A Short Trip

You know how restless Donna and I can be. We needed to get out of town for a few days, so we put together a short little 2 night trip.

The center piece of our trip was a visit to see some of Donna's family. On Monday, we made a leisurely trip over to Georgetown, where we spent the night. For some time now I have been curious about Sun City by Del Webb, an "active retirement" community just outside of Georgetown. So we made a run through that community, but quickly ruled it out as someplace we would like to live. To be honest, I don't think I want to live within 100 miles of Austin, and that is a shame. At one time, the Austin area was our favorite area of the state. But that country has been ruined by simply too many people moving there.

But I digress . . .

As we circled around the 2 car accident blocking Williams Drive and headed into Georgetown, we made our way to Plaka Greek Cafe. We really enjoy Mediterranean cuisine and were hoping this place would be good. We were fairly happy with our meal. The gyro was pretty good, and we enjoyed the Greek style meatball, which we had never had before. There was plenty of food; I was unable to clean my plate. But we also agreed that we have experienced better Greek food on many occasions. Would we go back? Probably.

On Tuesday, we visited Donna's family in the general area. We had a good visit, a very good lunch, and then said our goodbyes. We headed south from there. Donna wanted to do some shopping at the outlet malls in San Marcos. We checked into a hotel near the malls, then spent the evening shopping. Donna really enjoys the Vanity Fair outlet store, while I always pick up slacks at the Haggar store.

On Wednesday, we took our time coming home. We had a nice breakfast at the hotel, then headed west, eager to get away from the heavily populated Austin area. Since we had the entire day for a 200 mile trip, we decided to take things slow and easy. We picked up FM 32 west of San Marcos, which we followed to Blanco. Along the way, we stopped at a roadside park and enjoyed the view from atop the Devil's Backbone, a limestone ridge that runs through the area.

View north from overlook along Devil's Backbone. People have taken to decorating the chain link fence with trinkets for some reason. There is a legend that the Devil's Backbone is haunted. Perhaps this is why.

At Blanco, we headed west on FM 1623 and followed the Blanco River through some lovely country. Where 1623 turns sharply north, we continued west on FM 1888. Eventually, the highway turns northwest, pulling away from the river. We then took FM 1376 north, then detoured briefly through downtown Luckenback where I snapped a few pictures.

The Blanco River. Photo taken from low water crossing over Crabapple Road just off FM 1888.

Old Engel family house near downtown Luckenback

Downtown Luckenback

Downtown Luckenback

Old post office, the heart of Luckenback

We stopped for gas and coffee in Fredericksburg, vowing that we had to return soon. It has been a while since we've been there. This old German town is home to some of our favorite watering holes, and they are calling to us. Well, they're calling to Donna, and I just like to follow the old girl around. That's what I do -- try to keep up with Miss Donna.

From Fredericksburg, we head north on US 87 to Mason. Just north of town, we turned west on Texas 29 and made our way to Menard. We detoured through the downtown area, then took the low water crossing over the San Saba River. From Menard, we headed north to Eden, then west to San Angelo and home.

San Saba River as it runs east about a block or so north of downtown Menard. The headwaters of the San Saba are about 25 or so miles west of here. That is the US 83 bridge in the background.

Old growth pecan trees along San Saba.

It was good to get away, if only for 2 nights. So, now it is back to the maps and planning for the next trip.

Still Hot and Dry

I had hoped with the approach of the official start date of autumn that the heat would begin to fade away and a few rains would appear. That has not happened so far. We have even had some more triple digit temperatures recently, and every day has been above 95. The nights are not even cooling off. Pastures are brown with the lack of rainfall. It's a bit depressing, to say the least.

Then there's the upper Texas Gulf coast. Tropical depression Imelda (or however it is classified when you read this) has certainly been a strange one. It more or less just appeared out of nowhere it seems. And then, unlike normal tropical storms with high winds, this is mostly just heavy rain. Those poor folks were just about to get over Harvey when this thing moved in. I wish we could relieve them of some of their rain; it would certainly help all of us out. If I lived in that area, I think I would seriously consider a move inland some place.

Not much is going on with Donna and Keith these days. The old woman has added a new game day over at the club house, so now she is going 3 or 4 days each week. It certainly is peaceful around the house when she is gone. This week, she spent an afternoon fishing, so I got a bonus day of peace and quiet.

