Tue Mar 1 - Wed Mar 9 2016.. Diane and Bern visit.
Note: Camera went missing Mar 6th .. so no photographs ... sad!!
Tuesday March 1st
Moved
rig over to our
month spot. Prep day for Diane and Bern coming tomorrow. Went grocery
shopping
into Hondo and got a few bits ready for their room. Really excited to
see them both tomorrow. Forecast for heavy snow tonight and tomorrow
morning. Hopefully they will be able to take off.
Easy
morning and then
off to the airport to get Di and Bern. They delayed their flight to
avoid the early morning snowy drive to the airport and all was well.
Derek dropped Janice off at Arrivals to meet them and
went to park the truck in the Cell phone lot to await their call. He
promptly fell
asleep with the ignition off (he
forgot the truck phone only works with the ignition on)…some time later he was
loudly and unceremoniously awakened by Janice hammering on the window…oops !!! Janice, Diane and Bern started
walking when they couldn’t get Derek on the phone, and realizing it was a bit
further than expected, they accepted a ride in a rather questionable airport
employee’s truck… not the brightest thing to do, but it was almost a necessity.
The snoozer was suitably shocked and apologetic!
Di and Bern settled into their
room for a quick snooze, then we picked them up again and brought them back to the RV park and we had
a grilled BBQ chicken salad. Great to see them.
Thursday March 3
Beautiful
sunny day
so off we went to Fredericksburg. It is one of our favourite small towns
with lots of great shopping. Sort of a Texan version of Niagara on the
Lake. Walked around town for a while and then, after picking
up some fresh Pecans just outside town, we headed to Becker's winery and
vineyard for a tasting and
a lovely picnic. Fun day.
Friday March 4
Another fine day so the decision was to take in the San Antonio Botanical gardens. We had a lovely lunch there.
Although March is not the best
time to visit a botanical gardens, they have done a great job maximizing the
space with flowers and it was a great day.
Saturday March 5
Went to Austin, Lunch
at the Hilton grill then Di and Bern went on the duck bus tour while we enjoyed
a walk about and a coffee. Diane
and Bern really enjoyed the duck tour and they had a great driver/guide. Dropped
by Salt Lick on the return and had another fabulous Texas BBQ. Home quite late
after tons of traffic and roadworks
Sunday March 6
Still no rain yet each
day thunderstorms were forecast. Went in to San Antonio. First to the San Jose
mission then, the Alamo and then settled down to late lunch at the Riverwalk.
Di and Bern went on the boats, Janice and I went for a coffee, then realized
that we had left the camera on a wall. It was gone. Have reported to the police
but no expectation of getting it back. All our photos for this year, including our trip so far have
gone as we hadn’t uploaded them yet. Sad, but it was a wonderful day regardless
Had dinner back at the
rig, shrimp marinara and pasta.
Monday March 7
Basically a local day
to slow down a bit. Went on a great hike around the local regional park in
Castroville and reached the cross at the top. Had coffee and cake at the
Castroville café, must go back there! All restaurants seem to close on Mondays,
so after much deliberation we ate at the Alsace. Food was excellent.
Tuesday March 8
Into Castroville for
Bern to shop, and then on the to
the Natural Bridge caverns at New Braunfels. They were discovered in 1960 and
are quite spectacular and interesting. (photos courtesy of my Iphone). Then we drove to Gruene village
for lunch by the river and a walkabout. Sadly in the early evening we dropped
Diane and Bern at the La Quinta airport hotel, where they overnighted for their
early morning flight home tomorrow. It is hard to believe that their week
visiting with is over so soon. We had such a great time and enjoyed showing
them some of the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of Texas, as well as
exploring some sights we have not seen ourselves. Texas is a great state, such a varied landscape and friendly
people.
OLD FRIENDS, GREAT FRIENDS |
THE LAST SPOT THAT I LEFT MY CAMERA !! |
INTREPID HIKERS |
MADE IT TO THE TOP |
WE DID IT |
PROUD MOMENT |
NATURAL CAVERNS IN NEW BRAUNFELS |
CHANDELIER FORMATIONS |
SO BEAUTIFUL |
WELL DESERVED AND YUMMY LUNCH - GRUENE |
DELICIOUS CHICKEN FRIED STEAK |
CACTI IN TOWN - GRUENE |
HANGING OUT IN GRUENE |