The Road Less Traveled - Saturday, October 30, 2021

On a cool Texas Hill Country morning, Bob and I set out on the 11k Welfare Cafe Walk. First, we had to check in at the Waring VFD Hall. We then drove to the now-abandoned Welfare Cafe where we parked to do our 11k walk.  

The first portion of the walk was along the Waring Welfare Rd., a two-lane, country highway with no sidewalks. When cars came along, we walked on the weedy shoulder of the road. In about 1/2 mile, we turned onto a gravel country road. And I do mean country. 

We had to let ourselves through two different gates designed to keep the "loose livestock" from wandering off. There were also cow guards to cross that had the bars on them. You know, the ones that make a lot of noise when you run over them.

Anyway, we had a beautiful, cool morning and very little vehicle activity on the road less traveled along Little Joshua Creek. Most walkers started at 8 am, but we took our time this morning to let it warm up a little bit from 53 degrees. The 9 am hour worked for us. As we were heading out, we met up with a group heading back.

This was a quiet, bucolic walk. A number of deer were out this morning, and we saw a flock of turkeys deep in the shadows of the trees. 

Little Joshua Creek was picturesque in the morning light. There was a side creek that came into Little Joshua Creek as well. Both creeks had small dams on them.

Little Joshua Creek. You can see the 
flood gauge on the side of the road.

Flash flooding is a big problem in Texas. When we get 1" to 6" of rain in a short period of time, it doesn't have time to soak into the ground. If it's raining hard and the creek starts to rise, heed the admonition, "Turn around, don't drown." It doesn't take much water to wash your car away with you in it! Looking at the creeks today, the word "languid" comes to mind. No roaring torrents here.

Here is the side creek. 

Another view of the side creek.

We took the road less traveled to the right.

Little Joshua Creek crossing.

Little Joshua Creek.

Time to be on the lookout for
loose livestock.

The way was nicely shaded!

A couple of big, old, dead trees. I'm 
hoping they support owls and woodpeckers.

Bob is working to get a gate open.

On the other side of this gate was our first staffed checkpoint. Our start cards were punched and we each had a slice of apple provided by the local club. I also had a cherry Tootsie Roll Pop which lasted all the way to the next checkpoint.

The cow in the photo below was very camera shy. I didn't think I got a picture of it, but lo and behold here it is. As soon as I raised my camera to take the shot, this young cow took off like a shot. 

I think the young cow ran to mama!

Lucky shot. This bird just caught breakfast!
I think it's an Eastern phoebe.

The cow family kept me in their sights.

Huisache daisy.

Bob is next to crystal clear
Little Johnson Creek

More walkers headed back.

The lower bridge is the freeway access 
road. The upper bridge is I-10.

At Joshua Springs Preserve, there is an event center situated on top of the mountain. They have weddings and other events up there. We have hiked to the top of the mountain before on the Joshua Springs Preserve walk. 

As we walked the freeway access road under I-10 to Joshua Springs Preserve, a Triumph car club drove by, oh, and one Triumph motorcycle as well. Somehow, a Corvette and a couple of other cars sneaked into the lineup.

Triumphs coming by us.

We had just a short jaunt from Little Joshua Creek's simple gravel road across the access road to Joshua Springs Preserve. Our walk had us go into the park, past the dog play area, and then to the restroom! Yay. That was our turn-around point on the 11k walk. 

Bob hugging the guardrail as we
walked along the busy access road.

As far as I know, we haven't
hiked the Nature's Edge Loop yet.

Heading back, re-passing the checkpoint.

Figuring out the livestock fence again.

These flowers were about the
size of your fingernail - tiny!

Miniature wildflowers.

Bob by Little Joshua Creek.

Me at Little Johnson Creek.

Cardinal flower (Lobelia Cardinalis).

Autumn meadowhawk dragonfly (?)

Great egret across 
Little Joshua Creek.

Great egret flying across Little
Joshua Creek.

Great egret landed on this side of
Little Joshua Creek.

We finished our walk on the gravel road, traversed the Waring Welfare Road, situated ourselves in the car, and drove back to the start point to stamp our Volksmarch books.

For lunch, Bob and I stopped at The Rim shopping center in San Antonio to have lunch at Bakery Lorraine. I had a turkey sandwich on rye that was really a turkey Reuben. It was delicious. Bob had a Cobb salad.

The Waring walks are both days this weekend. Tomorrow, I will pick up Andy Thomas in the morning and we will head back to the Waring VFD for the Zoeller Lane Trail walk. At 11 am, the Waring Volunteer Fire Department is putting on their annual fish fry. We will stay for that before heading back to San Antonio.

Thank you to Hill Country Volkssportverein Club for putting on these two walks this weekend. We enjoy attending this event every year.

