TEXAS!

Friday March 1. American history day

We drove 19 miles to the LBJ Ranch, a National Historic Park. They give you a self guiding cd as you drive around the ranch, stopping at various places. They talk about how much Johnson loved being here,and I agree, it is a very soothing place. Rolling grasses, LBJ's Hereford herd, rows of huge live oaks, and the gentle Pedernales river. A ranger took us on a tour of the "Texas White House", restored after Lady Bird's death in 2007 to its 1960's look. We spent all day touring the different sites, including a working farm restored to early 1900's. I saw how to start with milk, work through yogurt, to various cheeses.
We finally tore ourselves away and drove the hour to San Antonio in Friday afternoon traffic, got lost downtown looking for our hotel, but finally arrived, settled in, and took the hotel shuttle to the river walk. It's a different place at night! To complete our Texas culinary tour, we shared a BBQ 5 meat sampler plate, with salad, beans, slaw, and mashed potatoes, served by a full of himself waiter. Last adventure of the journey was walking back to the hotel in the dark, with a map that we had a lot of trouble seeing to read. We finally made out the street signs, and felt justified in that big BBQ meal to fuel our walk.
We are ready to plan our next adventure!

TEXAS! Days 3 and 4 at Big Bend and then the evening at Fredricksburg
Wed. Feb 27
Tour and walk day.
We dilly dallied around the room til mid morning. Our hectic schedule caught up with us. When we finally got organized we drove to the south west corner of the park. We stopped at the visitor center at Castelon and talked with the volunteer. There wasn't much there, and it felt isolated. Four miles of desert road past the ranger station is the trailhead for Santa Elena Canyon. We walked across the wide dry bed of Terlingua creek. The trail climbed in switchbacks over a hill then gradually descended to the river in the canyon.it was perfect weather, and a beautiful trail. I was gloriously happy to be walking. But we had more places to go. Our next stop was the Dorgan-Sublett places, the ruins of the ranch houses. We ate our lunch of ham and cheese sandwich and yogurt in the ruins of the lower house, then walked up the Mesa to the upper Sublett house and the Dorgan house. The front wall of the Dorgan house remains, with windows looking out on mountains. Also remaining is a double fireplace made of petrified wood. It must have been beautiful in the house with that fireplace.
We continued on back up the Castelon Road toward home in the Chisos, stopping at different viewpoints. We walked again at Burro Mesa pour off. That was a mistake, we were walking on a dry gravel creekbed into a box canyon. The gravel was thick and gave under our feet like sand, so was hard walking. The canyon kept twisting. We would approach a corner, sure this would be the last turn and we would see the end of the canyon, but there would be yet another turn. We finally gave up and trudged back to the car. We also walked at the Sam Nail place. A windmill there creates a little oasis. We saw a cardinal in the brush. Dinner at the lodge with sunset, moon, and panoramic photography (playing with settings on the cameras). In the visitor center there was a display of a huge mountain lion. At the trailhead to the best sunset viewing spot there were signs warning of lion activity. I decided to make my photos from the sidewalk.

Thurs Feb 28
We calculated that we didn't need to leave the park until12p to arrive in Fredricksburg in time for dinner. So off we went one last time. First stop was Lost Mine trail at the highest point of the park road. The trail climbed up for a mile to a gorgeous lookout spot. We climbed on some rocks and photographed each other in silly poses. Weren't quite up to doing yogi balancing poses on the narrow ridge, though. Then we drove to the easternmost part of the park to explore Borquillos canyon. The trail climbs over a little hill before descending to the river. A young man sat on a small bluff on the Mexican side singing to the hikers, hoping for contributions in a jar on the American side. We walked into the pretty canyon until we ran out of trail, then returned.
We drove north out of the park through the rough desert, stopped to chat with the border patrol, and arrived back in civilization at Stockton, where we stopped to make silly pictures with the artwork in the visitor center. Then 300 miles of I 10 to an exit an hour west of Fredricksburg. The last hour was fun, driving in the Texas hill country. We drove along the YO game ranch, spotting exotic animals, kept for the hunters. (I know....mixed feeling there, but it was fun to see them.....like a drive through zoo).
Fredricksburg is a German tourist town, and we had the choice of many different German restaurants. By the time we got settled in and ready for dinner, it was 8pm, and the town was pretty much rolled up. We ate at Der Lindenbaum. Bobbi had schnitzel, I had goulash with noodles. (I still can't look at a schnitzel after my trip through Austria and Switzerland in 2008!)

