At Last

Wednesday I finally finished sewing my blocks together for   the patchwork Christmas tree skirt that I am making.  Today laid out pattern and moved around some of the blocks.  Now it is finally ready to cut.  Funny about that process.  I had fabric that I cut apart, cut the scraps into blocks, sewed them together, and am ready to cut them apart again.  I used 280 4-inch blocks which made a whole cloth big enough to cover my queen-sized bed. That’s a lot of work, but I consider it art and, as such, worth the effort.  I promise pictures but the recipients have to see them first.

Tomorrow I plan to finish it so that I can get my other sewing done.

Louise and Duane

Twisting Backwards

When we visited  the Texas Hill Country last February, we rode FM 335,336, and 337, otherwise known as the Twisted Sisters.  From our Medina Lake campground we took cr 16 to 337 at Medina, west to 335 north, used cr41 east to access 336 south.  This time we took 337 west as far as Leakey.

Here we ate lunch and

laughed again at the Leakey Eagles (of course the town calls itself Lakey).

This time we turned north on 336.

To reach 335, had to use cr41 which runs almost straight and flat across a ridge,

but offered a view of these pronghorns.

335 is the curviest and wiggliest of the Sisters and has the best views of water,

and limestone hills.

We will be going up that road as soon as we round the corner.

336 hooked us up with 337 again for the return trip east for home.

Although we passed this field this morning, these buffalo were absent then.

After about 170 miles and 6 hours on the road, we were glad to be headed home.

Two things that were different this trip.  1. This time we were treated to some fall colors, and 2. there was a lot less water in the rivers and the stream beds were all dry.

After 2 days of spending money and one day of fresh air and sunshine, I am ready to go back to getting ready for Christmas.   Duane can relax since we mailed out all the grandkids Christmas ornaments today.

A woman’s work…..

Louise and Duane

Merry-Go-Round

Our truck was fixed this morning but we waited until after lunch to pick it up.  After ransoming it for $1600 we decided to go Christmas shopping and spend some more money.  Around San Antonio there are lots and lots of stores in lots of spread out shopping areas.  There is also lots of crisscrossing highways including I10.  To access the stores you have to take the correct exit, and drive the access road to the stores on the correct side of the road.  If the stores are on the other side of the highway, you take the exit to the access road, take that a mile or two to the u turn, then take that access road back to where you want to shop.  If you don’t know where you’re going (which of course we didn’t) you take the wrong access road exit, drive extra far to the u turn, then drive back and look for the road you need, miss it and turn around again, then stop somewhere and set the gps.

We managed to find several stores we wanted within walking distance of each other, then decided to find a store in another section.  This turned out to be a city of high-end-NYC/Rodeo Drive type stores with several different sections.  Each section was centered around a courtyard with parking at the backs of the stores.  If you didn’t know where you were going, (which, again, we didn’t)  you let the gps guide you, park, and try to find access to the store fronts.  This was a lot of trouble for access to one store!

We bought our two gifts, walked around and around looking for the public restrooms which were in another section off a different courtyard, and decided to head for home.  We joined the queue on the access road for a couple of miles of stop/start bumper-to-bumper traffic, then joined the queue on the highway for more of the same.  After a few miles we managed to leave most of the traffic behind, made a quick stop at McDonald’s for supper and made for home.

Phew!

Louise and Duane

Daymare

Original plan:  Get up at 7 am, leave for Boerne to get brakes fixed stopping for fast food breakfast on the way, arrive at 8:30, get truck fixed by 12:30, eat lunch, Christmas/grocery shop, home by dark.

What really happened:

6:30 am  Get up way too early.  Any time before sunrise is way too early.  Eat light breakfast at home.

7:15 am   Take truck to Boerne to get brakes fixed.

8 am  Arrive 1/2 hour early, meet service rep (hereafter known as sr), get paperwork done. 

8:15 am  Find the long-term waiting area with the cushy chairs and big screen tv

10:15 am  Sr informs us that we need rotors on rear, brakes all around. 

