The Best Way to Ride is Just Get Lost

Red Poppies

March 7/2019 Weather 71/52 but the last 3 days have been cold.  42/52/59 high and lows 32/28/29  so we definitely were not out on the bike.   Thanks to our friends we survived, they took us with them in their pickup wherever they went!  This is our last day and we are headed out to ride.  

Castroville's Alsatian Tourist House

We stopped at the Castroville Tourist house and the red poppies were so pretty around the place.  Off we go to the west taking a farm to ranch road and then looking for the next one  when we think we missed the road ......... oh oh.   Further down the highway Billy pulled over and asked "do you know where we are"?  haha  "no idea" which means technically we were lost!  We thought let's put Bandera in our GPS and use the adventure route and see what happens.  The map came up pretty squiggly which looked like the route for us. 

Lake Medina is a squiggly lake so taking the roads around it are perfect

A view of Lake Medina as we crest to the top of the road

It took us all along Lake Medina through some canyon river roads and then wound us along a damn and more river roads then popped us out in Bandera.

coming down along the river and through the wash

I wish I could tell you what the roads were, we can only find them when we are lost:) 
 The best things happen when you don't plan them. 

driving into Bandera

A little French German in Hill Country

Mar 1/2019  Weather 60/47  Grey day.  The sun just never made it out......    We moved to Castroville which is 20 miles west of San Antonio.  Technically we are south from Fredericksburg and it might be a good thing as there is an extreme cold front coming on the weekend.  Frost warnings are up for the next 3 nights(we should get maybe 5 degrees warmer down here).  Yikes!   Ok enough about the crazy weather.

Full blooming Redbud tree at Alsatian RV

Our friends Paulette and Jim winter in Alsatian RV Resort & Golf every year and we are giving them a surprise visit for the week!   They love it here since they can play golf as much as they want.  The park is nestled in the countryside so its nice and quiet, very clean and concrete sites.  
Till our friends started coming here we had never heard of an "Alsatian" village.  Alsace is the north eastern region of France on the Rhine River bordering Germany and Switzerland.   A fact that most people forget is that the German Shepard Dog was known as an "Alsatian" till 1977 in Britain.  As in most of Hill Country Texas the European immigrants came over in the 1840's to populate this area, about 2500 persons. (Specifically Alsace is in France).  The towns architecture is very unique for United States.  There is a historic downtown area preserved with the stucco/timber style cottages. 
Our first trip out was for some supplies that are touted as the best in the area.  First to Haby's Alsatian Bakery and then to Dzuiks Butcher Shop.  There is nothing better than finding local old established food shops. 

Haby's Alsatian Bakery

The Bakery was a delight.  Fresh baked breads, pastries, doughnuts, pies, cakes,  cookies - We stopped after asking for about 8 different things!!!  At the butcher shop you could get homemade jerky, wildgame and some different cuts of fresh meat.  One thing I saw as a heap of Parisa.  No idea what it was?  Unfortunately there was no sampling.  Made fresh everyday it is cheese, black pepper, onion, jalapeno and ground raw beef.  It is eaten raw by itself or on crackers..... Huh!  It reminded me of when I was a kid; my mum would pop a raw meatball in our mouths when she was making supper with ground beef.  Never thought anything of it.    I passed on the purchase knowing Billy would definitely "not" eat it. 

parisi