A Day at the Races

I'm a little behind on posting this because I couldn't get to the few pictures I had.  Every year for the last 18 years in Buda TX, they have the Weiner Dog Races in April. The Buda Lions Club sponsors the event and it is very popular. They have bleachers on two sides of the track and the third side is a hillside where people bring blankets or chairs to watch. They start the first heats on Saturday and continue on Sunday with the finals in the afternoon. They also have a parade on Saturday where you will see all sorts of dachshunds dressed to the nines. We didn't get to see that this year but we did go on Sunday.

My pictures aren't that great but you get the idea. Some people take this very seriously and they train for the event. Some just enter their dogs for the fun of it. They start behind the gate at the end and the owners stand at this end with a toy or treat or whatever they think it will take to get their dog to race down to them. It can be hilarious to watch as some dogs head out like greyhounds stretched to the max and fly down the track. Others saunter down like they are parading for their fans. Occasionally, one or two will wander around at the starting gate and their owners have to go get them.

The guy in the lead in this heat looks pretty serious.

This is not Harley....it is a little girl who was at the end near the finish line. It was absolutely hilarious because every time one of the heats took off, she would bark and howl and stick her head through the fence like she was the head cheerleader. Everyone around us was laughing hysterically at her antics. She was having a ball even though she was not racing.

 

 

There are hundreds of dachshunds walking around the grounds and booths selling all kinds of things both dog related and not. You will see about every type of dachshund there is. Of course, some people think they need to bring their other breeds too but it really is Dachshund day.

Lunch with Celebrities and a Visit to Gruene

Wednesday Rae drove up from her RV park in Von Ormi to meet me and then I drove us up to meet Malia Lane (http://www.maliasmiles.com/blog) in Buda for lunch.  Another friend, Diana, drove down from Austin and met us there too.  Malia had a surprise for us too.  She invited Judy, another full-timer, to join us.

You may already know Malia.  She has been a solo full-timer for twelve years now.  You can read about her Inspiration to RV on http://www.maliasrv.com/.  Inspiration was actually the name of her first motorhome.  Now Inspiration will be moving on to inspire someone else because Malia just got a new RV and is in the process of settling in to her new home. When we arrived at Crestview RV park which is onsite at Crestview in Buda, TX, her sales rep, Rob, was visiting her to make sure everything was going smoothly.  We all chatted about our RVs.  Rob actually sold Malia Inspiration as well as her new RV but I will let her tell you all about that.

Diana, Malia, Colleen, Judy, and Rae at Chili's in Buda.  Everyone thought it was hilarious that there was a dachshund photo right over my head.  Really, I didn't plan it.

We had a great lunch.  After lunch, Malia had to get back to work while Judy and Diana headed north to Austin.  Rae and I headed south and made a stop at Guene Tx so Rae could see the oldest dance hall in Texas.

There wasn't anyone playing while we were at Gruene Hall but they were setting up for later.  Rae wondered about the floors being sturdy but they have crowds in there all the time.  We looked at all the pictures on the walls from the many different bands that have played there.

We spent some time looking around in the antique store.

We checked out the General Store.

And we looked at some of the local bed and breakfast places.  Not quite sure about the little low building in front.  I thought "storm shelter" but that wouldn't work with the windows in place.

It's always fun to visit Gruene and play tourist.  I think Rae enjoyed her visit to this small town and really liked Gruene Hall.

Running Away from the Rain

Dark, dreary, chilly, rain with muddy footprints across the carpet.  Oh, no.  I can't stand it any more.  Saturday seemed like it might last forever and it wasn't even noon.

What's this?  A friend is coming by to take us away.  I'm ready, let's go.  He whizzes in like a bright yellow bird and swoops us away to sunnier skies.  Is this the Hill Country?  Everyone wanted to go along but it was a very small plane.

We landed near a small stream with thoughts of catching a fish or two for dinner but we didn't have a cooler to keep them in so we headed out.

Some of the local wildlife wanted to carry on a lengthy conversation but we needed to move along while the sun was still shining.

Grizzlies in the Hill Country???  You just never know what you are going to see next.

I knew I was cold this morning but we must have landed at the far north edge of the Hill Country up around Brownwood.  I sure hope this weather doesn't head further south.

Some of the wildlife didn't seem very friendly but they were more intent on the other wildlife than on us.

I don't know if there is a robbery going on here or what but it looks like there is a lookout and someone who has his nose where it doesn't belong.

All in all, it was an exciting trip and it sure beat sitting at home in the dreary rain.  We were ready to hop back on the plane but the fuel was low.

So we had to find another mode of transportation to get us home.

 Okay, okay, so you aren't buying a trip around the Hill Country by plane and traveling home by covered wagon???

It's true, we did head north in the dreary rain.  The sky got brighter as soon as we headed out.  We were in the car, not a bright yellow plane.  We saw all the wildlife at Cabela's in Buda.  They have some amazing displays.  We also went on to Cowboy's Harley Davidson in Austin, well, on the very south edge of Austin.  The photo is of their advertising sign.

It was a fun trip anyway.

A Big Day!

