Monastery Miniature Horses

About one o'clock today, my sister, Pam, and I headed out to a monastery to see the miniature horses that the cloistered nuns there raise. We drove to Brenham and stopped at the Chamber of Commerce because we couldn't find route 105. The volunteer there was very helpful and soon we were back on our way to the monastery.

The afternoon really warmed up as we went on the self guided tour. The fee was $3.00 for seniors and we got a small map of what to see. The first stop was the horse barn where we saw several yearlings in stalls. There were also several outside in a pasture.

You can get an idea of their size compared to Pam squatting down for a photo.

The little horses are quite friendly and come to the fence to be petted. Feeding by visitors is not allowed so no one gets bitten. The nuns have been raising these miniature horses since 1981, and there are about 60 horses presently in the herd. These miniature horses are used for pets, in specialty horse shows, and are quite strong at pulling carts, for their size.

These are all of the mares that will be ready to foal this coming spring. The foals are born during March-May. The nuns sell miniature horses and the prices range from $500 to $5000.

After this visit we headed out to visit a winery that the Chamber of Commerce had told us about. It was located on a back rode and we weren't quite sure we had found the right place when we arrived. We went into a small out building and sure enough there were folks inside serving up tiny sips of wines. Little did we know that tasting a few wines would cost us as much as it did. I only had a sip of one variety, since I was driving, and Pam tasted three. She did buy a bottle of a wine she liked, but was surprised that the cost was ten dollars more than the stated price. Turns out if you taste anything, it will cost you five dollars each. It would have been nice if they told us this beforehand.

We got back to the campground about 4:45. It was my turn to fix dinner and I had "red stuff" brewing in the crock pot while we were gone. It is kind of a goulash that my kids are familiar with. After dinner, we spent some time around the campfire and headed back to our rigs around 8:30. I'm not sure what we'll do tomorrow. Stanley will, of course, watch the SuperBowl.

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later, Judy

A relaxing day

Well, the water hose didn't freeze last night, but the temps were very chilly. Emma and I watched another sunrise, but the sun didn't bring much warmth until early afternoon. We headed out around 9:00 to walk a couple of the trails and saw quite a few deer.

Most of the afternoon was spent outdoors reading and walking the beach along the lake. Pam and Stan cooked burgers over the fire tonight, and after putting on my winter coat, we spent some time around the campfire just chatting. Emma spent a little time at the campfire, but I brought her back to the motorhome since she really hates the fire. I don't know why that is, but she just shakes like a leaf so she is better off inside.

Just a relaxing day....

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later, Judy

Lake Somerville State Park

We didn't leave McKinney State Park until 12:30 yesterday, a very late departure time for me. I usually like to be on the road by 9:00, but the cold and icy weather made it more prudent to wait. In the meantime, we went to the local HEB grocery store and stocked up on some supplies. On the way out of the park, we also dumped the tanks since we will be at our next stop for six nights.

The sun finally came out and the temperatures warmed some, so we headed out. It was a realitively short drive of only 86 miles, so we could take our time. Little did we know when we arrived, that there were only about five rigs camping in the park in the more than 100 sites. We asked the gal at headquarters to recommend the best two sites and she did. We took a look at sites 44 and 45 and fell in love with them. The sites were very large, were very private, and had a magnificent view of the lake. What more could you ask for?

I couldn't have put out my awning if I wanted to because of the trees, but that side of the rig gets the afternoon shade, so it wouldn't matter in warmer weather.

This is the view of Lake Somerville from my site. The site goes all the way down to the water and you can walk forever on the beach along the lake. This is one of the few parks in the area that isn't under a fire ban. That's the reason we came here. Last night Pam and Stan fixed chicken over the fire and today I did Italian sausage. I'm going to enjoy our stay here!

Every evening, there are dozens of cardinals foraging in our backyard along with ruby crowned kinglets, white throated sparrows, blue gray gnatcatchers, Carolina wrens, tufted titmice, yellow rumped warblers, and Carolina chickadees. Along the shore are also spotted sandpipers, willets, coots, and plenty of crows. If the temps were about ten degrees warmer, it would be perfect.

I didn't hook up the water yesterday because the forecast was for freezing temps last night. When Emma and I went out this morning at 6:30, there was definitely "frost on the pumpkins." It was a good decision. Today I hooked the hose up and we'll see if that was a good idea. It does seem a tad bit warmer this evening.

This afternoon, Pam and I drove to town to find where I can fill up on propane on the way out. We stopped at a lumber store that was more of a hardware store and picked up some firewood and verified that it will be a good spot to fill the propane tank. We visited a few other stores in the town of Somerville, filled up the car with gas, and headed back to camp. This park is really out in the boonies.

This is Stan with their collie, George, enjoying the sun and campfire. That's where we do our cooking.

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later, Judy

LBJ Ranch & a winter storm warning

Emma and I went out at 6:30 this morning for her first walk and I wore shirt sleeves. It was in the sixties. That was the lull before the storm. I watched the news before Pam and I left on our sight seeing expedition, and packed my sweatshirt and windbreaker just in case. Boy am I glad I did. By the time we made it to the LBJ Ranch, it was raining and the temp had dropped into the thirties! That didn't stop us from having an enjoyable time, though. We went to both of the National and State Parks, watched two informative movies on LBJ, went on two guided tours, did one auto tour with a CD, and about froze our tutu's off on the mostly outside tour of the Texas White House.

