2nd day???

April 13/2019  Weather is a not good.
Heavy rain(2 to 3 inches) and wind(35 to 40 mph gusts) to the north where we would go next - Oklahoma City.
To the East possible Tornadoes - oh joy!
We are staying right here in Mineral Wells another day.  Not opening our slides, wind is too severe.  We are comfy.  Good day to do bookwork, read, watch TV and make cookies!

The Trap Line

April 12/2019  Weather 70/50 where we landed today on our first day headed north in our trap line.  We belong to the 230 club and it was bang on today!  230 miles straight north to a really nice campground on hwy 281 near Mineral Wells (west of Fort Worth).  It allowed us to stay away from FW/Dallas, we don't really need all that traffic do you?  Our camp is Coffee Creek RV Resort and Cabins.  

there we are up by the red truck

We have a nice long pull thru, big park and the ladies were so great checking in.  Tomorrow might be a rain out and we thought we might need another day.... they said "no worries you can decide in the morning and then come pay us, take your time".  So accommodating and customer friendly.   Nice clubhouses, pool and facilities.  Glad we stopped here.  And we have the "quietest neighbours".  

our neighbours

Oh Happy Days

Rosey and Billy on the Creek at Buckhorn

April 11/2019  Weather 79/53  Beautiful last day to pack up and smell the flowers before leaving Buckhorn Lake RV Resort. 

Oh happy days.  We had "way" too much fun this month in our last month of the snowbird season.  One last day to snap some pics of the spring flowers in Kerrville. 

Quick, quick, slow, slow

April 10/2019 Weather 92/63  HOT, HOT, HOT

throw those steaks on

It's never been this hot here when we have have been in Kerrville, Texas.  And tonight is the 11th Street Cowboy Bar.  The bbqs were fired up.  You bring your own meat and use the BBQ's and buy your fixins and ice cold beer. 

Nice Bottlecaps baby

The bar is so crowded on steak and dance night you have to visit when it is empty to see all the crazy walls and especially the ladies washroom in the front bar. The decorating is hysterical.  I will show you some pics at the end of this posting.  After our supper the band kicks up and the dance floor is packed.   Quick, Quick, Slow, Slow.... The Texas Two Step.

A couple Texas two stepping before it got crowded

There was a singles group in tonight and another bus load besides our bus from Buckhorn Lake RV Resort.  Super deal getting on the bus from BLR so we all go together.  We would never drive here on the Harley at night with all the wildlife out at night.    Ok here are the ladies bathroom walls..... crazy, crazy, crazy..... you sit on the toilet and look right at this, can you read what it says: "you are re-entering the wild kingdom home of the untamed male predators"  and "wanna straddle my hog honey"  and "nice jugs"  and so on and so on.  OMG.  Ha,ha.  

 And then you are still sitting on the toilet and look up to the side and there is a window with 3 guys watching you!!!!

So you can see why we love the ambiance of this bar!    Best cowboy bar in Texas 

Harley's and Horses welcome at the 11th street bar

Texas Hill Country Wildflowers

March 25 & 26/2019  Weather   Gorgeous!  80 high/59 low

the flower power bike gang- the bluebonnets go on up the hills like carpet

the bluebonnets this year are thick from the fall flooding

We are doing "the loop"  back to back 2 days.  It's the old Willow city loop which is one of the most popular spring wildflower roads in the Hill Country.  Just outside of Fredericksburg you can catch the one way 11 mile ride through private ranch roads.

along the highway Indian Paintbrush and Bluebonnets

   One day we went north and the next day friends said lets go again and we rode it south.  Incredible wildflowers.  We cannot think of anywhere we have been lucky enough to be in Canada or the USA where the flowers are so predominant along the roadside. 

fields of white poppies

Pig in a Blanket??? or Kolache

strawberry and cream filled kolaches

March 18/2018  This morning we are in search of a Kolache.  (Ko-lah-chee)
Sometimes you have to sacrifice your diet to do this kind of research!  Every town, every city and definitely everywhere you go in Hill Country Texas there are Kolaches!  But what are they?
The Lone Star State has definitely embraced this Czech donut style pastry.  The kolache came to Texas with settlers from Europe around the mid-1800s. They made central and south-central Texas their new home, settling into the foothills and prairies of the region. At that time, more than 200 different Czech communities were established, and with them, the kolache-traditions remained strong.   The pillowy pastry originated as a semi-sweet or savory dessert served at weddings and dates as far back as the 1700s.  In a nod to their shape, the Old Slavic language word “kolo” meaning circle or wheel.   It is designed to be fluffy enough to hold a dollop of fruit or other cream filling.  We saw a whole window display of  sausage, ham, cheese or mixed.  At home we might even call these Pig in a Blanket.

pigs in blanket kolaches

Not our Jeep..... Haha

Rollin On

March 18/2019  Weather 68 sunny, low 38.  
We are out and about getting the bike fueled up to ride.  This fellow beside us was telling us he just rebuilt the cage on his Jeep after he rolled it for a second time!  He takes it off roading out on a ranch, rock climbing, hill climbing, river running, whatever he can find.  What a ride in Hill Country, Texas.