Driving across west Texas and Big Bend NP Day 1

Monday feb 25. Driving across west Texas. Crazy windy. In and out of scattered showers. Absolutely needed two hands, because gusts would try to push you off the road. Texas hill country is just what we were looking for. Wild and rugged. East of Stockton there were MILES of windmills on ridges on both sides of the highways. Good use of all that wind. The towers for the power lines were under construction. We got to Big Bend at three pm, and stopped to add to our series of yoga poses at entrance signs. We were checked into our room at the Chisos lodge by 5pm. We provisioned ourselves at the store with a quart of milk, a loaf of bread, a package of ham, and a block of cheese. This provided us with two breakfasts and two picnic lunches, so we only had to buy suppers out. We also had one breakfast of oatmeal for me, cereal for Bobbi, from the store.We walked up to the lodge dining room at sunset to enjoy dinner and the glowing sky through the Window, a break in the mountains forming the Chisos basin.

Tues feb 26
Today was our day in the river. It was my first time steering a canoe. I've always been the brawn in the front seat. God I loved turning that boat where I wanted it to go. (also, it let Bobbi be the photographer). I loved going down the green river in the yellow brown desert., slipping through the water like I was a corpuscle in a vein of blood, part of the river, part of the earth. The Rio Grand ( Rio Brave del Norte) is a gentle stream, it just slides along quietly, with occasional little shoots. Patrick, the guide, resplendent in his rasta hat, said the rapids were category 1.37 (he made that up). Often we would sit with the paddles across our laps, just gliding, listening to the quiet. Soft water sounds, bird calls, plop of a turtle, our own breath, looking up at the river cliffs, or in open areas, out across the desert to the jagged mountains, this is harmony. Patrick also taught us two sayings to express his river philosophy...."no hurries, no worries," and " we're on our agenda of total flexibility."

The morning started cool, and we had lots of clothes. They came off piece by piece. Unfortunately we came to the first hot springs early in the trip, and the air was still cool. Bobbi and I were afraid to get all the way in, because we thought we'd freeze when we got out, so we just stood in it to our knees. Even that was wonderful. We came to the second hot springs at midday. We stayed there about an hour and a half. Unfortunately, this springs has easy road access, so there are always people there.

 It is a developed hot springs from early 1900s. There are ruins of a small hotel, store and the owner's house. He ceded the land to the future park in 1939. (it became a park in 1944). There were picto- and petroglyphs on the cliffs dated 1000 to 200 BCE. The springs are enclosed by the foundation of the now gone bathhouse. We could sit on the rim, float around in the middle, or recline in the built in concrete tubs on the edge. People kept coming and going, and talking too much, but it's their pool too. The best was three young girls from Austin on a camping adventure. They covered themselves in river mud. They were feeling the Goddess!
Patrick served an elaborate picnic on the river beach, cold cuts, cheese, lettuce, pickles, tomatoes, fritos and salsa, apples oranges, and cookies. And PEANUT BUTTER. We acted like we'd never seen peanut butter before. We spread it on apples til they were gone. Then we spread it on chocolate chip cookies. We were eyeing the fritos as a peanut butter delivery medium, but finally restrained ourselves, and waddled back to the hot springs.

After taking out at Rio Grand campground, Patrick took us to an area where he knew javelinas hung out, and we had our first sighting of the piglike animals.

After a brief rest at the lodge, we took off again for Terlingua, a tiny town just west of the park. People live humbly in this ramshackle town. Patrick called it "a drinking town with a boating problem." We drove on to Terlingua Ghost Town., stopping first at the cemetery, where the graves were all mounds, covered in small flat rocks, and there were many shrines and candles and plain weathered wooden crosses stuck in the mounds. People have built new houses within the ruined walls of old houses. Our destination was the Starlight Theater, a restaurant reconstructed from an old theater, which for many years was just roofless walls. It is now an upscale restaurant. We tried out beer from Big Bend Brewery, and sausage made from wild boar and deer. On the night drive home we had three wildlife sightings: a rabbit ran across the road with a smooth, non hopping gait, a small rodent (kangaroo rat?) scurried across the road, and a large bird, great horned owl? Labored across the road, making all sorts of flappings, and just barely making the crossing in front of us. Don't know how it was for him, but we were pretty scared.

