Wildflower Center (post #2 for today)

This is my second post for today...I just had too much stuff for the Hill Country!  Check out the other one, too.

Last Friday (after the Big Donut trip) we drove down to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center to see if they had any flowers in bloom yet.  Although we were a bit early this season, we did see some beautiful displays of wildflowers.  However, I suggest that if you go, the middle of April is a better time.

In 1982 Lady Bird Johnson and actress Helen Hayes founded an organization to protect and preserve North America's native plants and natural landscapes.  This place exists to introduce people to the beauty of wildflowers and the native plants.  The displays here at the center focus on the native plants of the Texas Hill Country.  The meadows and woodlands here look much as they did when Native Americans were the only inhabitants. 

When you walk into the center you see a large courtyard.  There is a cafe and gift shop and a visitor gallery on either side of the courtyard. 

From the courtyard you enter the Woodland Garden and then proceed to the Theme Garden area.  They also have a large greenhouse where they work to grow more of the native plants.  A beautiful arbor is between the greenhouse and the Theme Garden. (click on any photo for a larger view)

Wildflowers in the Theme Garden area are
Top Left is Golden Groundsel
Top Right is Prairie Fleabane
Bottom Left is Chocolate Flower
Bottom Right is Texas Yellow Star

The Texas state flower is the Bluebonnet, which you see lining this walking path.  Paths are all wheelchair accesible.  I took a break on one of the many benches throughout the center.

This path takes the visitor on a walk through the natural meadow area.  Not many wildflowers blooming here yet, but the walk was great.

This was a great place to visit and we did not do this on our previous trip to the Austin area several years ago.  We paid $6.00 for a senior pass.  Pets are not allowed and the center is smoke-free.  Closed Mondays and major holidays. 

The Wildflower Center is also a research unit of the University of Texas at Austin.  I hope you will make time to visit someday if you travel to the beautiful Hill Country.

Until next time.....so long for now!  (other post for today features lunch with Blogging friends)

Meeting Cindy and Walker For Lunch

I have so much to post on today, I will have to do 2!

I tell you, boy, we hit the motherlode the past week in getting to meet fellow Bloggers.  Today we had the great pleasure of meeting Cindy and Walker.....real, honest-to-goodness Texans!  Cindy and I have followed each other's blogs for quite some time, and when she found out we were coming toward their hometown of Seguin (near San Antonio) she asked if we could meet up for lunch someplace.  YES...I answered.   So the arrangements were made.

Bruce and I wanted to take a drive down toward New Braunfels, south of Johnson City, so we arranged to meet Cindy and Walker there.  We had no clue where to eat and asked Cindy for suggestions.  She gave several and told us to "pick one".  We picked BBQ.  Let me set you straight....nobody should ever come to Texas and NOT "eat BBQ".  They really know how to do it right.

Sidebar on BBQ:  OK, we're originally from southern California and they BBQ there all the time.  The difference in the term is that in Texas, and the South, BBQ means a type of food.  It is beef, pork, chicken or ribs cooked very slowly with a certain blend of spices and a great BBQ sauce.  In California BBQ simply means a method of cooking.   It means that you go and throw your food (any food) on the barbecue grill outdoors and cook it.  Now in the South, doing that method of cooking means to "grill" your food.  See the difference? 

Now...back to our day....We met our "new friends" at Rudy's BBQ in the town of New Braunfels.

It was a great restuarant with many selections on their menu.  You order at the counter and pick up your food to take to long gingham covered tables where the four of us sat down and had a great time.  We all became fast friends and it was as if we had known them for a very long time.  We exchanged stories about our respective families and talked about RV living.  It was wonderful.   Cindy writes her own blog about their life getting ready for a fulltime adventure in their 40-foot King of the Road 5er.   I suggest you give her blog a look, CLICK HERE , and read their story.

Here are Walker and Cindy, two of the most friendly and down-to-earth people you will ever meet:

We sat and talked for about 2 hours and then it was time to head back to Johnson City.  We hugged and shook hands and took each other's pictures (we're bloggers after all) and then Cindy presented us with a "welcome to Texas" gift.  Awwww what sweet southern hospitality.  They gave us some beautiful dessert/snack plates covered with the wildflowers of Texas hill country and a special edition box of tissues with the same wildflowers all over it.  What a sweet little darlin'.  (that's more of the Texas talk, like fixin' and idn'it)  We waved each other goodbye and they climbed into their big pickup truck and headed back to Seguin.

We have had a great time here in Texas....in only 4 days!  I have discovered that I really love this state.  We will definitely have to come back again for a lengthy visit.  We've done some hit-and-miss touring here over the years, but this time it was just more special.  Could be the folks we've been meeting up with!