By the time we returned, we were starving, as there wasn't anyplace to eat around lunchtime. Stanley had said he would take us out for dinner tonight, so we walked the dogs and got ready to go to the Texas Steak and Cattle Co. for dinner. I checked the weather forecast before we left and decided to fill the water tank and detach the water hose and store it. The temperature has a very good chance of going below freezing tonight and we may be hit by an ice storm. I don't want my pipes to freeze and the hose was still pliable tonight. By morning, it would have been very difficult to roll up, to say the least. The DISH had also lost it's satellite connection, but I didn't have time before we left to check on that.

The food was delicious and if we hadn't have gotten lost on the way back, we would have been home before dark. After about a half hour, I was able to site the DISH on the satellites again so I'll have TV for the evening. We are scheduled to leave here tomorrow to move on to Lake Summerville State Park, but I'm positive it won't happen very early. We'll have to check on road conditions before we depart.

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later, Judy

I forgot to bring my Harley!

Pam, Stan, and I headed out in the very dense fog this morning to visit the Capitol Building in Austin. As we neared the entrance we noticed a big crowd and what appeared to be a protest group being taped by TV cameras. Sure enough, many biker groups from Texas had gathered in their yearly visit to their senators and representatives.
They were most interested in protesting their opinion of the law that allows a vehicle driver to run a red light and injure or kill a biker and then only receive a $125 fine.

They were an enthusiastic group and flooded the building as we were trying to enter. I talked to several of them to find out why they were here. This is democracy in action. What a hoot to be with this crowd, although I'm sure we looked like misfits. ;)

I wanted to take the guided tour of the building, and we did so. The tour guide was quite adversely effected by the large contingent of leather-clad visitors and was disturbed by the noise they created. He shouldn't have been, in my opinion, as the capitol belongs to the people of the state and they have every right to be there.

I, for one, enjoyed the tour and all the history the guide imparted to us. Texan's have a heritage to be proud of. This picture is looking up in the rotunda. It was more spectacular than this shows.

You can still see the heavy fog even though it was noon. Pam and Stan are those tiny figures in the fore ground.

After the tour, we headed back to the car in the capitol visitor's parking garage and got prepared for the downtown parking fee. I couldn't believe it when the attendant said our fee for over two and a half hours was 75 cents! This must be among the biggest bargains in America. What a pleasantly surprising shock that was.

Pam revved up her GPS and in no time we were at Stubb's BBQ in downtown Austin. This place had been recommended to me by the lady at the state park reservation office, and it was a winner. Stan and I enjoyed the pulled pork sandwiches and Pam had the brisket sandwich. You have to order in the bar, and by the time you sit down, your order is served. This was an excellent example of Texas BBQ.

About an hour after we returned to McKinney Falls, the fog finally started to lift and the temperature got up to 70. I took Emma out for a good walk and we chased up five deer. There is a winter storm approaching, and I hope it won't damper our plans to visit the LBJ Ranch tomorrow morning.

I accidentally uploaded a repeat sunset from Choke Canyon tonight and don't know how to delete it. That's it for today.

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later, Judy

McKinney Falls State Park

At 6:00 in the morning on Saturday, the cold front began to move through. The winds were strong enough to wake me up with the rocking of the motorhome. Not a good day for birdwatching...I spent most of the day on the computer with a few breaks for power walks around the campground to expend Emma's energy and get my cardio in for the day. A group of five Airstream campers came in in the afternoon and I was surrounded. They were going to stay for several days and were interested in my site since there were no trees covering my rig. One of the rigs couldn't get satellite coverage because of the tree canopy over their rig at their site. I let them know that I would be pulling out in the morning.

As I hooked up the toad and headed out shortly after nine, the Airstream motorhome had it's motor running and was ready to move to my site. I waved as I went by and headed for the dump station. After one missed turn and 161.5 miles, I settled in at McKinney Falls State Park in Austin, TX. I gave my sister a call and she and Stanley arrived about two hours later. They are in the site next to me. We made plans this evening to take a trip into Austin to visit the Capitol Building and other sites in town for tomorrow. They have two dogs, so Emma was introduced to George and Mitsy. Emma was her usual exuberant self, much to the chagrin of the more sedate and older canines.

I'm looking forward to the next nine days touring with someone besides myself.

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later, Judy

A change in plans

My sister, Pam, called me last night to let me know they didn't want to spend nine nights at McKinney Falls State Park because they still had a fire ban on. We all enjoy a campfire in the evening, but there hasn't been any rain in the area since October, hence the ban. I said I wanted to spend a few days at McKinney so we could tour Austin.

This morning I called Texas State Parks and Wildlife and talked to a very helpful person. She suggested things to do and places to eat in Austin and found another state park within 100 miles that didn't have a fire ban. So, we'll spend three nights at McKinney Falls, and then move on to Summerville Lake State Park for the remaining six nights.

The temps today got up to 80 degrees, and I enjoyed just relaxing and watching the birds. I also spent considerable time getting the sand burrs out of Emma's feet. They are everywhere that isn't paved and painfull. A weak cold front is supposed to pass through the area tonight, so it will only be in the high sixties tomorrow. I'll see if I can find the rare Mexican Pine Flycatcher that has been seen in the park.

This has been a restful day.

Thanks for stopping by....talk to you later, Judy