Bob plans to ride his bike with Darren Medlin (Susan's husband) in the morning. Susan Medlin is in Kansas doing the county walks this weekend. 

On Wednesday, Susan Medlin and I leave for the Walk Around Florida (in Daytona Beach this year). We'll be gone a week. Bob and I did the Daytona Beach walks last year even though they had canceled Walk Around Florida in 2020 due to COVID-19.

That's it for today. 

My Favorite Flavor Cherry Red - Sun., Oct. 27

Quick, from what song is the title lyric above? The topic came up this morning because the sponsoring Volksmarch club, Hill Country Volkssportverein from Fredericksburg, Texas, had Halloween treats out in plastic pumpkins. I chose a cherry Tootsie Roll Pop and said, "My favorite flavor cherry red." Then I challenged Bob, "What song is that line from?" For the first three miles of our Volksmarch this morning, Bob puzzled over that. In the middle of another conversation, out of the blue, Bob  says, "The Rolling Stones, You can't always get what you want." I had to stop and think what he was referring to. Then I high-fived him and said, "You're right. I can hear the music for it in my head."

So started a 7.1 mile Volksmarch in Waring, Texas, at 9:00 a.m. We walked that distance in two hours, 20 minutes.

Our walk started at the Welfare Cafe, four miles from Waring. We saw the second-place scarecrow winner in the Creative category.

Welfare history.

Bob in front of Welfare Cafe.

 The following photo has Great Mullein (Verbascum, thapsus) in bloom.

No, we didn't go on this trail...we're not that old yet.

Creative scarecrow.

Fall color, Texas style.

The vines are showing fall colors.

Big Joshua Creek just before its confluence with Little Joshua Creek.

Along the way, we saw Olympic Gold Medalist Josh Davis's house, complete with natatorium. Josh Davis won medals in swimming in the Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 Olympics.

Josh Davis' house

Josh Davis' natatorium

Our first Volksmarch of the day took us along Little Joshua Creek, out through scenic countryside and into the town of Welfare.

Little Joshua Creek.

Lightly traveled gravel road through private property.

A beautiful morning for a walk.

Little Joshua Creek.

RV Park in Welfare on the top of a hill.

We have driven through this RV park just to check it out. It looks okay, but some of the rigs are old and have seen better days. Other RVs are very nice. There are also cabins for rent here.

Cabin at Top of the Hill RV Park in Welfare, Texas.

After losing 20+ pounds, Bob is a shadow of his former self.

Susan and Bob's shadow selves.

An old establishment.

More fall color.

Big Joshua Creek.

Great mullein

The variety of fall wildflowers surprised me...most were white, lavender or yellow.

Frostweed (Verbesina virginica)

Frostweed (Verbesina virginica)

Sacred Datura (Datura wrightii)

Sneezeweed (Helenium amarum)

Tickseed (Bidens aristosa)

Blooming bamboo

Bob and I had a few good laughs on our walk. We had to go through an area with cows and found the following sign:

"Loose livestock" took on a whole new meaning.

I said, "We're walking where the cows go."

We picked a good day to do this Volksmarch. The Waring Volunteer Fire Department was doing their annual fish fry fundraiser for lunch. After our walk we were HUNGRY and paid our donation for the fish fry. We had catfish, hush puppies, French fries and seasoned French fries, cole slaw, water, and Girl Scout cookies for dessert.

In addition to the fish fry, the Volunteer Fire Department had their engines on display and an AirLife helicopter flew in from San Antonio. The town of Waring is very small, yet the fish fry was the happening place to be for over three hours this afternoon. We made it through the food line before it got super busy.

Taking donations for lunch.

Fish fry lunch.

All the tables inside and outside Waring Hall were full!

After lunch, we took off on a 5K (3.1 mi) walk in the Waring countryside.

Almost finished. You can see all the cars in town for the fish fry.

On the way home, we saw these ... In Texas, you always have to be on the lookout for big game! There are many ranches that raise exotic animals. These guys live right next to I-10 in Welfare, a few miles east of Comfort.

From there, we headed to Costco; then home, where I zonked out and napped for two hours.

Today was a welcome respite from work. Last week, I worked Wednesday at the insurance office, Thursday, Friday, Saturday at the RV park office. One day off, and I work Monday through Wednesday at the insurance office and Thursday through Saturday at the RV park office. Whew. Busy, busy busy.

Bob, too, has been busy. Not only has he been working long days, he has also been helping out at Random Event Center in the evenings. He is also in training for the San Antonio Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon coming up on November 17. On Saturday, after an 11 mile training run, Bob vacuumed and did laundry while I worked. What a sweetheart!

Wow, this is a long blog today. Thanks for reading to the end.

Travel Bug out.