I'm in Love ... Again...

And this time, it is with the Guadalupe River here in the Hill Country of Texas. We have been over and around it and through it many many times these last few days and it is a very appealing and every changing. These are some of my first pictures of this cypress-lined beauty.

This old wooden railroad used to connect Comfort to San Antonio; that is until 1940's when it was closed. The rancher who owned this property had land on both sides of the river and couldn't get from one side to the other... so he bought the railroad and bridge and used it until the mid 80's. (At least that is the story we got from a fellow we met at the monument in town.)

North of the river and east of Fredricksburg on County Rd #1476 is Luckenbach, Texas. Yes, it is the one made famous by the song and yes, I don't think it has changed much. There is a
dance hall (which still has dances every Saturday night) and a saloon (which is now part gift shop) and that is about all there ever was, I guess. Oh, and the post office. Anything goes in Luckenbach...
And leave it to me to find the school...

Here Mike is talking to Bob, who would not believe that we were really in the infamous town. We were there on a Saturday and there was a group playing outside by the saloon; you see them in the background. You can also see the bride and groom who were having wedding pictures taken.

On Monday, on our way to Canyon Lake (into which the Guadalupe River flows), we drove through a small town where I had to pose. It is on FM32. Richard, a native Texan, tells me that FM originally meant "farm to market" roads. The countryside provided many opportunities for Debbie and I to tell Mike to stop - "photo op".

Here is a small bridge over the river; we had to stop to take a closer look. That is Richard admiring the Guadalupe (and looking for fish).

And a closeup of one of the many hundreds of Cypress Trees that line her banks.

Here the boys pose by Canyon Lake. It is not every day that our 6'5" friend can look up to Mike.

It is low, but still an active recreational area as you can see by the number of sailboats in the harbor.

This fellow lives by Canyon Lake.

And we found this tree along Cypress Creek, which flows into the Guadalupe which flows into Canyon Lake.

On Tuesday, we drove up to Kerrville and then to Ingram and Hunt on #39. (You guessed it, they are along the river.) We ran into Stonehenge II which is a 2/3 scale replica of the one in England. It seems that two fellows, with too much time on their hands, got a wild hair to build the thing after one of the guys had put a large stone on end in the other guys field. They built an arch over the stone to highlight it and ... Stonehenge II was started.

It kind of reminded me of kids playing Ring Around The Rosie.

And we found more beautiful places along the river to photograph. Most of the land is privately owned and the speed on the roads is usually 70mph so stopping can be a little hazardous, but this idyllic scene was worth it.

And at a wayside rest area, we found an old rope swing, complete with the step boards on the tree.

When we returned to Kerrville, we crossed over the river and went to the beautiful and spacious home of Rodney and Vickie for several hours of conversation and some good food. (After living in the motorhome for so long, I think we would get lost if we had such a grand home.) I worked with these folks in North Branch and it is always good to catch up with what is going on in their lives. We plan to see them again later in the week.

And today, we decided to take a short drive to Bandera because it is billed as the "Cowboy Capital of the World". We should have known better, it is no where near the Guadalupe. There were no signs proclaiming its claim to fame and really very little in the town. We drove out to a small chapel (Polly's) that was built by a Mexican Immigrant in the 1880's - All By Hand! Here are pictures of the church, courtyard, and the builder's resting place.

Since we were close to Medina Lake, we decided to take a look. The area was very depressed and the lake was barely there.

Now, it is raining but I don't think it will help the Medina Lake much. However, I will have to check the Guadalupe; it may be over some of it's small bridges.

Wow, this was a long post! I will try to write more often or have less to say next time!