Walk Washout, But We Went Anyway - Sat., July 19

Lady Bird Johnson Community Park in San Antonio is where the Volksmarch Sunrise Walk was supposed to start. At 7 a.m. we arrived, paid $3 each, signed in, and started walking. As we headed through the parking lot, the first people to head down the path were returning saying, "The trail is under water!" We had to see for ourselves.

Yep, the trail is definitely underwater!

Not only underwater, but the creek is flowing swiftly.

Thursday night, rolling thunderstorms and full-sky lightning awakened us from sleep. Rain pounded for about 1-1/2 hours. We went back to sleep. At 4:00 a.m. I woke up because the bed was wet from my knees to my feet! Roof leak. The quilt and sheets were soaked and COLD. Thankfully we have a waterproof sheet on our mattress so it did not get wet. All the wetness was on my side of the bed. I got up, pulled a bunch of big, thick towels from the linen cabinet and put them all over the bottom of the bed. I made a towel cocoon from a dry towel for my feet and legs and then finally went back to sleep. We had 2-1/2" of rain. But I digress.

Friday, storms dumped rain farther north. It was obvious that there had been flash floods through the Salado Creek Greenway. What we saw Saturday morning was left as the water receded.

Some walkers found a gravel/mud trail higher up on the near bank and decided to take it from Lady Bird Johnson Community Park. They wanted to see if they could hook up with the main trail farther down.

Bob and I decided to drive to Tobin Park (farther south) and walk south from there. Good decision. We were able to do a 10K walk on Salado Creek Greenway Trail without encountering any low creek crossings blocked by the remnants of the flood. However, we saw where the floodwaters had come through and left debris high up from where the course of the river flowed.

Breaking news: South Texas is GREEN in July.

And there's water in the creek.

Seriously...turn around, don't drown.

Beautiful green from all the rain we've had.

In the next photo, you can see a pile of debris deposited on the bank by the flood. All the white/blue stuff is garbage.

Debris deposited by flood.

Salvia

More debris in the woods.

Me on the trail.

So much water where usually there isn't much.

Great egret

The water is still flowing strong.

Snowy egret fishing

Debris stuck on a tree.

Common sunflower

A history marker explains the Battle of the Salado, the last Mexican invasion of Texas six years after the Alamo. This battle prevented the capture of Austin, the capital of the Republic of Texas.

Other Volksmarchers.

Pretty yard at a glassblowing studio

Snail crossing the path.

Big debris next to the trail.

Bob under a beautiful old tree.

We ended up having a great walk and finished the 6.2 mile walk in two hours. Some of the people who had walked the upper gravel/mud trail from Lady Bird Johnson Park connected up to the main trail and we saw them along this section of trail. I'm glad we drove to Tobin Park and walked on the paved trail.

In the afternoon we went to Buckhorn Museum/Texas Ranger Museum. I'll review that in my next blog.

Travel Bug out.

Walk with Hill Country Hikers - Fri., May 3

Such an exciting day today! And it's all good.

Bob is interviewing for a controller (accounting) position next week. I have a lead on a job for one to two days per week (more on that next week).

Yesterday I joined four meetup.com groups and this evening Bob and I went on our first walk with Hill Country Hikers. We met at Robert Tobin Park where we started our four-mile round trip at a moderate-fast pace. We walked 15-minute miles, so we finished in one hour! Fourteen walkers showed up. What a nice group of people. One lady, Vanessa, brought her Husky, Amanda.

The park sign behind me is faux bois. See
explanation below.

At exactly 6:45 p.m. we started south on the trail through the Salado Creek Greenway. This is a beautiful trail with lots of trees and the wildflowers are still blooming. Because of the recent rain, everything was green and growing. Paul, our leader, told us the south trail from the main parking area is excellent for summer hiking because the trail is shaded...a very good thing when temperatures hover around 100 degrees F.

Paul, our walk leader.

Before we started the walk we had time to read the plaques. Robert L.B. Tobin, after whom the park is named, was born in 1934, educated in the Alamo Heights (San Antonio) School District and attended the University of Texas. His father died in an air crash in 1954. Robert took over leadership of the family business, Tobin Surveys, Inc. He built the business into the nation's largest mapmaker for the oil industry.

Also on the park entry signboard was information about faux bois (false wood) or "trabejo rustico." At the parking picnic area all the tables, benches, the park entry sign, and support for the signs are faux bois. What is faux bois? It is a craft that was popular in the late 19th century to the 1940s which is experiencing a resurgence. Natural elements such as wood, thatch, vines and branches are recreated in concrete. The faux bois pieces in Tobin Park are the work of Carlos Cortes, a third-generation artisan whose great uncle Domingo Rodriguez brought the skill to Texas from Mexico in the 1920s. Other Cortes family creations around San Antonio can be seen along the Riverwalk (especially The Grotto on the north Riverwalk), at Brackenridge Park, and some bus stops.

Faux bois picnic table.

Faux bois bench.

Here are photos. I took only a few because if I stopped, I had to run to catch up. Some photos were taken while walking.

Salado Creek Greenway trail.

Mexican hat wildflowers.

Walkers on the trail.

Coming up to our turn-around point with Paul in the lead.

Great egret in Salado Creek.

Salado Creek Falls (ha ha)

Salado Creek

A very large, old pecan tree.

Honeysuckle growing along the trail. Smelled wonderful!

Rain lily. Only bloom for three to four days after rainstorms.

Bluebonnets - some going to seed.

The sun was out, birds were active, the air was fresh and clean after our recent rains. The temperature this afternoon was perfect at 72 and very low humidity. At the end of our walk we felt great.

For dinner, we went to Taqueria Guadalajara across the street from the RV park. A good end to a wonderful day.

Travel Bug out.