The Great State of Texas -- Wed., Jan. 9

While reading John "HeyDuke" and Sharon's blog -- On the Road of Retirement -- this morning, one of the comments got me to thinking about the great state of Texas. The commenter from RV Travels with Karen and Al didn't know if they would like Texas, but they've never been here.

Bob and I grew up on the West Coast of the U.S.: California, Oregon, Washington and Hawaii. We didn't know if we would like Texas either. Pre-conceived notions led us to think of Texas as hot and desert-like with poisonous snakes, javelinas and nasty spiders. I guess it depends what part of Texas you go to. It's a huge state.

In April of 2012, we went to an RV-Dreams rally in Kerrville (Texas Hill Country), then worked as gate guards in the oil fields for two months. We traveled hither and yon, and we came back.

The Texas Hill Country is lovely. There are fresh water springs, historic small towns, breath-takingly beautiful wildflowers in the spring, rolling hills, waterfalls, lots of state and COE parks, world-class birdwatching, butterflies, hiking and biking trails galore, good food and friendly people. I could go on and on. We decided we do like it here and are currently in San Antonio for a while.

We have discovered H-E-B grocery/department stores, beautiful neighborhoods, good bakeries, quaint towns, history of the Texas Rangers, museums, RiverWalk, and much more. 

We also spent two days in Big Bend National Park and enjoyed that too.

Pictorial of the portions of Texas we've seen (some favorite photos)...

Big Bend National Park in April 2012. Some cacti were still blooming!

Hot springs pool next to the Rio Grande.

Waterfall in Big Bend N.P.

Texas Hill Country and San Antonio:

Wildseed Farms near Fredericksburg.

South Llano River State Park

South Llano River State Park

South Llano River State Park

Longhorns at YO Ranch

Dama gazelle at YO Ranch

Dancers, Fiesta celebration, Riverwalk in San Antonio

Pedernales Falls at state park of the same name.

Tranquility Island, Louise Hays Park, Guadalupe River, Kerrville

Tower of the Americas, San Antonio

Hemisphere Park, San Antonio

Riverwalk North, art under bridge, San Antonio River

Riverwalk  North

Riverwalk North, Pearl Brewery Complex

Heron, Riverwalk north

Crownridge Canyon trail.

Brackenridge Park, San Antonio.

Mission Concepcion, San Antonio

Japanese Garden, San Antonio Botanic Garden

San Antonio Botanic Garden

Boerne, Texas

Mission San Jose

Mission San Jose

Mission San Jose.

Landa Park, Headwaters of the Comal River, New Braunfels

New Braunfels, Landa Park

Corpus Christi and Padre Island:

Singer Selma's memorial.

Padre Island

Padre Island

Padre Island, Gulf of Mexico

Welcome to FOUR new subscribers:

1. John and Sharon at Caravan Camper RV -- Please take the time to read his current blog about three Americans traveling through South America. I was mortified to hear what happened to them. Click this link to read the story of Jed, Meaghan and Jenny on the Adventure Americas blog and share if you agree this story needs to be made public.
2. One Fly -- lots of great photos.
3. Tracie at Crack you Whip, who might just crack you up.
4. Encourage One Another.

Wow, I find it interesting that there were no new subscribers to my blog for weeks and then four new people signed up. Thanks for reading! I appreciate the support.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

TravelBug out.