Hye, who happens to be full of a lot of stories!

Donna’s sister Kelly and BIL Lance arrived Thursday evening for a steak night on the ranch. And Lance blessed us with tequila shots! We enjoyed a great sunset.

A muffin pan works great to serve shots in!

Friday afternoon we met up with a drive to Garrison Brothers Distillery.

Was a nice flight to taste!

Donna and Greg, sipping around the campfire.

And then to Becker Vineyards Winery. Enjoyed!!

I like Becker's wines. And I really like that you can purchase some at H-E-B!

Saturday we went to the Trade Days that Fredericksburg always has on the 3^rd weekend. Then a stop by the Fat Ass Winery. Then we headed to Medina where one of my cousins lives and my cousin Rayenell was visiting. The great thing is that Don knows Donna and Greg. We enjoyed catching up and taking in the sights that his house has on a bluff overlooking the Medina River.

Looking down at the Medina River.

Caught a beautiful sunset here!

By Sunday we were all ready to slow down a little. We drove out to Alamo Springs for lunch which was yummy! Then we stopped by the Fort Martin Scott Historical Site in Fredericksburg.

Pretty darn good vittles!

Ft. Martin Scott

And for your entertainment is a throwback picture my cousin gave me. It’s dated 1973. The Oldsmobile 88 and a Mobile Scout trailer that we thought was huge! Our family and several of my other cousins traveled many a summer together. This happened to be the summer we took 6 weeks and drove and camped all the way to Canada and back. My granny went with us. We shared the table bed every night. So fun! That’s why I have the gypsy blood that has inspired all of Ron and my travels now.

Traveling in style in the late 60's and early 70's!

The last weekend of March I was able to catch up with my sorority sisters for a girls weekend in Wimberly! The highlight of the weekend was going ziplining. It was a BIG stretch for me! Climbing a ladder is a bad experience for me. I survived, even though the hike to the launch was over some challenging rocks and heights. I missed my walking stick to help my balance! We also enjoyed going to the Newman Castle in Bellville.

Looks like a real castle!

We ate lunch inside.

The bedroom

Opens the gate

Bell tower

Chapel

Where you go if you're bad!

Beautiful reflection!

Sandy and Vicki enjoy the hot tub!

Donna, Rena, Lori and Carol

Donna!

Sandy, Lori and Carol getting squashed into the backseat!

Donna's expression says it all!

Middle age crazy ladies!

Getting my gear on

Ride up the mountain

Me braking for my stop!

And we close out March with the LBJ 100 bicycle race held March 30. There were around 1,300 bicycle riders parked along the air strip. Quite impressive! I was able to drive the golf cart again this year on the Luci Johnson ride. She’s LBJ’s youngest daughter and she gives an amazing tour talking about when she was age 16 to 21 and lived here and in Washington DC. Lots of good history.