Stone Oak, Texas, Neighborhood - "A Desirable Surburban Lifestyle" - Monday, April 4, 2022

I've made it to Day 4 of National Walking Week. Today, our walk is in Stone Oak on busy city streets and into a couple of the neighborhoods in far north-central San Antonio. It stayed cloudy the whole time I was out walking. The sun and humidity combined can make for some miserable walking, but today's weather was just right. There were even a couple of sprinkles.

The realtors, developers, advertisers, and media outlets have deemed this "a desirable suburban lifestyle." The neighborhood has many gated communities with 24-hour security, well-landscaped medians, parks, granite rock formations, and oak-tree-wooded areas. Canyon Springs Golf Club is there as well.

Once a collection of private ranches, the community of Stone Oak was originally conceived in the 1980s, then planned and built beginning in 1985. The master plan included free-standing businesses, shopping centers, private homes, and apartment complexes. Community growth expanded in the 1990s. Most of the homes in Stone Oak were built within the last 30 years, and more than two-thirds of them are owner-occupied. 

The walk started at the Drury Inn off Loop 1604 near U.S. 281. Since I am not a big fan of busy streets and manicured living, I opted to do the 5k walk. That was plenty for me.

Thank you, John Ives, for volunteering
at the registration table this morning. 

Spring is slowly showing 
us its flowers.

The Drury Inn is where
we started our walk.

This redbud tree is in full bloom!

Stone Oak is a hilly community. With the sudden downpours that hit San Antonio occasionally, it is necessary to have a place for the water to run off. I took photos of a couple of catchment basins or run-off channels.

Water catchment
near big businesses.

This diverts water
down the hill 
around a 
playground.

I didn't take a lot of photos of the busy streets, but it was hard not to. I did concentrate more on neighborhood photos, though.

Martin Callahan photographs
our events. He is seen here
with Rudy and Dolly.

Someone has to photograph Martin
and Gayle Weinraub (and Dolly &
Rudy)!

I say that the major roads are very busy, but when I took these photos it looks like no one is on them! Wow. 

A view from one of the busy roads.

Hardy Oaks Boulevard, a 
very busy thoroughfare we
had to cross (no traffic light or
crosswalk).

A greenspace behind homes.

From here, the 5k walk went through the Iron Mountain Ranch community and the 10k walk also went through the Quarry community. The homes are very pretty and well cared for thanks to the Homeowners' Associations.

Iron Mountain Ranch entrance
landscaping.

If you live in the Quarry community,
you're almost home.

The homes I'm showcasing below are all in the Iron Mountain Ranch community. They're lovely homes, but way too big for the two of us.

Iron Mountain Ranch park, 
complete with playground and...

...a Little Free Library.

A sample residential street.

The home below has decorations ready-made for Fiesta! and Easter!

Squirrely Squirrel.

Gayle takes over the photography
of Martin, Rudy, and Dolly.

Pink prickly poppy.

White prickly poppies.

One of the first roses I've
seen in bloom this year.

Prairie Verbena
(Verbena bipinnatifida).

And that was the end of my 5k walk. It took one hour. On the way back to my car, I stopped by the registration table to see how many people were out walking. John said there were 14 so far. Registration was open for another hour.

I stopped by Costco on my way home and bought dessert for dinner tonight. We're having neighbors over and Bob will make his wonderful chicken enchiladas.

Have a great week. Tomorrow, I'll be walking at Leon Creek Greenway/Mainland Trailhead. That walk is on a bike path through trees! Yay!

Our forecast for Tuesday is mostly cloudy with 68 degrees at 8 am, then a high of 86. Humidity will be 88%. I can handle a 10k walk with shade available.

The Dinosaurs Were Here! - Sunday, April 3, 2022

This is Day 3 of National Walking Week. Today, I picked up Andy Thomas and we headed to Boerne (pronounced Burney), Texas, to do the 10k Volksmarch through Cibolo Nature Center.

Our walk started at a Comfort Inn where we signed in at a start table hosted by the Randolph Roadrunners Volkssport Club, and then drove to our start point in downtown Boerne. As we exited the car, St. John Lutheran Church loomed large across the street.

St. John Lutheran Church in Boerne, Texas.

St. John Lutheran Church in Boerne
(side view).

We took Rosewood Street to the Old No. 9 Rails-to-Trails path. A neighborhood garden (perhaps belonging to the church) was on our route. After we took photos, I turned around, looked on the ground, and found a one-dollar bill. I guess with inflation, finding pennies, nickels, or dimes has increased to finding dollar bills! LOL.

It must be too early in the year for
this community garden. 

Scott and Paulette turning
onto the Old No. 9 bike path. 

