McAllister Park, San Antonio, TX - Sun., July 28

First off, happy birthday to my sister, Jan. I hope you enjoyed your day today and partied with friends. I look forward to spending time with you in September.

This morning, San Antonio Hill Country Hikers meet-up group met at 7:45 a.m. for a hike at McAllister Park. The early birds were there at 7 a.m. to do yoga warm-up moves before we set out on the trail.

At 7:45 exactly, Paul led us on another trail adventure, faking us out from time to time and taking us around in circles. No disrespect, we love you, Paul. You make the group fun.

McAllister Park is 976 acres with 15 miles of trails on the north side of San Antonio, not too far from the International Airport. Today we hiked seven miles of trails, mainly on the Red and Blue Loops (I think). If you asked me to lead a group of people on the same hike we did, I would be bamboozled as to where, exactly, we went. I'm glad Paul knew where we were going! We didn't get lost in the urban wilderness.

Here are a few photos of our hike.

Paul caught us looking dazed and confused at the beginning.

Now we've got rhythm and someone to follow.

We didn't see any bunnies. : (

Virgin's bower clematis

Snapdragon vine (Maurandya antirrhiniflora)

The hiking train keeps on rollin' down the track.

 I ran ahead to get a photo from the front and they all had to ham it up.

Paul, our leader, wins for the best model pose.

Lots of deer in this park!

Deer in the headlights look.

After seven miles of hiking, eight of us wanted to have breakfast, so we went to The Egg and I. It was a great group with lots of conversation and some really big pancakes!

Sandy

Ruby ordering.

Jessie with her hazelnut coffee and SmartPhone.

Paul with not one, but two, monster blueberry pancakes.

After the walk and a good breakfast, I went back to the 5er and slept for three hours. (I only had four hours of sleep Saturday night.)

This evening, Bob and I went to see "The Way, Way Back" movie with Steve Carrell and thoroughly enjoyed it. The story is a coming of age tale about a 14-year-old boy going on vacation with his mom, mom's boyfriend and the mom's boyfriend's teen-age daughter. They vacation at the shore and the boy is bored, mortified, and angst-ridden dealing with his mother's boyfriend and the interesting group of people vacationing at the beach. He goes to work at a water park where the owner takes him under his wing and helps him deal with being an awkward teen-ager in an awkward life situation. We both recommend this movie.

The short sale on our rental property in Las Vegas is finally going through after we put it on the market a year ago. Tomorrow we sign papers. One more property off our responsibility list; three rentals left in two western states. Luckily, they are all rented and have property managers. Things are looking up.

Travel Bug out.

Work Recap and Walk - Sat., May 18

San Antonio, Texas, is a vibrant city with many events, parks, greenways, nature preserves, museums, and missions. Our mission is to become involved or immersed in San Antonio while we have the pleasure of being here.

I love my new job at the Traveler's World Carefree RV Resort. Each day (I work two days per week) brings in someone from across the United States or Canada, in fact, from the world. I love that people are in vacation or travel mode; they are relaxed and don't mind if we're busy. (Well, most people anyway.) I can be doing anything from rolling quarters to sell for laundry machines, to answering phones (which usually includes making reservations), to straightening the shelves, to selling RV supplies and souvenirs, to opening or closing the office. Variety makes the day go by fast.

One day last week while I was working, Bob dropped off a tin of Dove Chocolate truffle hearts. OMG, delightful. I opened the box and put it on the counter so people coming in could have a treat. It didn't take long for those Dove truffles to disappear. I had three and my boss had a couple. Thank you, Bob! That was quite the gastronomic hit.

Today, Bob and I invited Kim to Volksmarch with us. She and I had chatted on a hike with San Antonio's Hill Country Hikers. Today the three of us walked in Comfort, Texas, an Antique Town. Bob and I did the walk a month ago. Since it is my favorite local Volksmarch, we invited Kim to go with us. She loved the walk too.

Our temperature in San Antonio is supposed to go up to 96 degrees today, so we met at 7:30 a.m. and carpooled to Comfort in the comfort of her Prius. We started out at 8:20 a.m. and finished at 10:25 a.m. before the high heat of day hit us.

Along the route, we passed historic markers on many buildings, the Treuer de Union monument, a large cemetery, residences, walked a road alongside Cypress Creek, past antique stores, farmland, and back into town. We appreciated the shade from the trees by the creek along the middle part of the walk and also a nice breeze when we were in farmland with no shade. Wildflowers are blooming as well. Just an all-around good walk.

Downtown Comfort, Texas

Hotel Faust - under renovation.

Rural town - here's the local feed and garden store.

Wildflowers

Antelope horn - buds and blooms

Prickly pear cacti with beetle.

Cypress Creek, Comfort, Texas.

Cypress Creek

Alpacas (I think) - recently shorn.

Comfortable Comfort Pizza - the old filling station.
Now you can fill your tummy, hopefully not with gas!

One of the antique stores in downtown.

At the end of our two hours, we stopped at High's Cafe/bookstore/arts & crafts for breakfast or snacks. I had the Texas French toast and iced tea, Bob had a double chocolate brownie, and Kim had a bacon/onion scone with iced tea. Their iced tea was exceptionally good, very refreshing. I'm not sure what kind of tea they used, but we loved it. They provided lime, lemon and orange slices for your iced tea, as well as three different kinds of sugar, if you prefer it sweetened.

