"Riders on the Storm"

What a song to awaken to in the middle of the night. The trailer was shaking in the wind. The rain and hail were so loud we could hardly hear me singing the Doors song. When the lightening flashed repeatedly, we saw a witch on a bike fly by. We love seeing new places but Oz is not high on the list. The witches we can deal with but those monkeys creep me out. We were thankful when the storm passed and we had not achieved liftoff. We wondered a couple of times where we might land.

Three trees fell in the campground and the state park staff were out removing them at 7:30 the next morning. Two just missed RVs and one side swiped a truck.

 It was a beautiful morning in South Llano River State Park when we woke the morning after the storm. The birds were singing away as the sun came up. I am not sue how they didn't get blown to Mexico.

This park is a major draw for Birders with 30 bird blinds. There were a couple we would go to and bird watch everyday. 

This is one serious birder. I wasn't sure if the camera could double as a noisy person basher.

This blind was set up with 8 seats and windows to view the birds in the water. They had books and field guides to figure out what we were looking out.

Are you looking at me?

There are many miles of trails for hiking or biking. We pulled out the bikes and thought we were headed out on easy/moderate trails.

We had climbed 2/3 of the way up this hill (we are in Texas Hill Country) before I decided it was time for photos. Actually, that is my way of saying " I need a rest". Mike suggested I change the camera speed so he wouldn't be a blur as I got this pictures. I just said "You betcha".

The next photo was not a rest stop but more of a mud spa stop. I am glad there was some grass to land in and not cactus. I was pretty muddy but it could have been worse.

Mike asked if I wanted to go back to the trailer and clean up. I passed. We had water to clean my glasses and hands.  I was just going to sweat anyway. He pulled my bike out and we continued to look for turkeys but only heard one.

This area was closed between 3pm and 10am so we wouldn't scare off the birds.

Sections of the old farm that existed before it became a state park.

We dropped off a tractable bug in a geocache.

Buck's Lake had plenty of turtles.

The campers were so friendly in this campground. The morning after the storm people were checking on each other.

Hopefully, Austin, TX will not show us any "Shake, Rattle and Roll".



Balmorhea (bal-more-ray) State Park

Western Texas can get boring while driving across the flat land. In the past we have blasted through Texas just trying to get through it to get somewhere else. This time, we had plenty of time and a Texas State Park pass and decided to make it worth the purchase. Balmorhea seemed a good place to stop since it was about the right number of miles that we like to travel. We had read on Pam Oh the Places They Go that highway 285 was in bad repair and not a good choice with all of the big trucks. We took highway 54 to I 10 and were thankful for that choice, very little traffic and a nice straight highway. This gave us plenty of time to imagine how life must have been for the Apaches living here years ago.

Balmorhea is a long ways from anywhere. We found a nice little Mexican restaurant with some good food as we drove though the town of 479 people. We sat and listened to the locals discussing the oil fields they work in and the pump capacity for water and oil. They sounded pretty knowledgeable discussing pressures etc.

The state park is not very big at 45 acres but has the San Solomon Spring with year round groundwater. In the 1930s the CCC made a swimming pool which blocked the water flow to the marshlands. This was causing harm to endangered animals and fish until the marsh flow was restored. Now it is home to several endangered animals.

Red eared slider

Strange looking soft tailed turtle

The pool was natural with catfish and puffer fish in it. People would bring their snorkel equipment with them and snorkel in the pool.

After the situations Mike has suffered with his accident and other things, I decided I needed to step up and learn the ins and outs of this rig of ours. I backed the trailer into the site just fine. It wasn't even angled which made me proud. I had to figure out a way to get the plug into the surge protector since it took a bit more strength but I got it together. I did let him bat the wasps away. Now I have done everything except the black tank tube but hopefully, that won't happen. If it does, I will figure it out.

Once again, we were in a very dark place at night. People were pulling out their huge telescopes. Then we sat back and looked at the Milky Way and satellites passing through the sky. There is so much to learn about. As the old saying goes, "The more I learn, the less I know." This is a strange but interesting life.



Marti Gras in San Antonio, TX

Texas is one big state and since it takes a while to get through it, we thought we should see the Riverwalk.

After lots of walking, we stopped for lunch on the riverwalk to wait for the parade down the river.

We got lots of beads that we passé along to the kids so they wouldn't fall into the water.

The bands were playing and people dancing. Could be the cerveza.

We ended with seeing the Alamo. It seemed so small. But I guess everything is so big now and the work to build it puts it in better perspective. At the end of the day, We hopped back on the bus that took us back to the campground which was very nice. The next morning it was time to be on our way since I have to be in Asheville to start my new job for 3 months.