Day #3 of our Hill Country Vacation...

This was Thursday, March 19 and we had decided to head to Fredericksburg for the day.

A 1.5 hour drive but well worth it...

First objective of the morning was a visit to Enchanted Rock State Natural Area.

Oh My goodness if you are a Texan or live in Texas I recommend you go here it is absolutely wondrous and the views were Fantastic!!

(stupid electric poles and wires, grrr)

Us posing in front of the Main Dome.

Turkey Peak



Not quiet to the top yet but still the view is awe inspiring...

looking out towards the saddle and smaller dome.

Fred checking out Turkey Peak and NO I am not climbing over there today!!

On top and heading to see the view from the other side...

We honestly didn't think Michael would make it but he did a terrific job. We carried 4 water bottles with us and we had Michael stop every so often to rest and drink some water. It was a really steep rugged climb but so worth it...

I was stunned by the views...if you used your imagination you could just see settlers out there traveling West...I am a fan of our western history and this just pulled at my heart seeing this view and imagining what people 150 yrs ago thought when they saw the expanse before them...

It was considered sacred by the North American Indians and offered much needed protection for the early settlers. It is one of the oldest trail landmarks in Texas, the rock is the 2nd largest granite formation in North America. So much history here and I loved it!!


I handed the camera to Michael...

He didn't do a bad job of taking photos of us and he didn't drop the camera either, lol.

I know I could have straightened this photo but I liked the angle...That's my boy!!

Headed down and time for a water break...

Almost back to the Truck!

See the little ants (people) on top of the rock...(click on the photo for a closer look)

The summit trail climbs 425 ft in 0.6 miles...very very steep.

Fred and I kept thinking we might slip but we had good shoes on and the rock was dry...I wouldn't even want to think about climbing it if it was wet, Yikes!! If you go, go early as the park was full by 11am and they closed it...we really enjoyed this!

We then were off to the Airport Diner at the Fredricksburg Airport/Hangar Hotel for lunch to meet up with Cousin Sandy...

Sandy and Gerri

Michael was so excited to be eating lunch at the Airport and watching the planes land and take off....WOW!!

But just wait after lunch...

We walked over to this HUGE Helicopter that was on the tarmac.

Michael was in Dream land...

But then the Pilot came over and invited Michael to board and sit in the cockpit!!

Fred and I were laughing as the pilot was showing Michael how to start up the engines, Ekk....We told him that may not be a good idea, lol.

Oh goodness did that make our son happy...he was just tickled...

This copter and crew were part of Columbia Helicopters and they are a fire fighting unit. They are based out of Oregon and have been all the way to Alaska to fight fires. They are stationed in Fredericksburg due to the drought conditions in the area and fire hazards. I didn't get the pilots name but he was wonderful and totally made Michael's day...Thank you!!

We had promised Michael a trip to the

National Museum of the Pacific War (WW II)

Home of the Admiral Nimitz Museum

What a great museum and a wonderful memorial to all the men and woman who fought in the war....

Of course we pretty much ran through the museum going from gun to gun and model ships to model ships and airplane display to airplane display, lol...one of these days I hope our son slows down and studies the different displays...

Michael and Fred walking through Veterans walk of honor and memorial walls...

To all you Veterans out there, thank you so much for what you have done!!

You are our Heros!!

Okay so I always thought they were called propellers but they are actually called ship screws...I learned something new....

Michael was awed by the sheer size of the ship screw...This is the size of the ship screws on the U.S.S. Lexington (aircraft carrier) in Corpus that we have gone to numerous times...

A Japanese Mini-sub...

And of course let's NOT forget the BIG guns! The boys were shocked and thrilled as this gun actually turned when you turned the gears....

Our boy was grinning from ear to ear....

The museum tour was 3 hours long but Michael enjoyed the whole thing and was really good through out...

We had a great day....climbing enchanted rock, eating lunch at the Airport Diner, visiting with cousin Sandy (we need to do that more often) and touring the museum...A very long day but a memorable day....

Stay tuned for day 4 and more of our Spring Break adventure...

Day #2 of our Hill Country Vacation!

This was the view from the back of our cabin/house at 7am Weds. morning, not too promising a heavy fog and light mist....

We headed out to Lost Maples State Natural Area wearing jackets and walking in a light mist. Grammy stayed back at the cabin/house with Michael. Thank you Mom! It was nice to go hiking in such a beautiful park...
We took the East trail, 4.6 miles with the highest elevation at 2,200 feet.



This sign is NOT a joke! The trails are very steep and rugged!

But the view is and was awesome!!

So glad I spent the past month walking! We weren't at the top yet but almost!

We had another couple come up on us while I was setting up the Tripod and they offered to take our photo...


Fred spotted this cacti blooming at the top of our climb.

They were gorgeous!
So we decided to stop and eat our lunch and it gave me some more time to play with the camera and get some photos of the cacti blooms...I will have a blog post on the birds and blooms we saw on our trip...so stay tuned for that.

Fred checking out the view at 2,200 feet!!

We were both checking out the view and the trail to the bottom of the canyon!! Yikes!!

