Joshua Springs Park and Preserve Volksmarch - Sat., June 1

Early risers this morning with a 4:45 alarm. Why you ask? To walk before the 94 F. heat of the day sets in.

The Hill Country Volkssportverein Club sponsored this morning's Volksmarch through the gorgeous Joshua Springs Park and Preserve in Comfort, Texas. We opted to do the 13K - that's 7.8 miles - walk. (Other options were 5K [3.1 mi.] and 10K [6.2mi.] walks). The walk started at 7:00 a.m. and we had to finish by 11:00 a.m. It took us approximately three hours to walk 7.8 miles (that includes all my picture taking stops).

What a lovely park! The facilities look relatively new - restrooms, picnic tables, fishing platforms, playground equipment, and group picnic areas. The walk took us by the lake, around meadows, up to the top of Ring Mountain (that was an additional 3K we opted to take over and above our normal 10K), through old-growth pecan trees, and a small arboretum.

Watch out for snakes in the grass! (We didn't see any.)

Below: The trail through the arboretum and by the lake.

A covered fishing platform.

Beautiful new signage.

The lake: You can kayak and canoe on the lake (no motors).

So pretty.

Texas Hill Country at its finest.

"I love you" shadows.

Hiking to the top of Ring Mountain. Great views of Hill Country here.

Oleander and Texas Hill Country view.

The suns rays took up 140 degrees of the view in the east.

Ring Mountain Event Center (was set up for a wedding later).

Creeping phlox

AVA 10K "walk route" signs show us the way.

A big round bale of hay.

Fields of Mexican hat and giant coneflowers.

Old pecan trees.

Greater tickseed (Coreopsis major)

A small pond.

A herd of 12 Axis deer flew by us. I was able to capture one of them in a photo.

Axis deer on the run.

Meadows of wildflowers and grass - watch out for the venomous snakes!

Musk thistle flower.

Bob enjoying the walk.

Purple thistle flower.

Chimney swift abode.

All about chimney swifts.

Bird blind. I was checking it out.

Nope, no birds spotted here.

Scenery in the park.

Low-growing firewheels (AKA Indian blankets) and green pom-pom-like flowers.

Nature's rock garden.

For those of you who like herpetology.

Soaptree yucca (Yucca elata)

Young Cypress tree.

Milkweed seed pods

A little waterfall.

Texas skeletonplant (Lygodesmia texana) - AKA Purple Dandelion or
Flowering Straw.

White-tailed deer we noticed as we drove out of the preserve.

The Volksmarch was well attended and the large parking lot at the Reserve was almost full. The hike was very well thought out with many types of landscape included. We will be visiting the preserve again and again.  I was hoping to see yellow-cheeked warblers; alas, none flew into our line of vision.

While we were in Welfare we drove around Top of the Hill RV Resort. It certainly is named well. You would not have to worry about flooding there. It seems it would be cooler because of the breezes/wind on the hill. Many of the sites did not look level. Some sections of the park had long-term residents in dilapidated RVs. There were some cute cabins for rent. We did not go in the cabins or check out the facilities at the RV park...just drove around the loops out of curiosity. You can read about it on their web page (see link above) or rvparkreviews.com.

On the way back to San Antonio, before we hit I-10, we stopped at Smittyville Country Store to raid the bakery. Oh my. The selection was not huge, but what they had was delectable. The store is impeccable and there is a cafe inside. Smittyville Country Store is at Exit 533 off Interstate 10 about 25 minutes west of San Antonio in the community of Welfare. The store opens at 9:00 a.m.

You can see the resident cat on the porch.

Very friendly kitty who purred and kneaded when petted.

In addition to the cafe and bakery, they offer coffees, Italian sodas and smoothies. Bob had a cheese Danish (good), I chose an apple/brown sugar crumble Danish (to die for!), and we bought a double chocolate muffin to share (yummy). Their pies were tempting too, especially the apple and the tart cherry pies. However, we refrained and took a rain check on the pies. Sorry I forgot to take photos of the food.