11:30 am Breakfast wears off.  We hit the vending machines for a snack.

12:30 pm  Expected time of repair comes and goes.  Duane wanders down to repair bays, finds truck on lift.

1:20-3 pm  No news.  Duane wanders down to bay, finds boxes, but no one around, no one working on the truck. We sit in cushy chairs reading, napping, watching reruns of NCIS.

3 pm Get sr to arrange a ride to Denny’s so that we can have lunch.

4 pm  Get sr to arrange a ride back to the Ford dealer.

4:30 pm  Arrive back at dealership.  Sr informs us that needed part has arrived.

5 pm.  Sr informs us that awaited part is wrong.  Sr arranges for a loaner truck.

5:30 pm  We take loaner truck to Walmart for groceries.  Duane’s pocket starts beeping.  He forgot to leave the pager the sr gave us.  It drives him nuts.

6:30 pm  Duane declares that he has had it.  He wants to go home.

6:45 pm  We take groceries to truck and remember that we left our house keys in our truck in the dealership which closed at 6 pm.  I get yelled at for not bringing my keys.  I helpfully point out that at least the pager has stopped beeping.

6:50  pm  Call dealership, get nice lady, explain our dilemma.

6:55 pm  Nice lady informs us that getting keys is impossible.

7 pm  We decide to go to Home Depot for bolt cutters to cut locks off the tailgate (of our toyhauler 5th wheel), and new locks to replace the ones we intend to cut off.

7:15   Duane gets perked up by the Home Depot smell and reenergized by the mere proximity of power tools. He finds bolt cutters and new locks and decides not to buy electric cutter in case the bolt cutters don’t work.  We drive home.  Before we get far, Duane regrets not buying backup cutter.

8 pm We arrive home, don’t even make a dent with bolt cutters.  Put plan B in operation.  Open door lock with hammer and screwdriver.

8:05 pm  Successfully break into our house.  I get keys and put them in my purse.

Tomorrow we wait for a call from our sr.  At least we won’t have to get up early.

Louise and Duane

Creepy!

For our walk this morning we opted to take the walking trail around the campground.  Whom should we meet but that creepy guy!  We tried to lose him in the labyrinth but he kept creeping up!

The walk was still nice. 

Just goes to show you—you never really know what’s out there!

Busy day tomorrow.

Louise and Duane

About The Park

Another beautiful (chilly) morning beckoned.  We put on our walking shoes and took the camera walkabout.  Not many people were out today, nor many animals.  We contented ourselves with enjoying sunlight and the contortions of the live oak trees

contrasted with the calm lake.

Our afternoon was filled with football and carving (Duane), and sewing and Tom Selleck westerns (me).

In the evening the light show continued.

Quiet activities planned for tomorrow also.

Louise and Duane

Day Out

With beautiful sunshine and a chill in the air, we let the Eagle out of its cage for a little exercise.

We flew east on CR 46

Boerne (Bernie) where people were enjoying their riverside park.

We took all country roads today,

sharing the rolling curving roads with other bikers.

(That biker has his arm out in a biker wave.)

The roads took us past lots of beautiful scenery

and quite a few open vistas.

Most of the trees here stay green:  they are either cedars or live oaks that drop old leaves when the new ones push them off.

We did see some fall colors though.

We rode 46 east, turned north on 3351, 473 and 281, then south east on 32 to here. 

I told Duane that we should buy a lot in Eden Estates then we wouldn’t be in Purgatory any more.

Our son in California put Hill Country wine on his Christmas list.  When we came upon this vineyard, we stopped for a taste or two and left with a bottle.

Purgatory Road took us past some longhorns to

306 to the northern edge of New Braunfels

where we stopped for lunch before turning west for home back on 46.

Our goal on this 150 mile trip was a two mile stretch of road on 32 called the Devil’s Backbone, which promised nice riding and scenery.  We found this area to be much the same as the rest of the route.

No particular plans for tomorrow.

Louise and Duane