Tag: roadtrip

Seeking Autumn.

One of the things I’ve wanted to do since moving here is visit Lost Maples State Natural Area to see the fall foliage. Garner State Park is 30 miles away from Lost Maples. It doesn’t have the maples, but has a fair number of sycamore and cypress trees, which present beautiful fall color.

So, we took a road trip. Along the way, we discovered a nice BBQ place in Johnson City that we’ve probably driven by 20 times before without noticing: Pig Pen BBQ. We also found an adorable French patisserie on the town square in Kerrville called Pookie’s. I recommend both.

We did a double take when we drove by a roadside point of interest in Ingram, Texas. We just had to turnaround, stop and see. It was a close-to-actual-size model of Stonehenge, and, a bonus, a model of an Easter Island head monolith. Oh, the things you’ll find in Texas.

Stonehenge II and an Easter Island Moai head model in Ingram, Texas.

Near Hunt, we also drove along the Guadalupe River, and right by Camp Mystic, silently witnessing signs of the destruction from the July 4th 2025 devastating flood that raged right through there.

At Garner State Park, we stayed in one of their cabins for two nights. This allowed us to stargaze during the peak of the Leonid meteor shower, and we could make a visit to Lost Maples from there for a nice day trip.

Cabin #2, Garner State Park

Garner State Park is an amazing destination in its own right. It sits on the Frio River, has over 300 campsites, 20+ screened enclosures to camp in, and 20+ cabins like the one we stayed in, which were built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. Being November, it was off-season during our visit, but still pretty busy. They have miles and miles of hiking and biking trails. During the season, their concessions are open, including kayak and tube rentals, a grill and ice cream shop, visitor center, a putt-putt golf course, sand volleyball courts, basketball courts, several park stores, and a jukebox dance every night at the pavilion. I can only imagine how busy they get in the summer.

We saw some meteors. And, we found the Fall foliage!

Cypress trees along the Frio River, Garner State Park ❤
Monte skipping a rock on the Frio River.
Old Baldy peak at Garner State Park
More Fall foliage along the Frio River at Garner State Park
Big-Tooth Maple leaves at Lost Maples State Natural Area
More maples found at Lost Maples 🙂

I do love a drive through the Texas Hill Country.

Two more parks.

We drove straight to Colorado on the way north, about a 15-hour drive, and stayed with Julie in Denver for a night. Then we headed to Gene and Jo’s for two nights. We made a side trip to Estes Park as well. The family get-together was very special.

On the way back south we had another nice visit with Julie.

Dinner and desserts with Julie in Denver.

Then we broke up the long trip home into a couple of days including stops at two national parks.

Great Sand Dunes National Park – snow on the dunes
White Sands National Park – a truly unique place

We stayed in Ft. Davis for a night with a reservation to attend one of the McDonald Observatory’s star parties. The skies were not cooperative for viewing at the observatory, but we had fun.

McDonald Observatory socked in with clouds.

We left Ft Davis on Wednesday well before dawn, and on the drive up to I-10, I noticed that the clouds parted, opening up a clear, starry sky. So we pulled over in the middle of pitch-dark range land with coyotes howling all around and enjoyed a full-sky view of the Milky Way.

We enjoyed the view for a few minutes and then resumed our drive. A few minutes later the skies were filled in with thick clouds again. It was a treat to get that brief moment of star gazing.

A successful road trip, but it’s always nice to get back home.

Back home again.

Wednesday morning we left Little Rock bright and early, and drove to Hot Springs National Park. This year is the park’s 100th birthday.

Apparently bathing in the warm mineral spring water was a thing in the early 1900s. This was a popular destination for rehabilitation and convalescing. It’s a surprising location for a National Park; eight grand bath houses in a row along the main drag of Hot Springs. Each full of century-old spa-equipment, dressing rooms, ornate gathering rooms, and large front porches.

Bath house row.
Some of the original springs. And fountains placed to dispense the spring water. It really is warm, right out of the ground.
A trough where spring water is fed to the bath houses.
Spas of yesteryear.

Four days. 1700 miles. Four National Parks. Seven states. $4 in cash left in my wallet. Time to go home! We made it to Austin Wednesday evening.

Another adventure in the books. I enjoyed all of it.

EP.

A week ago, Monte, Susanne and I headed out from Austin, on a road trip to Estes Park, Colorado, to join in Dan and Erin’s wedding celebration.  We left at 4AM CDT, and pulled in to our destination at about 7PM MDT.   It was a long day of driving, but getting there made it all worth it.  I’ve never been to Estes Park before, but it is BEAUTIFUL!   It lies at an entrance to the Rocky Mountain National Park, surrounded by mountain peaks and streams, and is teeming with wildlife.  The town offers nice restaurants, breweries, music, festivals and all sorts of activities to tire you out.

We wore out our hugging muscles, but a good time was had by all.  After several days of visiting and sight seeing, we said our goodbyes and dropped Susanne off at Denver International Airport and then continued to made our way home.  We stopped overnight in Amarillo and then popped into Lubbock the next day to look for burrowing owls and to tour a winery, in the heart of Texas wine country’s vineyards.

A view of Lake Estes with the town of Estes Park and the Rocky Mountains in the background…

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We drove up into Rocky Mountain National Park, but the Trail Ridge Road was closed at Rainbow Curve, so we had to turn around at about 10,800′. We couldn’t do the complete drive across the Continental Divide.  But, the views were spectacular.  We got snowed on, and took way too many pictures.  I saw several lifer birds, a heard of elk, a bunny, and a varmit or two.

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Leaving Amarillo in the morning, we drove along historic Route 66 and made a stop at Cadillac Ranch. I wish I could have seen this back in its hey-day.  Now the cars are covered with ever-changing spray paint grafitti.   Sadly, you can see all the trash left on the ground by the “artists.”   OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

We stopped in Lubbock for lunch, and a tasting at McPherson Cellars Winery.  We also successfully tracked down some burrowing owls.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

I enjoy road trips.  I enjoy seeing family.  When they can be combined, it’s all the more special.

Roadtrip!

Since we are (mostly) unencumbered by commitments, we took a road trip over the weekend to Louisville, to attend our niece’s wedding.  We extended it a day or two to squeeze in a couple of additional visits in Indiana and Kentucky before heading back home.   It was a beautiful and heartfelt wedding.  The fall foliage was beautiful.  We were able to play tourist a little bit.  And we are now back home safe and sound.

Mary Anne and Chris did it up right.  We enjoyed the ceremony, the reception and, most importantly, the time spent with family visiting and telling stories and laughing.  Not everyone could be there, and Gene & Jo were sorely missed.

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We visited some wonderful places in Louisville.

The Louisville Stoneware factory got my potter juices flowing:

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The FlameRun glass-works gallery and working studio:

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The Louisville Slugger factory & museum:

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The Big Four pedestrian (former railroad) bridge over the Ohio River:

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And then we popped over to Indiana to visit Charlie & Kathy, and enjoyed the night life and autumn beauty of Madison.

Will Carter and Trisha Gene Brady performed at Red Bicycle Hall.

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This is the amazing view of the Ohio River valley from their living room!

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Then we stopped in the hills outside Bowling Green for a day with Lanny, and I scoped out all the birds I could find.  The bird on the left is a lifer for me – a white-breasted nuthatch; a carolina chickadee on the right.   I do love the birdies!

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Another trip in the books.  It’s also nice to be home  🙂