Bob, Kim and I had a good time...an excellent way to spend the morning.

After Kim dropped us back at our cars, Bob and I shopped at Costco. Bob headed off to work and I took the groceries home. This afternoon I plan to watch my Netflix selection, Miss Potter, a fanciful biopic of Beatrix Potter, children's author.

Bob is considering driving to Austin this afternoon to see his son, Randall, as his 38th birthday is tomorrow.

Tomorrow Bob and I are going with Hill Country Hikers to Inks Lake State Park, northwest of Austin. Joining this hiking group has been so much fun. Every week we see new places in Texas and walk with fun people who also enjoy hiking.

More tomorrow. Travel Bug out.

Rock On - Sat., May 11

It's time to catch up on this week's events, now that there's time to catch my breath...literally. I started part-time work on Thursday at the RV park office. My job entails making reservations, checking people in and out, selling items from the gift shop, and other duties as needed. What fun to talk to people coming in from all over the world. In the two days I worked this week, I met people from Germany, Denmark, Australia, and Quebec, plus travelers from all over the United States.

The Hill Country Hikers group I joined on meetup.com is terrific. We have met so many great people who love to walk, hike, and enjoy being in nature.

Saturday morning Bob and I got up early to meet Hill Country Hikers for a day trip to Colorado Bend State Park. The drive each way was over two hours, but well worth it. We enjoy hikes in the parks so much we bought an annual state park pass. But I digress.

We stopped to get a couple of photos on our way to the park...

The morning sun made these firewheel flowers look translucent.

We crossed this on the way into the park.

About 25 people showed up for the walk. Some made a weekend of it and camped in tents in the group camp area. We met up at the trailhead for Spicewood Canyon Trail and off we went.

Colorado River

Hill Country Hikers

Our trail environs.

Bob keeping an eye out for rocks.

Fields of brown-eyed Susans

Very rocky terrain

We crossed streams on stepping stones..carefully!

Paul, our leader, taking photos.

As you can see this area is lovely. Tinkling water kept us company when we reached the bottom of the canyon. We did not see Spicewood Spring, but we enjoyed the creek that is the result of the spring. Downriver from where we entered the canyon we came upon a popular local swimming hole.

Rock on - necessary to watch trail at all times!

Swimmin' hole on a Saturday afternoon.

At the end of the Spicewood Canyon/Spicewood Springs Trail, we joined the group campers at their site for lunch. The hikers had brought their own lunches, but it was nice to share the large picnic table for family-style conversation...although we were so hungry, it was quiet while we ate.

When Paul was able to drag us away from our after-lunch chats, we drove caravan-style in seven vehicles to the Gorman Falls trailhead for the second part of our day trip. Again, the trail was rock strewn or just plain rock.

What a day! 81 degrees.

Rock trails in many places.

Prickly pear cactus blooms.

Quite a climb down to the falls.
Even worse going back up!

From the Colorado Bend State Park map, copyright 2012 Texas Parks and Wildlife Department:

"Gorman Falls is a unique geologic formation that supports a sensitive ecosystem. The mineral rich spring water deposits layers upon layers of delicate calcite, slowly building up the travertine formations you see here..."

This is the type of formation you would see inside a cave, only it is outside; similar to the travertine terraces at Mammoth in Yellowstone National Park. Seeing the amazing formations was a highlight of today's hikes.

Gorman Falls calcite in travertine formations.

Bob soaking in the negative ions from the waterfall.

This tree loves its location by the falls.

Hiking back up the rock wall required strong thighs, ankles and legs. Our hearts were pumping hard and it helped to step to the side of the trail and breathe deeply for a few minutes to recover, then carry on. We were on our way to see Gorman Spring - the source of Gorman Falls.

Gorman Spring Trail - cool tree

Bob and Susan on Gorman Spring Trail.

Gorman Spring pool

Cottonmouth water moccasin hiding under brush in Gorman Spring pool.
Only its tail is visible.

Looking downriver from Gorman Spring.

From the spring we hiked back to a maintenance road then on to our cars. That was the end of our group hikes. Bob and I said our good-byes.

We made one stop at Dairy Queen in Llano for Blizzards, then headed off to the Willow Wildflower Loop Drive to see if wildflowers were blooming in May. We found some. In fact, it looked like there was a new crop of bluebonnets coming up.

Verbena

Silver-leaf nightshade

Willow wildflower loop drive.

Roadrunner

Turtle

Firewheels

It was time to head for home - tired, but energized from 8.8 miles hiking.

Movie review: "The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant," starring Sam Neill and Alex O'Laughlin (of Hawaii 5-0 fame). The movie came out in 2005. This is a historic period piece based on actual events that takes place in 1788. A young Englishwoman is accused of petty theft. Her punishment: to be banished to Australia on one of the first 11 ships to start construction of penal colonies to house criminals from England. The  movie is over three hours, but is so interesting it doesn't feel that long. The living conditions on the ships and in Australia are deplorable. You wonder how anyone could live that way. Escape plans are hatched and carried out. I give this movie four out of five stars. We rented it from Netflix.

Travel Bug out.