Tomorrow morning we leave to drive into Louisiana for just an overnight stop.  I hope ya'll come back and read my blog again. (that's more of the Texan talk)

Until next time.....so long for now!

Round Rock, Texas and THE BIG DONUT

Today was the day Bruce had been waiting for.  It was the day we were driving from Johnson City to Round Rock to eat the big donut.  Any of you watch the Man vs Food program on the Travel Channel?  Adam Richman, the host of the show, travels around to different U.S. cities in search of the "big food item".  The show debuted in December of 2008 and we have probably watched every episode.  We are foodies, but ones that try to control ourselves a little bit.  Adam searches for the big, unique food items to highlight on his program.  It is fun to watch.

Quite a while ago, Bruce saw an episode where Adam had gone to the small town just north of Austin, Texas to eat the big 2 lb. donut.  That was all it took and I knew we'd be heading to that big donut on this trip.  It took us just about an hour to drive from our RV park to our donut breakfast. 

We spotted the town's water tower first, and then saw our donut paradise!

The small parking lot was jammed, but just as we got there a spot opened up.  The drive-up window had about 15 cars in line.  Before we went in, Annie the Schnauzer got to have a walk.  It was cloudy and not a hot day, so she waited in the car with her special window guards in place to give her fresh air.

We walked into the small donut shop and the place was jammed with about 30 people in front of us and the was line snaking around the small area.  (no seating indoors).  This is the donut case with the small, ordinary donuts.

After we ordered, I filled the coffee cups and went outdoors to one of the 3 tables in front.  Bruce got our order (just one donut to share) and he came out to join me.  Here is the chocolate covered glazed, 2 lb. donut.  It didn't seem to weigh a whole 2 lbs. when I held it but Man vs Food said it was.   I took a picture of my hand with the donut for perspective.

We decided that cutting it in half would be the best way to share.  I always keep a picnic box in the back of the Explorer so I went over and got out a knife and some paper plates.  We even shared our stack of paper plates with 3 other people.  The Girl Scout part of me is always prepared!  Before cutting into it I had Bruce take another picture of the whole donut.  Then I cut it into 4 pieces and took a bite from one of those.  It was sooooooooo delicious.  The chocolate was smooth and silky and the donut wasn't greasy at all.   It was worth it even though the scale will not be happy with me for the next 2 days.

I have to admit that we each ate our entire portion and we were happy to do so!   If you like donuts and are ever in the Austin, Texas area, check out Round Rock Donut....you will not be disappointed.

Until next time.....so long for now!

Lunch With Paul and Mary

We had a lot of wind here in the Johnson City, Texas area last night and it went on during the daytime too.  I really don't "see the wind with eyes of appreciation" that's for sure.  It just makes the slide topper awnings flap around and make me anxious. 

Today was another special day for us.  We got to meet fellow bloggers and fulltimers, Paul and Mary!  I don't really think that I ever thought about actually meeting other bloggers when I began my blog.  This has become a real benefit of blogging. 

After I had posted that we were going to be in the Johnson City, Texas area Mary e-mailed us to see about a possible lunch date.  YES...I e-mailed back to her.  We were really looking forward to another meeting with RV/Blogger friends.

This afternoon, right at 12:30, we saw their big 40 foot Tour MH pull into our Miller Creek RV Resort.  They got permission to park temporarily in an empty RV space and pulled in 3 spaces down from us.  We invited them into our Tour and we got acquainted with each other for about 30 minutes before setting off into town for lunch.  We've been Following Paul and Mary's blog Bullwinkle's Travels for a while and when they were ready to purchase their 2009 Tour, we shared information since we have the identical MH (ours is 2007).  We got to be internet friends quickly and now we are "real friends". 

Here are Paul and Mary:

We drove into Johnson City to the Silver K Cafe for lunch.  It was wonderful!  This restaurant is located at 209 East Main Street if you are interested in a great meal.  We all ordered sandwiches and ate every bite.  None of us had a morsel left over.

Over this wonderful meal we continued sharing our lives with each other.  Although we are a few years older than Paul and Mary, we have a lot of similar opinions on this fulltime RV lifestyle.  We began on Aug. 1, 2008 and Paul and Mary started this RV journey on July 7, 2009.  Like us, they also have a long list of places and things they want to see plus a longer list of places they want to revisit.

Our new friends needed to hit the road and drive over to the Austin area this afternoon so we had to wrap up our visit.  After we got back to the RV park, we got to meet their 2 kitty cats who were safely waiting for them inside their motorhome.  Except for a few minor updates, their Tour is exactly like ours.  They love theirs and we love ours and that makes all of us happy campers!

I hope that we get to meet other bloggers some time in the future.  The RV community is great and we have found the RV Blogging community to be even greater!  

Until next time.....so long for now!