Drag Me Kicking and Screaming - Monday, Nov. 23, 2015

I'm catching up on blogs from November.

Sunday, November 22: Our dear friends Jim and Peri returned from being away all summer and were staying at Canyon Lake. When they're in town, we love getting together over a meal or playing games. Because they were a ways out from San Antonio, we met for a late lunch at Cheddar's on the north side of San Antonio. When we got to the restaurant we texted to let them know we were there and where we were sitting. About one minute later, Jim and Peri popped around the corner. They had already been seated too. We consolidated tables and ordered our lunch.

Jim and Peri at Cheddar's restaurant

Jim and Peri volunteered at the Albuquerque Balloon Festival this year. They took some amazing photos and shared them with us. Plus they entertained us with stories about what they did as volunteers. We received a stunning 2016 Albuquerque Balloon Festival calendar from them. Wow. Thank you so much, Jim and Peri! For the next month or so, they will be spending time with their kids and grandkids in the Austin/San Antonio area.

Monday, November 23: My friend, Susan M., wanted to hike at Friedrich Wilderness Park to make sure the Volksmarch directions were correct and easy to follow. When I left the house, I had my mind made up that I only wanted to do the 5k (3.1 mi.) walk. When we met at the parking lot, she got out of the car and said, "Do you want to do the 10k or 12k walk?" I told her I wanted to do only a 5k walk. She wouldn't be dissuaded so I chose the 10k walk (the more difficult walk) which is shorter. I like the challenge of the hills on the 10k walk. She practically had to drag me, kicking and screaming, on the longer hike.

 

Friedrich Wilderness Park trails

Our weather was beautiful but a little chilly. We started the walk with our windbreakers on, but soon cinched them around our waists. It's the end of November and some wildflowers are still blooming. These are black-foot daisies.

Black-foot daisies (Melampodium leucanthum)

Challenging is the best word to describe the upper portion of our hike. The trails we were on had rocky shelves, roots, and steep, rocky grades that are probably waterfalls when  there's a monsoon-like rain event. Hiking boots, hiking poles, water, and even a snack are worth taking on this hike.

We hiked up, down and along rocky shelves like this one.

One of my favorite parts of the trail -
love the dappled sunlight!

By the time we finished our hike, we were famished. For lunch we chose Islamorada Fish Company inside the Bass Pro Shops. When you walk in, you immediately see a huge aquarium loaded with tropical fish. Snorkeling in Hawaii pops into my head.

Both of us chose fish tacos for lunch; and no, they don't serve fish from the aquarium for lunch! Our fish tacos were delectable. For dessert we split their decadent chocolate cake with fudge frosting. Yummy stuff!

After lunch we headed for our respective homes. Costco was on my way home, so I stopped, shopped, and gassed up the car.

Thursday, November 26:  Susan invited us to their house for Thanksgiving. Her husband Darren is in California building an ultra-lite experimental aircraft, so it was Susan, their son Kyle, Bob and I.

Bob and Kyle on turkey carving duty.

Our feast

Fruit plate, rolls and wine

Susan M. cleaning up

We are thankful for our great friends who are family to us. Thank you for having us to your home for a wonderful Thanksgiving meal.

The fur kids send their greetings...

Bowie and Sunnie

Bowie and Sunnie (cat condo)

Bowie at home in a box

Bowie the box cat

 Travel Bug out.

Hike, Eat, Shop - Sun., Sep. 14, 2014

Sunday morning: normal time to sleep in and dream. But we had other plans, namely, a 10K hike in Friedrich Wilderness Park. Susan and I are determined to re-do the faulty instructions (trails closed for habitat restoration and new trails opened) on the 10K Volksmarch. Today we are checking the mileage/km on this hike to make sure the new instructions truly are 10K. Bob and Darren joined in for the cool air and workout.

Susan M., Bob, Darren M.

Susan M. and Bob A.

