RV Forum Wildflower Scramble (April 2011) in Texas Hill Country

[Kim (skyking4ar2) Bertram]

Although there was a group outing scheduled for San Antonio today, only Ken Rasure, Christi, and I ended up on the trip. I had never visited San Antonio before so I was plowing new ground. The visit to the Alamo, guided by Ken, a fourth generation Texan, clearly impressed upon us why the Alamo is a shrine to Texas spirit and independence, and rightly deserved.

The River Walk was a treat, as was the boat ride, and a big lunch of great Mexican food was almost my undoing. Christi enjoyed the hike to the market area far more than I, but Ken and I got to have a great visit on the bench in the market people watching.

The return trip to Kerrville, on back roads directed by Ken, was a great view of the Texas hill country, not at all what I expected, and we ended up in Utopia!

Good times! We are anxious to return later in the year and spend more time...and here are a few of the sights....

 

[Bob Maxwell]

Thanks Kim --greetings and hugs to all y'all!  I'm so glad Ken and Katherine could make it.

I think San Antonio remains my all time favorite city. The Mission Trail in TX, AZ & CA is one good way to capture a lot of info and feeling on each state as well.

 

[elkhartjim]

If you have time, drive in to Kerrville and go browse the Gibsons store.  It can easily take a couple hours and I bet you'll find something to buy.

 

[lucyakers]

I saw that store and pointed it out to George who thought stopping was about the last thing he wanted to do. I'll try again today - thanks for the encouragement!

We had Alco in WY but most of those are gone.

 

[elkhartjim]

Actually, Gibsons is more a mans store but my wife loves all the gadgets, etc.  If you don't like it you can always leave.

 

[Bob Maxwell]

Lucy, there's an Alco here in Bel?n and they have a great big parking lot!

Our across the street friend Valerie has a son Josh who is one of the managers. O\ne can find lots of stuff there at low prices. We've a number of horse ranches in the area. One of them, every other year or so, buys every single box floor fan for his stables as soon as the truck loads hit the sales floor. 

 

[Kim (skyking4ar2) Bertram]

Six Flags over Texas and the constant wind at Buckhorn Lake....

 

[lucyakers]

We missed Gibson's but went to the Wildflower Seed Farm that some of the others went to the other day. Also drove by Luckenbach.

 

[Ron from Big D]

    The rest of the crowd did not go to Wildseed Farm but did go to Luckenbach.  After that, several people visited a wine tasking room.  Several left from there to do their own thing.  I took a group photo at Luckenbach which is attached with other shots.  One of the images is dinner at Billy Gene's the night before last.

    This evening we will do our cookout on the grille here at Buckhorn.  If it's too windy we can go eat in the Rally Room.

 

[gmsboss1]

After the group visit at Luckenbach, which we found very interesting, but somewhat disappointing because of the absence of "....Willie and Waylon and the boys...."
See picture #1 below which should be titled how many photographers does it take to get a picture of Terry?

MA and I headed off to visit a couple of places we remembered from previous visits.  The first, Circle E Candles, was a big disappointment.  We remembered a large and diverse stock of all kinds of candles.  What we found were all pretty standard scented "jar candles"  -- progress :-\.

Our next nostalgia stop was richly rewarded.  The BBQ "joint" that I remembered as "Nasty Ned's" or "Dirty Don's" or something similar turned out to be Cranky Franks and the really good brisket and fixings were every bit as good as we remembered.  See pictures below.  If you want to go, turn off of RT 290 onto RT 87 toward San Antonio and go about 3 miles.  Cranky Frank's is on the left.

This last bit is entitled "Forum husband falls for scam posted in this thread!".

Based on this posting:

Actually, Gibsons is more a mans store but my wife loves all the gadgets, etc.  If you don't like it you can always leave.

I was more than happy to obey MA's instruction to "go to Gibson's".  I thought she was being nice to me for my patience while we shopped for "pink stuff".  Wrong again!  I walked out with $4 worth of dielectric grease.  She walked out with $40 worth on Minnetonka sandals!  What kind of "man's store" sells women's sandals? ???

Oh well, happy hour is about to start to be followed by a steak roast, so it looks like the day has good possibilities yet. ;D

Don

 

[Ron from Big D]

    This evening we had our cookout.  It was windy so we actually ate inside, but I captured a few shots of the cooks.  After dinner, some of us watched the movie, "The King's Speech". 

    In the morning, some of us are leaving to go hike over at "Enchanted Rock".  I'll include some photos from there tomorrow.

 

[Kim (skyking4ar2) Bertram]

    This evening we had our cookout.  It was windy so we actually ate inside, but I captured a few shots of the cooks. 

At least two of those pictures are begging for captions....

 

[gmsboss1]

While the others rested, the energy crew, Ron and Shirley, Chip and Janette, Don and Mary Ann went over to the Enchanted Rock Natural Area for a morning of hiking and taking in nature's beauty.

