Don't Fence Me In - Fri., March 2, 2018

I met Susan at her house this morning at 10:00 a.m. and transferred all my luggage to their van. You'd think the two of us were going to be gone for two weeks!

It's a long drive to Leakey (pronounced LAY-key), Texas. At 11:30 a.m., we pulled into Bent Rim Grill, the only restaurant Susan's Garmin found in town (even though there were a Subway and other eating establishments). I'm glad we went. The grill is in the same building as the Harley Davidson store. The place was packed with a line out the door. Fridays they have a catfish fish fry on the menu and it is obviously popular with the local population of 425 people!

Bent Rim Grill menu

Motorcycle decor...I sense a theme here. LOL.

 Susan and I opted for Angus burgers and boy were they good. I had the 1/2-pound Ultra Classic Burger which comes on a jalapeno cheddar bun. Mmmmm.

Biker movies

A small version of a Harley 18-wheeler delivery truck,
a clock made from license plate numbers, etc.

After we ate, we headed to Big Springs Ranch for Children, our walk start point today. There was no one there except our group; no children today. 

Our start point at Big Springs Ranch for Children

This was an out-and-back walk through a canyon. Most of the scenery is Texas Hill Country scrub. The day was perfect for walking, although there wasn't much shade, just the taller trees scattered about or the shadow from a passing cloud. The temperature was 73 degrees and, once in a while, we'd have a nice breeze blow through.

Yes, this is what our path looked like.

Shortly after starting our walk, we came upon this gate. The instructions we were given at the start were to make sure we latched the gate closed after we went through it. We didn't see any animals, but there was "evidence" of horses, deer, and javalina.

We are about to be fenced in.

Walking in the canyon

A picture-perfect day

We didn't have very many instructions on this walk as there wasn't anywhere to get lost, no turn-offs at all. There were minimal landmarks listed: Bee Creek below was one of them. 

Looks like people got bored with this walk at some time in the past and built rock cairns. Usually, cairns mark the way when there might be confusion on which way to go. No confusion on this walk!

Susan adds a rock to this cairn

Dramatic cliff scenery

This lichen looks like a fried egg.

The only checkpoint wasn't staffed, but restrooms, water, and snacks were provided there. We helped ourselves to a dark chocolate/sea salt granola bar. As we went down a hill and rounded a corner, we were faced with a river that needed to be forded. The water was very low, but we did have to dodge some mud. 

The river we had to ford

There was much more water behind the dam!

Our Volksmarching motto is "Food, fun, and friendship." Out on walks, we take time to stop and chat. 

Well, we were definitely fenced in. Here is the gate that marked our turn-around point for the 10k walk.

Our turn-around spot

On our return, we got to do the river ford again. Susan tried the opposite side of the river on the return. It was a little more tricky and she had to get around more mud.

The river heading back

Another pretty sky picture

At the Finish Table, we had our books stamped and then headed to Del Rio, Texas. We checked into our rooms around 5:15 p.m. and went to DQ for dinner. Susan used the gift card Bob had given her for our dinner. Thank you for sharing, Susan!

After dinner, we went to see "Black Panther" in 3D. It only cost us $4.00 each for senior tickets plus $2.50 to add 3D glasses. There were only a few people in the theater.

The movie was thoroughly entertaining...4-1/2 out of five stars. It's a well-told story that moves along quickly with lots of action.  My one complaint was that I couldn't understand the actors very well. I will have to rent it to see the subtitles. The women warriors of Wakanda were terrific. 

I better get some sleep. We have a 10k walk in the morning and then we'll go back to our rooms to shower before the Texas Volkssport Association meeting at 1:00 p.m. Tomorrow night, we will most likely see "Red Sparrow."

Travel Bug out.