Our calculations on the 10K hike were spot on. Susan is going to print the new directions and put them in Volksmarch box tonight. That way anyone else who does the Volksmarch won't get lost in the woods. (Well, you can't really get lost...there are trail maps throughout the park. But with the old Volksmarch directions you wouldn't have been able to follow the 10K directions.)

As per usual, after walking 6.2 miles our tummies were saying, "Feed me, feed me." Taco Cabana fed us quesadillas, burritos and tacos per our orders. Mmmm. Satisfying.

Susan and Darren drove home while Bob and I visited Bass Pro Shop where he purchased hiking (trekking) poles. Bass Pro Shop has such interesting stuff for outdoorsy types. Good photo ops abound too!

Islamorada Fish Company restaurant at Bass Pro Shop

Nice decor in this sitting area.

Then we were off to the big box mecca -- Costco -- to stock up on a few food items for our trip. 

Bob is now watching sports/napping. Now that my blog is written, I'm going to take a nap!

Below is a photo of two white-winged doves. I don't know what they're doing, maybe some kind of a mating thing. 

White-winged doves displaying wings.

The End.

These Boots are Made for Hiking -- Sat., July 14

San Antonio, Texas:

I feet great! We did our 10K Volkswalk at Crownridge Canyon. The first half of the walk was throughout Crownridge Canyon; the second half was through ritzy neighborhoods on the ridges. We didn't get started until 8:45 a.m. and finished about 11:10 a.m. It was hot and humid with very little breeze if any. When we were in the trees under the shade it was much nicer than out in full sun!

Volkswalk photos:

The Upper Canyon Trail (harder)

"In season" this is the top of Bear Grass Falls. Not today.

 

Looks like a Gainsborough painting.

Neighborhood on Strauss

A home on Strauss--top of the ridge.

View from atop the ridge.

Another home on Strauss.

Pretty flower in someone's yard.

We saw so many types of flora today, everything from plumeria to cacti to junipers to wildflowers to palm trees. Lovely walk, but hot!

Lunch was at Pappasito's Cantina. Yummy! I had Mexican Chicken Soup with Rice, and Bob had their three-enchilada plate. We shared with each other. The soup won hands down; the soup's flavor was outstanding. Some ingredients in the soup: chicken, rice, onions, carrots, avocado, corn, broth. They brought a plate with condiments to put in the soup including diced tomatoes, cilantro, jalapenos, and onions. I was stuffed. We brought leftover enchiladas home.

So festive...made me want to go in!

Freeway sign...I liked the signs on the doors better.

Ambiance.

Mexican-style Chicken Soup with Rice. Mmmmmm.

Three-enchilada plate with rice & beans.

Making fresh tortillas!

After lunch, we blazed our way to Blazing Star RV Park on the western side of San Antonio. Apparently in January Traveler's World (our current location) is booked solid so we're looking for options on where we can stay after Australia. Blazing Star RV Park is HUGE so they have availability January-April. They've got a game room with two pool tables, air hockey and arcade games, a library, large store, pool, big laundry facility. Looks like we may call it home for a few months until we can get back into Traveler's World.

From Blazing Star, we stopped at The Academy which is an outdoor/sports store to look for hiking boots for me. They had three pairs of hiking boots for women on display. One pair of Columbias looked good, but they didn't have them in my size. I give the salesperson credit as she offered to call other branches to find my size. I declined and we went to Bass Pro Shops instead. 

Now we're talkin'! They had lots of womens' hiking boots. The whole store was an experience.

Dioramas.

A wall of womens' hiking shoes!

Elk diorama.

They support lots of organizations.

Now that's what I call a shopping experience. Found really nice lightweight hiking boots (exactly what I was looking for) and hiking poles. Now I can hike Yellowstone without my toenails falling off. Yay!

Forgot the pics of my boots and poles. Here they are....

 

Tomorrow I will start breaking in my hikers on another 10K Volkswalk through Friedrich Nature Park.

That was it for today. We both were bushed. Time to head back to the 5er...Bob for a nap and me to blog.

Look for our next Travel Bug adventure tomorrow.

Travel Bug wiped out.