Here's a link to the ERNA website so you can get all the facts http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/enchanted_rock/.

The pictures are labeled so you can get an idea of where went (yes, we did hike to the top on a trail that rose 425 feet over a 3000 foot stretch, and some of it was very steep) and what we saw.

We had nice weather for the hike, sunny and warm with a cooling breeze.

We finished about 1 PM.  Ron and Shirley headed back to the CG while Chip, Janette, Mary Ann and Don stopped by Cranky Frank's in Fredericksburg for one last shot at some BBQ.

Next up, the closing pot luck dinner.

Don

 

[Betty Brewer]

The next to the final food event was held tonight.  The  last potluck was a hit with yet new and  yummy dishes.  The way to get this group quiet is to feed them.  After dinner we were treated with a few songs from Tara.  This group of newbies sure has talent.

Awards were presented to those who had not before earned them.  Let's see if I can recall who got what and why.... No one had a camera except me to record this event.  A Bag to hold BS was  presented to George Akers as it just seemed to fit. Richard and Linda had come the  farthest( from New York via Arizona) , Mary Ann and Larry had the most car trouble, Tara and Ernie had the most colorful  stuff on top of their car( kayaks),  Jim and Terry had the most colorful toad, Lil Hummer with almost 300,000 miles. They may be considering a new toad but we shall see.... Terry won for Most helpful techie, Don and Mary Ann won for giving the most rides and the most tours  of their rig.  Fred and Daisy won for being RVForum Fore father and Mother to rallies as they have attended them for the most years in this group. Shirley was honored for putting up with up to 4 critters in her rig daily, 3 dogs and one husband with gracious TX hospitality. It was a wonderful Texas rally .  We discussed doing this Texas rally  again next year and Ron said he would lead it again with a few tweaks to the  places and schedule.  Watch for his posting on this great event.  Thank you to Ron for the planning and leadership !

Betty

 

[Tom and Margi]

A Bag to hold BS was  presented to George Akers as it just seemed to fit.

That's not BS in George's bag, it's cowboy poetry!  ;D

Margi

 

[Larry N.]

I need to publicly say thanks to George and Lucy for their kind assistance. As  Betty mentioned above, we had trouble with a rough running Jeep, and the Akers were kind enough to provide rides for us, not only to rally functions, but also the taxi service to leave and retrieve our Jeep at/from the dealer. Great folks.

Of course all the framily at this rally were/are great, and we had a good time. And a special thanks, too, to Ron, for his planning and for considerable effort in putting this rally together.

This morning we'll be departing for Carlsbad Caverns, for a week with the Mile High Trailblazers, the Colorado/Wyoming branch of the Trailmanor owners group, where we are still associate members -- another fine group of folks.

 

[Ned]

I don't believe this was mentioned earlier, but in typical Terry Brewer rally fashion, he was on our roof the very first day to help install a new satellite TV antenna.  The job took all afternoon and he said it was the most difficult antenna installation he had ever done.  Although he didn't get to drill any new holes, he did get to enlarge at least one existing hole   Thanks, Terry, for a job well done.

 

[Kim (skyking4ar2) Bertram]

From the Peanut Gallery:

Those of you who have never been to one of these (we had not) and wonder about your reception into the group (we did not, but some might) can surely toss that misconception into the trash.

I don't know that I have ever landed smack in the middle of a more hospitable, helpful, and welcoming group ever! And Lord, do they like to eat!

Every person in this rally made a contribution of time, energy, enthusiasm, and personality and none of that will be soon forgotten (especially with all the photographic evidence).

We had our share of sickness the first week with Christi and her attempt to get pneumonia, and everyone constantly inquired about her. It means a great deal to have such warmth and friendliness when you are out on the road and not feeling well.

We are truly grateful for the friends we made during this event and look forward to seeing many of them again somewhere down the road.

After all the caravans, and piling out along the road, is this the formation of Marabitos Marauders???? Ron's Rangers???

Good times...great people...super Framily....safe travels to all!

 

[Betty Brewer]

It is a sad day to see a rally come to it's end.  We  enjoyed fresh donuts and coffee while we hugged and said our good byes to friends until yet another time.  There are  4 rigs heading to the Moab rally in Utah so we will meet up again.  Many of us are headed to Carlsbad Caverns for some explorations there.A few had to (sadly) go back to work.  A couple are staying here at Buckhorn another day.  Some are heading for home all across the  USA. So it goes at rallies.  Happy trails to all.  We hope to see everyone again at another rally down the road.

May I remind everyone that the way to have a rally is to announce your dates, the place and "they" will come. Once agin,  l thank Ron and Shirley Maribito for their Texas hospitality and leadership at this rally. 

Now back to dieting!

 

[Tom]

Sounds like we missed a great rally. Thanks for the rally reports and the pictures.