Texas! Friday through Sunday Yoga Workshop

We arrived at the La Quinta with 15 minutes to spare before Yoga with Kate Potter began. it was everything I'd hope for. Mildly physical, very spiritual. This was the sixth time in seven years she'd come to South Padre, and many of the people knew each other from attending the workshops. It was a very friendly bunch.
I loved doing yoga poses while listening to Kate's low pitched soothing voice. I especially love hearing her say "releeeeeeeeeeaaaaaassssssssss" dropping down low in shavausana. Bobbi said it was hypnotic. the workshop revolved around the five trunk chakras, and Kate had created vinyassas to explore each: Earth, secure. Water, sensuous. Fire, strength. Air..heart love, play. Throat..truth, creativity.
It was always physically engaging , energizing, but never too much, and Kate would lecture and story-tell in between. She had created a special sequence for Fire chakra that she wanted us to do blindfolded so we could feel our bodies in space without external stimulation. We practiced several times with eyes open, then put on blindfolds and did it. She was ecstatic , said we looked wonderful. She said "happy teacher, happy teacher. Let's do it again." So we did! It was great fun.
The last session was a speaking, writing workshop. We sat in a circle and told something we had learned in the workshop. Then we did a writing exercise, describing things we thought or wanted from each chakra. Then it was time to take group photos and hug goodby.

The beach part of the weekend was kind of a bust, because it was cold and windy. Bobbi and i did go for a short walk Saturday. I was barefoot and had to keep my head down because the beach was strewn with Portugese man of wars. Blue bubbles everywhere. Sunday morning the sun came out and the wind dropped. Perfect beach weather, but we could only enjoy it from 11:30 to 12:30. We used the time to do a photo shoot of ourselves doing yoga poses on the beach, and then sat on the deck and watched the ocean.

the locals told us we had to eat a Texas Whattaburger, a fast food chain, so we did on the trip back to san antonio. It was ok. we also passed through the border patrol checkpoint about 50 miles north of Harlingen. The guard looked in the car, asked "US citizens?" and waved us through. Life is easy if you are white middle aged ladies.
Bobbi thinks she saw three antelope hanging out with cows. Driving through San Antonio at night was a bit edgy, because Bobbi was on the phone making us a hotel reservation, and Harold, the gps voice was loudly telling me all the little turns to make, and giving crazy road names, when I was just as happy following the green signs. We made it through the city and continued driving to our hotel in Boerne, Arriving just before 8p. We ordered in pizza and played with our photos.

Texas! Days 1 and 2--San Antonio Riverwalk and Padre Island National Seashore

Feb 21. We drove from the airport to downtown San Antonio and felt like we teleported to a foreign country, Old ornate buildings, Spanish style. There was the Alamo compound right in the middle of the city, graced by live oaks. The air was light and cool, and the historical ghosts whispered to us. We spent some time wandering around the compound, then we walked across the street and down the Hyatt steps to an entrance to the River Walk. We were first greeted by an enterprising barman who twisted our arms to get us to buy beers to drink while walking around. (We chose a Texan beer, Ziegenbock). We walked out into the river walk and I was just floored by how much more it was than I had expected. I was reminded of Venice. (the gondolas were replaced by water taxis). There is even a Bridge of Sighs. We managed to get mildly lost for a bit.

 We shared a meal at a Mexican restaurant, then dragged ourselves away from the beautiful river walk to drive down to Corpus Christie.

After checking into a VERY nice Hyatt Place we drove over to the National Seashore as the sun set. The surf had been monstrous today. There is a sand road on the beach, and you can car camp on the beach. However, today, the road was not looking very safe. The waves were coming up to it. The National seashore looked unearthly in the twilight with it's rolling dunes. We left as the darkness descended. We tried out Doc's, a seafood restaurant on the sound side of the island. We could see it, but had trouble getting to it. We had to cross under a bridge in the darkness, and had trouble seeing where was land and where was water. (When we saw it in the light the next day, we saw all was land, but at night it looked like water. We were just scaring ourselves). After we finally found the road and got to Doc's, we were very happy with our fish and ourselves.

Feb 22
We drove back to the Padre Island national seashore to see it in daylight. We played on the entrance sign doing yoga poses. It was hard not to get blown over while balancing in the wind. At the entrance station I bought my lifetime senior pass. We asked the ranger about the battery of cameras lining the road at the station. She explained it was a live feed to homeland security. Bobbi felt concerned about the goofy face she'd made while the cameras flashed last night.
We drove to the bird island basin where there was a small campground. That's about all we saw there. We drove on the the visitor center and beach. As we walked across the deck we saw a circle of people with a ranger. We stopped to listen and learned they were about to embark on a three hour birding tour, so we joined up. The volunteer ranger gave us a Walkie talkie and told us to follow closely in our car. We went back to the same area we'd just been and got our "bird eyes" on. She had given us a check list of birds we might see. We checked off 25 species! It was wonderful to really see. She also took us back to the drive on part of the beach, which was much better today, Bobbi bravely drove on the beach. People camped on the beach and fished. We saw a bird tangled up in a garbage bag. We had to tear ourselves away to travel on, but first stopped at another fish restaurant on the lagoon for fish and chips.