Giving Back

March 15/2019  Weather 59/42  a bit chilly.
Downtown Kerrville has a special quilt shop in a beautiful old home called Creations.
Last fall the shop started selling a small bundle for the purpose of organizing a show and quilt challenge.

It was a challenge to received 2 yards of fabric and 9 inspirational sayings that had to go in the quilt.  After that you decide what to create.  This is opposite to what I am used to; usually I have a design then go looking for fabric.

my challenge quilt bundle

  Since last fall Billy was giving me ideas and sketches that he thought would look good on the final quilt.

Fish appliqued on the back with bubbles and the inspirational saying

The finished quilt had to be handed in by March 11.  The ladies were so appreciative they even put a special note on my quilt "Hand delivered from Canada".  Nice!!!

Rosey laughing at the caption "hand delivered from Canada"

This year all donated quilts will go to CASA of Kerrville.  When a child enters the foster care system because their home is no longer safe, a judge may appoint a “Court Appointed Special Advocate”, or CASA, volunteer to advocate for the child’s best interest.
CASA will take charge of the quilts and distribute them to the children under their supervision as well as enable smaller groups such as K’Star and Women’s Job Corp to have quilts for their clients’ children. 
Friday a group of ladies from Buckhorn Lake RV went off to the quilt show and we did enjoy ourselves looking at 134 quilts and of course finishing off with lots of shopping in the store!!!  Saturday Billy went up to see my quilt hanging in the show.  While we were there a social worker was telling the Creations staff how this touches a child.  Many come in with only the clothes on their backs and this might be the first thing that is truly theirs to keep for a long time.  Gosh, we felt touched by her words and glad that we could "pay it forward" in a small way.  

Behind that ladies shoulder is our donated quilt !!!

What do you call 20 women with scissors?

March 13/19  Weather 80/49 great day to ride but first.....

someone is getting a Firetruck pillowcase!

Julie is our "Plant Manager"

Julie has organized a sewing assembly line in the rec center this morning.  Everyone brought a couple yards of fun fabric and the production began.  There were ladies sewing, ladies cutting, ladies assembling, ladies pressing and smiles everywhere.  At the end of the morning we had over 40 pillowcases made for the Kids for Cancer.  What a great morning and what a good cause.  

One Happy worker bee

All for the kids

We haven't been lost for at least a week

March 13/2019  Weather is sunny and outstanding today. 80/58  There is a back road to Comfort; which is a cute little town about 20 miles away.  Away we go.  We have been down this road many times and we always catch the way in along the cypress trees.  Just before we caught the road  we saw another biker ahead of us about a mile and we thought.... hmmmm.... Wonder where he is going?  Billy decided lets turn here and follow him.  A few miles farther and the road changed names and a few miles farther and the road changed names and then a few miles farther and the biker is heading back the other way past us!  But the road looks pretty neat so we just keep heading out as long as it stays pavement.  Now it is a bit narrower and then freerange livestock blocking our road.

Mmmmmmoooooooo!!!!

Very Slowly we sneak along.  By now we are quite a bit longer than we normally should be to Comfort and we really had no idea what direction we were driving in.   So stopped to ask a couple of ranchers by the road way if we were close to Comfort?  Haha they laughed..... No your going the wrong way.  They were great, they told us another ranch road to turn onto and then take a right for about 15 miles on a main highway.  

Comfort homestead

pretty old Comfort home

Once in Comfort we found a new bistro to try and then snooped around town, taking the side streets and enjoying the architecture.  It is has many historic homes from the 1850's as the German immigrants were the Freethinker movement that settled here.  
On our return trip we took the Cypress Creek Road and didn't take any sidetrips down the ranch roads.  The fun rides are definitely the ones we get lost on! 

we found it......Cypress Creek Road

Things that make your day

March 10/2019  weather 74/51  - forecast has a storm building to hit Tuesday so we are popping out for groceries on the motorcycle.  Since it is our only transportation we are weather watchers.  We may not plan ahead and book campsites but we do plan our bike rides.
The local grocery store is H.E.B.  Since we are not from here we always call it heb.  The locals look at us like "what?  oh you mean H E B".  Even the little things give you away as being a visitor.  
Today I found a neat little package of all the things we need to make a pot of chili.  No more looking in the spice section, the tomato sauce section, the bean section, the diced tomato section.  How smart is that?

what a great idea - all in one box

And what super inventive appliance will I put this in?  Instant Pot.  That gadget is amazing, it will do everything but wash your dishes.  The kids got me one for christmas and it will empty your already crowded motorhome cupboards.  Out goes my rice cooker, my crockpot.  In goes my Instant Cooker.  I am currently obsessed with making homemade yogurt since I got this gift.  There are 10 different settings on it, including pressure cooker so you can make something like Beef Stew in about 20 minutes!   Make sure if you get one to measure the size - this ones fits perfect in my cupboard.