For right now, there just isn't anything else worth mentioning. We basically are just waiting for cooler weather to come along so we can make a trip somewhere.

It's Getting Buggy Out Here

We've been having a lot of little critters around the house lately. Most of the time, we don't mind our little visitors, but some of them are not welcome at all.

Since we moved in 3+ years ago, we've battled scorpions. The house is treated every 3 months or so, but those little rascals keep showing up. We have traps set up around the house, and sometimes they do get caught in those. More often than not, though, they just appear somewhere in the house, usually after a treatment. The sprayings just tend to stir them up, it seems.

This is one of the traps we have set around the interior of the house. It comes as a flat panel, and after detaching the cover from the sticky surface, we fold it into a box with open ends.

This trap caught a little scorpion. 

The other day, we discovered a large black moth on the bricks above our front door. It was probably 6 inches or so from wing tip to wing tip. It may have been a black witch moth, which some people believe is an omen of illness or even death. We left the little fellow alone, but he is mighty pretty.

From the center of the grout on one side of the brick to the center of the grout on the other side is 3 inches. So the wing span on this moth approaches 6 inches or so.

While sitting on the back patio the other day, Donna discovered a little friend on the rocker next to her. All of these little critters just follow her around, especially grasshoppers. But this little fellow was a walking stick. Donna took the fly swatter and gently moved him into the yard. 

Donna is trying to get her little friend on the fly swatter to move him into the yard.

Success!

No Triple Digits in the Forecast

My forever young wife enjoyed another birthday this week. I wish I could tell you how old Donna is, but I don't know because I can't count that high. How did we ever get this old? Seems like just a short time ago that we were young and excited about our futures. My brother had a birthday last week, and I have one next week. I'm aging much faster than Donna, no doubt about it. I'm amazed at her energy and zest for life. I simply can't keep up; I often think I'm holding her back.

Donna and I were watching one of our local stations a few mornings ago. As we watched the weather forecast, I remarked to her that this was the first forecast we had seen in a couple of months that did not include triple digit temps. Perhaps we've turned a corner and are heading for a cool down. I certainly hope so.

It is so very dry out here. Because of the good rains earlier in the year, we have some pretty tall grass across the countryside. Those are some dangerous fire conditions. We've had a number of small grass fires all over the Concho Valley. None have developed into something like you see on the national news, but it is a constant battle to keep them under control.

As we were sitting in the den last night, we heard the wind pick up. That's not unusual at all, but this time the wind had a different sound to it. I walked over to the window to investigate and was surprised to see rain pouring down. We stepped out on the back patio, but the wind was blowing the rain into us, so we couldn't stay long. We managed to get half an inch. What a blessing! We really needed that.

Nice rainbow. Nice rain. Nice.

North end of the rainbow.

Have you heard about the new crop of "meatless" meats on the market? I have seen several news stories the past month or so about these new products. All the reporters who sample the products all report that the new meats taste just like real meat.

Well, Donna and I decided to sample an Impossible Whopper at one of our Burger Kings recently. Now, I'm not a big Burger King fan; there are several other places I'd rather get a burger. We do visit a Burger King every year or two, though, and there are some things we like about the place. Their new "Impossible Whopper" is meatless and consists "mostly [of] soy protein, potato protein, coconut oil, sunflower oil, and heme."

So, what did Donna and I think of the burger? Well, we'll stick with real burgers for a while longer, I guess. We could tell the difference. I must admit, though, that the texture and appearance were good. But there's this taste that definitely isn't like the real thing. We keep hoping a good product will emerge, and I'm sure one will in the future. but for now, we'll keep eating real beef.

We really don't eat a lot of meat in our household. We've always leaned heavily towards vegetables and dairy products. In fact, while in high school, our daughter was completely vegetarian for a couple of years. Her mother and I never made the total conversion, but we were close, and we certainly encouraged Courtney's efforts.

For now, I think I'll make a trip down to our local Whataburger . . . .

Things are pretty quiet around here right now. The kids are all back in school, and I like that. We've made a couple of trips out to Lake Nasworthy, and the crowds have certainly cleared out. Things are back to normal.

I'll leave you with some pictures of purple sage I've snapped around town. Their colors have really been vibrant lately.