Smittyville Country Store menu.

Gotcha now mortuary (in case you didn't get it).

Smittyville Country Store Cafe.

We drove back to where we had parked Bob's truck so he could go to work. I headed to the cheap theater to see G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Please see separate blog for a review.

Travel Bug out.

Work Recap and Walk - Sat., May 18

San Antonio, Texas, is a vibrant city with many events, parks, greenways, nature preserves, museums, and missions. Our mission is to become involved or immersed in San Antonio while we have the pleasure of being here.

I love my new job at the Traveler's World Carefree RV Resort. Each day (I work two days per week) brings in someone from across the United States or Canada, in fact, from the world. I love that people are in vacation or travel mode; they are relaxed and don't mind if we're busy. (Well, most people anyway.) I can be doing anything from rolling quarters to sell for laundry machines, to answering phones (which usually includes making reservations), to straightening the shelves, to selling RV supplies and souvenirs, to opening or closing the office. Variety makes the day go by fast.

One day last week while I was working, Bob dropped off a tin of Dove Chocolate truffle hearts. OMG, delightful. I opened the box and put it on the counter so people coming in could have a treat. It didn't take long for those Dove truffles to disappear. I had three and my boss had a couple. Thank you, Bob! That was quite the gastronomic hit.

Today, Bob and I invited Kim to Volksmarch with us. She and I had chatted on a hike with San Antonio's Hill Country Hikers. Today the three of us walked in Comfort, Texas, an Antique Town. Bob and I did the walk a month ago. Since it is my favorite local Volksmarch, we invited Kim to go with us. She loved the walk too.

Our temperature in San Antonio is supposed to go up to 96 degrees today, so we met at 7:30 a.m. and carpooled to Comfort in the comfort of her Prius. We started out at 8:20 a.m. and finished at 10:25 a.m. before the high heat of day hit us.

Along the route, we passed historic markers on many buildings, the Treuer de Union monument, a large cemetery, residences, walked a road alongside Cypress Creek, past antique stores, farmland, and back into town. We appreciated the shade from the trees by the creek along the middle part of the walk and also a nice breeze when we were in farmland with no shade. Wildflowers are blooming as well. Just an all-around good walk.

Downtown Comfort, Texas

Hotel Faust - under renovation.

Rural town - here's the local feed and garden store.

Wildflowers

Antelope horn - buds and blooms

Prickly pear cacti with beetle.

Cypress Creek, Comfort, Texas.

Cypress Creek

Alpacas (I think) - recently shorn.

Comfortable Comfort Pizza - the old filling station.
Now you can fill your tummy, hopefully not with gas!

One of the antique stores in downtown.

At the end of our two hours, we stopped at High's Cafe/bookstore/arts & crafts for breakfast or snacks. I had the Texas French toast and iced tea, Bob had a double chocolate brownie, and Kim had a bacon/onion scone with iced tea. Their iced tea was exceptionally good, very refreshing. I'm not sure what kind of tea they used, but we loved it. They provided lime, lemon and orange slices for your iced tea, as well as three different kinds of sugar, if you prefer it sweetened.

Bob, Kim and I had a good time...an excellent way to spend the morning.

After Kim dropped us back at our cars, Bob and I shopped at Costco. Bob headed off to work and I took the groceries home. This afternoon I plan to watch my Netflix selection, Miss Potter, a fanciful biopic of Beatrix Potter, children's author.

Bob is considering driving to Austin this afternoon to see his son, Randall, as his 38th birthday is tomorrow.

Tomorrow Bob and I are going with Hill Country Hikers to Inks Lake State Park, northwest of Austin. Joining this hiking group has been so much fun. Every week we see new places in Texas and walk with fun people who also enjoy hiking.

More tomorrow. Travel Bug out.