I met Paulette and Scott briefly on Friday morning at the Friedrich Wilderness Park hike. We finished the walk at about the same time. They planned to do most of the seven walks for National Walking Week, so I said I'd probably see them again.

On all my walks I'm looking for kitties to make friends with. We saw this alert, beautiful lilac point or lynx point Siamese in a field headed our way. I called the cat over, but it was skittish. It just wanted to cross the path and not be bothered by humans.

If you know me, you know I HATE spiders in any way, shape, or form. With that being said, a wolf spider ran across our path. Andy and I both took photos of it. In an attempt to learn more about wolf spiders, I read about them online. Here's what I found.

Wolf spiders are fast, aggressive predators who hunt on the ground. They do not build webs, so don't fret about running into one in a web at face level. They typically kill, catch, and eat ground-bound insects and spiders which are smaller than they are, including brown recluse and black widow spiders! Hmm. This spider might be good for something after all. 

If you get close enough to examine one, you can confirm the identity of a wolf spider by the number of eyes it has. While most spiders have six eyes, the wolf spider has eight! It can see really well and has superior night vision. 

Like all spiders, the wolf spider can bite and inject a tiny amount of venom, but it is not toxic to humans. There are no serious medical complications to a wolf spider bite. In fact, the only reason they might bite you is if they feel cornered or threatened. We did not corner or threaten this spider, but let it go on its merry way. 

Wolf spider on the bike path.

Below is the historical information on Old No. 9, the rails-to-trails greenway path we were on.

As we were headed toward Cibolo Nature Park on the Old No. 9 Greenway Trail, Susan Medlin was walking toward us. We exchanged greetings. She had started before the club members set up the registration table for today's walk. This walk is also a year-round event, so she self-registered using the club's start box which is kept at the hotel.

We came off the Old No. 9 Trail at Esser Road. From there, we headed to a paved bike path that would take us to Cibolo Nature Center. We were only on main roads for about two blocks.

The sculpture below is made from bicycle tire rims.

"Solar Wind," by Patricia
Vader of Martinez, California.

Fern Bank Falls.

Scott and Paulette on the 
bridge over Cibolo Creek.

I got to spend some time talking to Scott and Paulette. They recently retired to San Antonio from Virginia. They volksmarched in Germany when they were in the service, walked around the Virginia area, and have done some other walks here in Texas. 

This is a very nice part of the trail
overlooking the creek.

On our way to Cibolo Nature Center, we passed an Agricultural Heritage Museum (mostly old farm equipment outside), a community swimming pool, and soccer fields in Boerne City Park

. 

Agricultural Heritage Museum
in Boerne, Texas.

Blue Case tractor at the museum.

From Boerne City Park, we took City Park Road to Cibolo Nature Center & Farm, also known as Cibolo Center for Conservation. They have a pavilion, a Visitor Center (which I have never been to), and miles of trails through tall grass prairie, woodlands, a marsh, and along Cibolo Creek.

Information about the Nature Center.

Oh, and I believe I mentioned dinosaurs in my title today. This is where we found the dinosaur tracks. 

Dinosaur Trackway.

Dinosaurs had big feet. 

Here's my foot in a dinosaur track.

We crossed a small bridge, headed along the tall grass prairie, and entered the woodland trail (nice shade here!).

Our goal is to see Cibolo Creek.

Tall grass prairie.

I liked the sentiments on this sign.

There are a few picnic tables and
a playground.

The woodland trail.

The woodland trail along
Cibolo Creek.

We didn't take the trail directly next to the creek because large boulders block part of that path. But we could see the creek from this trail. The trail does go down to the creek just before the park's research area (which is fenced off).

This spot right here is my favorite
part of the whole 10k walk!

Cibolo Creek.

Fragaria virginiana (wild strawberry)
Rosaceae

We headed back to the car via a trail through the tall grass prairie, past the soccer fields, and past Fern Bank Falls. 

A little more info on 
Cibolo Nature Center.

When we returned on the Old No. 9 bike path, we saw the Siamese cat again watching us from the trees, but it never did come out. 

Driving out of Boerne, I noticed the temperature was 82 degrees. It took us two hours and 15 minutes to do the 10k walk. 

I dropped Andy off at his house on the way back. Then, I took my car to the car wash. Oh, and with the dollar bill I found on the ground during our walk, I paid cash for an onion at the grocery store. It was $0.91. 

When I got home, I took a shower and a two-hour nap. Bob took off to buy a few things at the store. When he got home, he was very industrious and used a ladder to clean some branches and leaves off our roof.

When I woke up, I spent time editing photos for my blog. We did laundry. 

We watched 60 Minutes. I made dinner around 7 pm, watched some more TV, and then wrote my blog. 

Tomorrow morning, I will be doing the 5k Stone Oak neighborhood walk in north San Antonio. It doesn't start until 9 am! Yay.