Beautiful purple sage in the parking lot of one of our Walmarts.

Purple sage at a local eatery.

Meanwhile, Back at RCW

Whenever we take a trip, it always takes a while to get caught up once we return home. Now, after being home for about 10 days, I'm just about caught up on everything.

It's been a pretty busy 10 days.

First, I wanted to write all those blog entries about Ruidoso before I forgot what we did. I'm getting to the point in life where details seem to slip away rather quickly.

We've also had some visitors. Our broker, who has become a very good friend over the 30 years or so we've been working with him, stayed over one night. We enjoy visiting with him so much. He is a real easy guest to entertain: he's quiet, he picks up after himself, and he's low maintenance. And we were able to take care of some business while he was here.

Daughter Courtney and her 3 offspring came for an overnight visit as well. I think they enjoy their visits here, as it gives them a chance to be in a decent sized city for a while. They currently live in a very small town, so getting to San Angelo or Midland or other towns of size is a real treat for them. Eldest grandson Xander enjoys all the dining opportunities in town, especially sushi.

Donna and I have been keeping an eye on Dorian for several days. Brother Larry and his wife Nancy live on Florida's east coast, so they have the pleasure of riding out storms such as this from time to time.

And Donna becomes more and more immersed in the social life of RCW (Rio Concho West). She's involved with a gang now, and they play Hand and Foot ( I call it Hoof and Mouth because it really seems like a disease) at least twice a week for several hours. It seems to be a pretty serious game. There are usually only one or two shootings or knife fights during their games, so they keep things pretty tame.

The heat continues here. We are not experiencing triple digit temps every day like we did in much of July and August, but we still have several days each week over 100. But fall is only about 2 weeks away now, so good times are ahead.

Keep cool!

Donna Found Her Casinos

I was hoping our trip to Ruidoso would be all about being tourists, but if there is a casino within 100 miles, Donna is going to sniff it out. This time, I'm rather glad she twisted my arm to visit a casino.

Our first casino visit was to Casino Apache. Located on the Mescalero Apache Reservation on US 70 just a few miles west of Ruidoso, the casino is actually a "Travel Center". Not only can you gamble to your heart's content, but you can refuel your car, get it washed, grab a bite to eat, and do various other things. Actually, we found some rather decent games there for video poker -- 9/5 Jacks or Better at quarter level, among others. I did not check the pay schedule for dollar machines.

We only stayed a short while, though, just long enough to see what was available. We then drove a few miles to Inn of the Mountain Gods. Both casinos are owned by the Mescalero tribe, so both accept the same players' club card. The Inn of the Mountain Gods is more like the casinos we frequent, complete with hotel, buffet, and other amenities. As regards video poker, we found basically the same games that we discovered at Casino Apache, so we decided to play at the Inn. We had a good time.

We sat down at some quarter machines with 9/5 Jacks or Better. I was having a bit of luck, winning just a tiny bit. After about 3 or 4 minutes, Donna complained that she was not hitting anything. That's odd, because Donna always hits something. Suddenly, things got quiet at her machine. I glanced over and saw a lot of hearts lined up on her base line. She was having trouble figuring out what she had; about that time, I said, "Hey, old woman, you hit a royal." Sure enough, the old gal had a royal flush in hearts, good for $1,000. I would go on to eventually churn out $300 myself, so we left the casino with much more than the $200 we had decided we would play on. That was the first royal Donna has hit in almost 2 years, and it has been longer for me.

After I cashed out, I walked the casino and hotel, looking at all the Apache art work and admiring the beautiful views from the hotel lobby. The setting for the casino is gorgeous. I'd love to see it in winter when snow covers the ground. Now that we had some luck there, I'm sure Miss Donna is going to insist that we return in the near future. I'm game.

Below are some of the many pictures I took of Inn of the Mountain Gods.

Tribal artwork in the valet parking area.

Some of the cultural art work that lines the walls of the casino and hotel.

Mescalero Warrior

View from inside the hotel lobby

View from balcony outside hotel lobby

View from balcony outside hotel lobby

Miss Donna in front of waterfall outside hotel

Diamond Donna with her winnings. We can't figure out where the 1 cent came from. Since they are multidenomination machines, someone playing pennies must have left it on the machine.