The Texas Trip - part 6 (final)
Day 9 ended with a viewing of Frozen with my niece Jemma. This precious 5 year old proceeded to sing every song and to dance and move just like her favorite character, Elsa.
Day 10
The final day of my trip began with playing games with my niece and nephew. Then it was time to leave and start the drive back to DFW to catch my flight. All went well until I turned in my rental car. On the shuttle back to the terminal, I realized that I left my cell phone in the car. I didn't have time to make it back to the rental car center, so I went ahead and checked in and went through security. I guess I was so flustered at having left my phone, I put all my bins through the scanner, but forgot to put my roller bag on the conveyor. I only realized it after going through the micro-wave scanner. A friendly TSA agent went and got it for me and put it through the scanner. She was very nice, unlike the first TSA agent I asked - who couldn't be bothered to help me.
I then had to find a pay phone to call the rental car company. After finding one and getting some quarters, I reported my error. They had me send an email (luckily, I had my laptop) so they could reply with a lost item form. I sent it back in with all of the details and they say it will be a minimum of 7 days to process. Are you kidding me? The form went to the office at the DFW rental car center for Alamo.
I then had to contact my IT department to have the phone disabled (company phone). I have a new phone on the way already.
The flight back to MSP was a little bumpy, but we arrived 20 minutes early! The best part of the flight was seeing NO SNOW on the ground as we approached the airport!
Day 10 - 209 miles.
Trip totals
2137 miles
7 Jalapeño Cheese biscuits from Whataburger.
6 Tex-Mex meals
2 chicken fried steaks
Monday, April 21, 2014
Sunday, April 20, 2014
The Texas Trip - part 5
Before moving on, I wanted to add a comment about day 5. When you're in the valley, you can't help but notice the fields and fields of vegetables. We saw onions, cabbages, lettuce, carrots, and broccoli being grown.
Day 7
Before leaving Kerrville, we headed to the James Avery headquarters and visitors center. James Avery is a master jeweler and is well known in Texas and beyond. My sisters, of course, made a couple of purchases.
From Kerrville, we headed north through Fredericksburg to the Willow City Loop. The Loop is well known on the bluebonnet trail for having vast fields of bluebonnets among the cattle ranches and homes. The road cuts through active ranches and the livestock roam free in-between cattle guards that keep them on each ranch's property. While, the fields were disappointing this year, there is plenty of wildlife to see. We saw turkeys, a great blue heron, several tangiers, and other common birds.
The question of what happens to old boots was answered: they are used to cap fence posts.
After lunch, we ended our day in Cedar Park / Austin
Before moving on, I wanted to add a comment about day 5. When you're in the valley, you can't help but notice the fields and fields of vegetables. We saw onions, cabbages, lettuce, carrots, and broccoli being grown.
Day 7
Before leaving Kerrville, we headed to the James Avery headquarters and visitors center. James Avery is a master jeweler and is well known in Texas and beyond. My sisters, of course, made a couple of purchases.
From Kerrville, we headed north through Fredericksburg to the Willow City Loop. The Loop is well known on the bluebonnet trail for having vast fields of bluebonnets among the cattle ranches and homes. The road cuts through active ranches and the livestock roam free in-between cattle guards that keep them on each ranch's property. While, the fields were disappointing this year, there is plenty of wildlife to see. We saw turkeys, a great blue heron, several tangiers, and other common birds.
The question of what happens to old boots was answered: they are used to cap fence posts.
From the Willow City Loop, we continued north until Llano and then headed east to Marble Falls to the Bluebonnet Café. Our late lunch was capped by a slice of their famous pies.
Day 8 & 9
Days 8 & 9 were spent in the Austin area. Restaurant choices included Matt's El Rancho and Pappacito's. I love Tex-Mex! I caught a Longhorn baseball game against TCU on Friday night and spent a lot of time with my niece and nephew.
Saturday morning began early as we went down to South Austin to get in line at End of an Ear for Record Store Day. We were #9 and #10 in line at 7 am for a store that didn't open until 11 am. This is the third year my brother Lee and I have done this, and it's fun to meet up with friends from the two previous years.