The water below is what are called the ponds.

They allow primitive camping down there.

After getting to the bottom of the Canyon this is looking up to where we ate lunch and saw the Cacti.

The canyon was beautiful and we've discussed later on going back to camp there with Michael.

I am going to add the rest of our Lost Maple photos to my flickr site so stay tuned for the link.

I had promised Michael when we got back home I would take him swimming in the "Frio" River...It took us about 4 hours to hike the 4.6 mile trail...it was beautiful but also very very rugged...I'm just glad we made it and didn't suffer the worse from it...

Frio is spanish for COLD....That should tell you the "Frio" river is pretty darn COLD!!

Too darn COLD for swimming, lol...But I promised him!! The photo above was when he jumped in and you should have seen the look on his face...He was a bit shocked!! As you can see I am trying NOT to get the upper half of my body wet....YoWsERS!!!

And of course Grammy is telling me it isn't that cold as she was in it the day before...but like I told her I do NOT have jeans and a t-shirt on for insulation!! Na Na Na...it was COLD!!

Grammy and Michael in the Frio River!!

Michael attempting to fix the dam....

We swam for a bit and played in the river...

I asked Michael the other day what his favorite thing was about our Hill Country Vacation and he said "his Logar (Lego) Airplane"...LOL...Boys and their toys!! He knew I had bought him a new airplane/jet/helicopter Lego kit but I told him he did not get to open it until we got to the cabin...Guess what was the first thing he wanted to do upon our arrival at the cabin?? Betcha don't have a clue, lol....Open his new lego kit!! Sigh!!

Michael showing off his Logar (Lego) plane...it is kind of cool!!

This was the house/cabin we stayed in...Not really a cabin, more of a house but it was nice...hot showers and comfy beds...lol...beats camping in a tent on the hard ground!!

That was Day 2 in a nutshell....I absolutely love Lost Maples, the trails were gorgeous!! I wish we had a place like that near us so that I could go once or twice a week to hike...I truly appreciate Mom watching Michael too...Not sure he would have been able to hike the whole East trail...

Even though the morning was a bit dreary it cleared off at about 10 am and turned into a beautiful day....

Stay tuned for Day 3....

We're Back and some photos of our first day in Leakey, Texas!

Ahhh it is so nice to be home...well maybe....the heat and humidity doesn't feel to good!!

Tuesday, on our way to Leaky, we stopped off in Bandera Texas for some shopping...

Fred had to try on hats, LMBO!!

I honestly think he should have bought it!! It just suits him to a "T"!!!!

This was the road between Vanderpool and Leakey, isn't it SWEET!!

Posing for a photo in the backyard of the house/cabin where we stayed!

Grammy and Michael playing games!

This was the stairs to the Frio River from the back yard. Mom counted the steps...56 of them!! I felt every one of them too!! That is Fred at the top taking in the view!

One of the sunfish we caught and that is about all we caught...Not a good week for fishing!!

Okay...We had a little incident upon our arrival!

While we were all checking out the Frio River...

Fred and I heard a YELP, Branch BREAK and KERPLUNK!!

We turned around and Grammy decided to get a head start on the swimming!!

Yep She fell in the River....UH OH!!

Fred went to her rescue and I tried to record the incident on camera...

that is once I saw she was okay...

I was LAUGHING so hard I was having problems holding the camera!!

So I've decided Grammy's new nickname is "KERPLUNK"!!

She just couldn't wait to get in and try out the water...Sigh!!

A drowned RAT!!

Yep Grammy we all had a great laugh! Thanks!

And NO I don't want to join you for a wet t-shirt contest!!!

We had some beautiful weather while we were there and the views (as always) were spectacular....I took over 1,000 photos, Yikes!!

So be prepared as the photos above were just a few of the first day/afternoon-evening!!

There will definitely be more to follow...

We're home safe and sound and a bit wore out!!

Hill Country or Bust!!

We are off for a bit of R & R...

Be prepared for a deluge of photos upon our return!!

Everyone take care and have a Beautiful week :o)

What I saw outside this evening...

As I looked out my computer room window I saw the deer out in front of the house and decided I would take the camera outside and see what I could come up with...

Julie in foreground and doe with last years fawn...

The deer are looking really scruffy, shedding their winter coats!

One of the other does getting ready to bolt...

Ralph...

he was on my truck and I was NOT too happy with him!!

I honestly don't think he cares either....

Michael decided he wanted to play with bubbles...

He thinks he knows what he is doing....making a mess!

Blowing bubbles!

Thank goodness I had a filter on the front of my lens as he got the camera again...sigh!!

I'm going to retire from taking photos of bubble blowing boys!!

We did absolutely nothing today...a very lazy day!!

Michael's class photo 2008-2009 (digital layout)

I've had Michael's class photo for a couple of weeks and thought it was time to put it into a layout and share it...I had Michael sign his name and then I scanned it and added it to the digital layout to make it a bit more personal. I also had him tell me who each of his classmates were so in later years we would know who was who...I thought it turned out pretty sweet!

(I used a digital kit called School is cool from Oscraps.com)