Instant Pot

Old Friends

Texas Sandstone cliffs on the Guadalope River

March 8/2019   Weather beautiful, 79/59.   Now that's better temps. 
Just a short drive back up north to Kerrville, Texas to Buckhorn Lake RV Resort.  
It's a beautiful park and obviously everyone else knows it is too - it is packed!!!  This place is becoming a "spring habit".  This will be our 4th year in a row to stop for the spring month.  It does feel heartwarming when you pull in to get lots of hugs from old friends.  Old is a figure of speech...  the people are young but 4 years running makes them long term friends to us.  It took us a few hours just to hook up our rig since everyone kept coming to say hello, welcome back.  Nice.

Buckhorn Lake Recreation Barn and Windmill where the bikes meet to ride

riding out towards Tarpley

March 9/2019  Weather beautiful, 82/51 sunnnnny.  Guess what?  7:25 am we got a text from Dan "Let's Ride Today".    You bet.   On the Harley's at 11 am we went for a big ride to Leakey and back.  Billy loves riding these roads. 

Dan in the lead

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

Hill Country Riding

Feb 27/2019 Weather 80/53  Sunny, beautiful day for riding.  
We headed out of town past Luckenbach, on our way to find some backroads to Blanco.  Our farm to ranch road followed the Blanco River.  Neat old ranches.  Rolling hills. 

old road to Blanco

Sometimes you would be high enough to see vistas for miles.  Pretty area.    At the Blanco Quilt Shop which is an old bank building we stop and snoop around.  You have to love a shop that has cowboy boots sitting just inside the door.  The fabric is stacked in rows of old wooden shelves.  Just a pretty picture.  The old theatre is next door and the bathrooms are shared with the quilt shop.  The movie reels adorn the top of the walls and the black and white tiles are very old school.   Billy talked to the ladies and we found out where everyone eats in town; which will be our next stop.  

washrooms have movie film reels adorned at the top of the walls

beautiful floor to ceiling wooden shelves and drawers

After Blanco we head south to Canyon Lake.  Since coming out west in the last 8 years there have been several occasions when we met people who were camping at Canyon Lake.  There are about 4 COE(The Corps of Engineers) parks on the lake.   Our curiousity is taking us to one of the RV parks on Canyon Lake called  Potters Creek.  Nice RV sites with views across the lake for $26 !  What a bargain. 

rv site on Canyon Lake - Potters Creek

Fredericksburg's Past

Feb 26/2019  Weather 74/54 and out came the sun in full.  It felt hot!    We met motorcycle friends from Kerrville today.  The gang rode over for lunch and it was fun to catch up with them.  Once again "out for lunch".  We ride to eat!  First stop was an old Sinclair gas station turned bar/restaurant/bikers hangout.  Looked like a cool place but no burgers till the weekend, so back into Fredericksburg town we went for a burger at  Tubby's Burgers on the patio.
After Dave & Bev, Dan and Larry headed back to Kerrville we stopped at 2 very prominent historical buildings.  Built by the Germans that came to settle in Fredericksburg back in the 1800's.  

Pecan Grove Ice House

Each time we ride by the Library I mention to Billy "we need to stop there".  It was originally the courthouse and community center on the second floor.  The limestone structure has ornate  gingerbread details attached to the windows, roof line, doorways and railings.  It is beautiful.  Now inside it is obviously like most libraries it is full of books and the librarian asked us to take a walk upstairs and see the 5' x 9' tapestry on the wall.  Stunning hand craftsmanship.   It depicts "Our Town" using creative stitchery, hooking, applique, collage, hand weaving and crewel embroidery.   It commemorates all the historic sites in Fredericksburg and the area.  

Public Library (old courthouse)

beautiful old door knob on the front library door

"Our Town" handmade tapestry on the 2nd floor of the library

take your time and look closely at the detail "in" the tapestry, Amazing craftsmanship

Across from the Library is the town's most iconic structure "The Vereins Kirche".  It was built soon after the first German settlers arrived in the 1800's.  It was located directly in the middle of town with a road on each side.  This building standing now is a replica and the main street no longer has the split lane downtown.  It was the first public building used by all for a town hall, school, fort and church of all denominations.  Known as "Society's Church".  

Vereins Kirche - Society's Church