I was able to get 5 of the 6 records on my wish list:
Centro-Matic
Bob Wills
Brain Jonestown Massacre / Magic Castles
Deco / Flaming Lips side by side
Big Mama Thornton
The only one they didn't have was the Lydia Loveless 7"
Days 7, 8, & 9: 320 miles
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
The Texas Trip - part 4
Day 5
Day 5 began with a visit to the Sea Turtle Rescue Center
They take in injured sea turtles and nurse them back to health. I some cases they have to keep the turtles there for life as they cannot be put back in the wild.
After a visit to one of the numerous souvenir shops, we headed down to Brownsville and out to the Boca Chica Wildlife Refuge. While driving through the refuge and to Boca Chica beach, we learned that the last battle of the Civil War was fought in this area: The Battle of Palmito Ranch.
From Wikipedia: The Battle of Palmito Ranch, also known as the Battle of Palmito Hill and the Battle of Palmetto Ranch, was fought between Union Army and Confederate States Army forces on May 12–13, 1865 near Brownsville, Texas. It was the last land battle of any size or significance of the American Civil War.[1] The battle was fought on the banks of the Rio Grande about 12 miles (19 km) east of Brownsville, Texas, and a few miles from the seaport of Los Brazos de Santiago, which was located on the present-day ship channel of the Port of Brownsville.
On the way to the beach, we passed several prickly pear cactus in bloom
Some of the birds we saw:
We then began the drive up the border on US 281. We quickly noticed the border fence. It seemed to be intact from Brownsville to almost McAllen, but we noticed several spots after that where it was incomplete or missing altogether.
My friend, Laura Lee, sent a text to me and to a friend of hers saying that we should get together for a beer. Of course, she said I was in the Valley, which didn't exactly narrow it down. After calling her friend, I found she was in Mission, TX and we were heading to McAllen, which is next door. So all of the sudden, the Valley shrunk. We ended up meeting for dinner at a Mexican Restaurant and then headed out to Sofie's S.S. Saloon for a nitecap.
Laura Lee should now be afraid as I have some good gossip on her!
We ended the day at a hotel in Edinburg.
Day 5 - 174 miles.
Day 6
We left Edinburg and headed to Kerrville via back roads. We had to stop for the second time on the trip for a border patrol inspection station. After stopping, all they asked is if we were US citizens. When we said yes, we were on our way. I guess we didn't look like smugglers.
We were back in the land of oil/gas fields and the many, many trucks. We stopped in Poteet for lunch and had DQ Dudes. This is a chicken fried steak sandwich, which seems to only be available in Texas. Poteet is known for its' strawberries and they have a big festival annually. We missed it by about 10 days.
After driving through celebrated Texas towns of Hondo and Bandera, we arrived in Kerrville. For dinner, we headed up to Waring, TX for Steak Nite. The Waring General Store holds this every Wednesday and offers a complete steak dinner for $25. The dinner includes appetizers, a 10-oz steak, potatoes, salad, and dessert. They also have live music each Steak Nite. Tonight's entertainment was the Texas Renegade band.
Back to Kerrville for the night
Day 6 - 388 miles
Day 5
Day 5 began with a visit to the Sea Turtle Rescue Center
From Wikipedia: The Battle of Palmito Ranch, also known as the Battle of Palmito Hill and the Battle of Palmetto Ranch, was fought between Union Army and Confederate States Army forces on May 12–13, 1865 near Brownsville, Texas. It was the last land battle of any size or significance of the American Civil War.[1] The battle was fought on the banks of the Rio Grande about 12 miles (19 km) east of Brownsville, Texas, and a few miles from the seaport of Los Brazos de Santiago, which was located on the present-day ship channel of the Port of Brownsville.
On the way to the beach, we passed several prickly pear cactus in bloom
Laughing Gull
Cattle Egret
Blue Heron
Blue Bunting
While taking a break at a convenience store, we learned of a good lunch spot:
Dora's (Brownsville.) It was delicious Mexican food and very inexpensive.We then began the drive up the border on US 281. We quickly noticed the border fence. It seemed to be intact from Brownsville to almost McAllen, but we noticed several spots after that where it was incomplete or missing altogether.