My friend Birdie had a major event happen this week.  I couldn't be there on Monday when the big event happened but I made up for it as soon as I could.  What was the big event?  Well, if you have been following my blog, you will know that Birdie has been looking at RVs for over a year now with me as her faithful sidekick.  Now don't misunderstand, Birdie is already an RVer.  She is a full-time RVer and "Bunkie", 30 foot Class C, has been her home for a while now.  "Bunkie" is a very nice RV but maybe just not right for a full-time single since he has two sets of bunk beds in back and a queen bed over the cab not to mention a couch and dinette which can also sleep a couple.  The thing "Bunkie" is missing is a slide to give a little more space to a full-timer.

Monday about noon "Bunkie" was replaced by "Suite Pea" an absolutely gorgeous Winnebago Vista Class A.  We looked at this beauty a while ago and Birdie made up her mind last week.  Two other RV friends were on hand Monday to help move all Birdie's worldly goods from RV to another.  It was a very big job even though things were boxed.  She spent the night at the Crestwood RV dealer's park in Buda so she could give everything a good run through.  Tuesday morning about 11:00AM I headed up to give her a hand with stowing all her goods away and getting the RV ship-shape.  Here she is with her Suite Pea!

We worked really hard all afternoon and I was invited for a sleepover as she needed to stay one more night so they could install a fantastic fan in the bathroom.  It took a lot of labor to get to this point.

We were both exhausted when we headed to bed about 10:00PM.  I think Birdie fell asleep right away but I wasn't so lucky.  I had a nice comfy bed on the sofa airbed but was a little hyper I guess.  Too bad because by midnight, we were both awake.  The storm that blew through Buda was horrific.  Even with the  heavy duty automatic levelers we could feel a slight shudder with all the wind.  The thunder was absolutely deafening and the lightning awesome.  About 3 AM Birdie had the weather channel on TV (watching TV is something she never does!)  just to see if there were tornadoes.  The thunder was so loud that I'm not sure that we could have heard the typical freight train noise of a tornado.  At least the heavy duty bathroom was right across from us.  Anyway, we survived with no damage but not a lot of sleep.  We spent the morning putting things away and arranging some more.  Then we headed back to Potter's Creek where Birdie is staying.  Another friend, Liz, was patiently waiting for us to arrive.

Doesn't this look like a happy new RV owner getting ready to head out on the road?

Once we arrived, the three of us began tackling the outside storage.  Of course, we found more items that needed to go inside.  Liz and Birdie were still at it when I headed home at 6:00PM.  There is still more arranging and stowing to do but that will go on for a while until Birdie finds just the right location for everything.  Enjoy your new home my friend!

Lunch at the Driftwood Salt Lick

The last time I saw Diana, she asked if Birdie and I would like to go to one of her favorite places for lunch so we planned a little GTG.   

Birdie and I planned to meet in San Marcos and do a little shopping at the outlet mall before heading up to Driftwood.  She said she was going early and I told her that I would call her as soon as I arrived.  Otherwise, we would just meet up at 10:45.  My plan was to arrive by 9:00AM latest.  The dogs always wake up by 8:00AM and let me know they want out of their crates. Always, except for Thursday morning, when I was counting on them for an alarm clock!  Thursday morning I woke up to silence, looked at the clock and it was 9:05AM.  I quickly got ready to go and headed downstairs.  The dogs were outside.  Apparently DH got up real early, let them out, and went back to bed.  So much for plans!

About 5 minutes south of San Marcos, I got a call from Birdie.  I told her I was almost there and then she told me she was running really late and was far behind me.  She had one of those mornings too.  Normally up well before 7:00AM (ugh), she overslept by two hours and then made 4 circles around the campground before she finally had everything with her that she needed.  Made my morning look easy.  I did a tour of the outlet malls just to see what was there.  Once she arrived, we made one stop before it was time to leave for Driftwood.  Driftwood is pretty much out in the country but not a very long drive from San Antonio and even shorter from Austin.

This is the original Salt Lick out in Driftwood, TX where it all began in the midst of rolling hills, abundant wildlife, century-old oak trees and native wildflowers. Old barnwood looking buildings are surrounded by vineyards.  Of course, the vines were bare this time of year.  

 There are two main buildings, the restaurant and the vineyard building.  In between are lots of outdoor tables.  I guess this is where you wait if you don't time your visit very well.  There is lots of parking out behind the two buildings.

When you want in the place, the first thing you see is the barbeque pit.

You can even see them cutting the meat.  Of course, all those delicious smells make you hungry!

 Unlike many barbeque places where you place your order up front, here you sit down at a table with benches for seating and a waitress comes to take your order.  They only take cash here and you can bring your own bottle with you if you want.

Then she brings the food to you, lots of delicious food. Birdie had the ribs on the left while Diana and I had brisket and turkey.  The barbeque is different here but very delicious.  The sauce is a light translucent brown with a hint of vinegar flavoring.  Even the potatoes have a hint of this flavor.  Takeout boxes were necessary.  Birdie got a large order so she would have a couple of meals left over.

From here, we headed to Cabela's which was just a very short distance away in Buda.  Birdie found some hiking shoes she wanted but they couldn't find the 2d shoe missing out of the box????  She was going to order them but a couple of days later she found her missing winter hiking shoes stored in an unexpected spot in her RV.  Good thing she didn't get the new ones.

Diana headed back to Austin while Birdie and I made one more stop at Crestview in Buda.  She is still looking at Class As so we check them out whenever we find them.  And then we were back on the road to San Marcos.  We didn't get any shopping done at the outlet mall but we had a great day.