My friend, Laura Lee, sent a text to me and to a friend of hers saying that we should get together for a beer. Of course, she said I was in the Valley, which didn't exactly narrow it down. After calling her friend, I found she was in Mission, TX and we were heading to McAllen, which is next door. So all of the sudden, the Valley shrunk. We ended up meeting for dinner at a Mexican Restaurant and then headed out to Sofie's S.S. Saloon for a nitecap.
We ended the day at a hotel in Edinburg.
Day 5 - 174 miles.
Day 6
We left Edinburg and headed to Kerrville via back roads. We had to stop for the second time on the trip for a border patrol inspection station. After stopping, all they asked is if we were US citizens. When we said yes, we were on our way. I guess we didn't look like smugglers.
We were back in the land of oil/gas fields and the many, many trucks. We stopped in Poteet for lunch and had DQ Dudes. This is a chicken fried steak sandwich, which seems to only be available in Texas. Poteet is known for its' strawberries and they have a big festival annually. We missed it by about 10 days.
After driving through celebrated Texas towns of Hondo and Bandera, we arrived in Kerrville. For dinner, we headed up to Waring, TX for Steak Nite. The Waring General Store holds this every Wednesday and offers a complete steak dinner for $25. The dinner includes appetizers, a 10-oz steak, potatoes, salad, and dessert. They also have live music each Steak Nite. Tonight's entertainment was the Texas Renegade band.
Back to Kerrville for the night
Day 6 - 388 miles
Monday, April 14, 2014
The Texas Trip - part 3
Day 3
Day three was supposed to be a lazy day driving to San Antonio and then heading to Helotes to see the Mavericks at the John T. Floores Country Store. The drive to S.A. definitely reminded one that the oil/gas boom is in high gear with the fracking of the Eagle Ford Shale. I lost count of all the trucks that we saw.
We stopped for lunch in La Vernia, TX at the Blue Bird Café. It appears that it had only been open a short while, probably to cater to the oil field workers. As this was Sunday, however, most of their clientele was the after church crowd. It had a diner theme and of course I got the chicken fried steak.
After arriving in S.A., we headed to the hotel to rest until the evening concert. We got out to Helotes around 6:30 to go in when doors opened at 7. Because there was limited seating, we had hoped to be early enough to grab a picnic table. Much to my surprise, there must have been 300 - 400 people already in line. There was no way we would get a table.
We decided to go get something to eat and then we would go back for the Mavericks and stay for as long as we wanted. We headed back into S.A. to go to the Alamo Café. It's a Tex-Mex joint with fantastic flour tortillas. After dinner and the margaritas, we decided not to go back to Helotes, but to go to the hotel and call it a night. It's hell getting old.
Day 3 - 157 miles
Day 4
Day four was another day of not getting everything we wanted. On the drive to South Padre Island, we stopped in Alice for lunch at the Dairy Burger. This place had been suggested by a friend of mine who was from there and currently lives in Minneapolis. The steak strip basket was delicious, especially the spicy tomato puree to add to the cream gravy for dipping.
Heading in and out of Raymondville, we encountered a horrible dust storm. We had to slow to a crawl. We stopped in Raymondville and it was 87 degrees. Within five miles of leaving, the temp had dropped to 77 degrees as a cold front moved through. We endured high winds and driving rain into Port Isabelle. This greatly reduced our bird watching that we had planned to do. We went over the causeway onto South Padre Island.
We went to the SPI Birding Center, but the high winds (21 sustained, gusts to 41 mph)made it unbearable to walk out over the marshland at the center.
We stopped at the La Quinta and at least got a room with a view.
As you can see there is plenty of chop.
After dinner at Cap'n Ron's, we decided to catch a movie and saw Draft Day with Kevin Costner. I'll give it 3.5 (of 5) stars.
Hopefully tomorrow will be less windy and will allow for some bird watching as we head down to Brownsville and start our trek up the border.
We'll also go to the Sea Turtle Rescue center before we leave SPI.
Day 4 - 324 miles.
Day 3
Day three was supposed to be a lazy day driving to San Antonio and then heading to Helotes to see the Mavericks at the John T. Floores Country Store. The drive to S.A. definitely reminded one that the oil/gas boom is in high gear with the fracking of the Eagle Ford Shale. I lost count of all the trucks that we saw.
We stopped for lunch in La Vernia, TX at the Blue Bird Café. It appears that it had only been open a short while, probably to cater to the oil field workers. As this was Sunday, however, most of their clientele was the after church crowd. It had a diner theme and of course I got the chicken fried steak.
After arriving in S.A., we headed to the hotel to rest until the evening concert. We got out to Helotes around 6:30 to go in when doors opened at 7. Because there was limited seating, we had hoped to be early enough to grab a picnic table. Much to my surprise, there must have been 300 - 400 people already in line. There was no way we would get a table.
We decided to go get something to eat and then we would go back for the Mavericks and stay for as long as we wanted. We headed back into S.A. to go to the Alamo Café. It's a Tex-Mex joint with fantastic flour tortillas. After dinner and the margaritas, we decided not to go back to Helotes, but to go to the hotel and call it a night. It's hell getting old.
Day 3 - 157 miles
Day 4
Day four was another day of not getting everything we wanted. On the drive to South Padre Island, we stopped in Alice for lunch at the Dairy Burger. This place had been suggested by a friend of mine who was from there and currently lives in Minneapolis. The steak strip basket was delicious, especially the spicy tomato puree to add to the cream gravy for dipping.
Heading in and out of Raymondville, we encountered a horrible dust storm. We had to slow to a crawl. We stopped in Raymondville and it was 87 degrees. Within five miles of leaving, the temp had dropped to 77 degrees as a cold front moved through. We endured high winds and driving rain into Port Isabelle. This greatly reduced our bird watching that we had planned to do. We went over the causeway onto South Padre Island.
We went to the SPI Birding Center, but the high winds (21 sustained, gusts to 41 mph)made it unbearable to walk out over the marshland at the center.
We stopped at the La Quinta and at least got a room with a view.
As you can see there is plenty of chop.
After dinner at Cap'n Ron's, we decided to catch a movie and saw Draft Day with Kevin Costner. I'll give it 3.5 (of 5) stars.
Hopefully tomorrow will be less windy and will allow for some bird watching as we head down to Brownsville and start our trek up the border.
We'll also go to the Sea Turtle Rescue center before we leave SPI.
Day 4 - 324 miles.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
The Texas Trip - part 2
Day 2 began with an early morning roadtrip to Lexington, TX for Snow's BBQ. Snow's is only open on Saturdays and usually sells out by noontime (they open at 8 am.)
After getting back to Cedar Park, it was time for my niece's soccer game.
Day 2 began with an early morning roadtrip to Lexington, TX for Snow's BBQ. Snow's is only open on Saturdays and usually sells out by noontime (they open at 8 am.)
Pitmaster Tootsie Tomanetz
Breakfast!
Sister Elinor with the crew:
Kerry Bailey, owner; Tootsie Tomantz, pitmaster;
Pit man
From Lexington we headed back to Cedar Park via backroads to Taylor and back through Austin.
While taking pictures of some bluebonnets, a local couple drove by and told us about plush fields of bluebonnets about a mile away. Need less to say, they were right.
After getting back to Cedar Park, it was time for my niece's soccer game.
Sister Elinor with my nephew Crosby
After the soccer game it was on to Victoria for the 3rd annual Scott Taylor Band Suck Head Eat Tail Crawfish Festival. This was my second time for this festival (2013) and again it featured great crawfish and an awesome music lineup. The music had begun around 11 am, but we didn't arrive until 6 pm.
Captain Legendary Band
Pear Ratz
Dinner
Jarrod Birmingham
Raven Cliff
Scott Taylor Band
Mike Parker of STB
Elinor
Statesboro Revue
Bayou Roux
A great end to the day
Day 2 - 290 miles
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