Bronwynn's Texas trip cont'

Bronwynn is long since left Texas but I wanted to post the remainder of her trip. The day after she arrived we went to Waco, TX. and there we went to Cameron Park (one of my favorite nearby parks.) There she tried to jump off Lovers Leap.

From Cameron Park, we went to the Mammoth Site in Waco where we saw some mammoth remains.

We stopped for lunch at a place that Ted Nugent raved about called the Rusty Star.



We were traveling in record heat and we decided to take a trip to the Dr. Pepper museum for a refreshing drink.

Charles Alderton, the inventor of Dr. Pepper.

This would be the only refresher of the day, after we left the museum my AC broke down on our way to Glen Rose, TX.



This changed our plans some and so we waited until the evening and went to Dinosaur Valley State Park.

Bronwynn posing as a dinosaur.

The next day we went to dallas and visited the Dallas Museum of Art.



Bronwynn spent a lot of time looking at the Roman/Egyptian jewelry.

Later that evening we went to see the FC Dallas play Alianza FC (a team from El Salvador.) Dallas won 1-0

Bronwynn's Texas trip

Bronwynn flew in today and I got to take her to a weapons simulator where she got to fire a few weapons.

Later we went to the lake and did the water slide. Sorry, no pictures; we were too wet!

San Antonio, July 4th weekend

I've not done a lot lately and I wanted to get out for my three day weekend. A co-worker invited me down to San Antonio where he and his wife have an apartment; a free place to stay? How could I say no? San Antonio is a 2.5 hour drive for me and so off I went. I got in Friday night and thought I would go to the Alamo on Saturday. I got up Saturday morning and set out for breakfast at Jims Restaurant (a great breakfast place.) Next I set course for the Alamo and I guess everyone else had the same idea because it was packed.

The Alamo was a neat place to visit but if you want the full effect you have to do a lot of reading because there really wasn't that much to see.

I decided that I should hike the river walk to get in some exercise and take in the sites. It was beautiful and I thought every city should have something like this. Along the river walk I spot this young fellow along with its brother:

No, I didn't take the time to determine their sex! Funny looking babies, I wonder if this is where women got the idea to highlight their hair?

It was hot and I was ready for some A/C, so I went to the Mall and decided that I wasn't a shopper and that I would rather go to the Art Museum. Man am I glad I did, this place was huge and I didn't even get to look at everything before they closed. Here are a few things that I did get to see:

The last picture here was a real treat. In my photography classes in college, I had to pick an artist and write a report every year and Phil Borges was the first artist that I wrote about. Pretty cool to get to see a print in person.

Something else that I thought was pretty cool was outside of the museum.

Part of the San Antonio transportation system! Take a bike and drop it off at the next location. Awesome!

I spent Sunday visiting with my hosts and then drove back on Monday.

Buescher State Park

One of my hardest hikes so far. This park is located in the Lost Pines of Texas about two hours southeast of where I live. Lots of up hill treks and plenty of shade. A deer scared the crap out of me (I'm sure I scared it too!) but the deer ran and I didn't. That deer was lucky, I didn't get one shot off. Anyway, here are the shots that I did get.

On the map, this was labeled as a pond. Texas is going through a drought so things are all dried up.  

No the deer did take the photos of me, I set my camera on timer and placed it on a stump.

Killeen Rodeo

The Killeen Rodeo was happening this week and I went all three nights. What a good time and of course the photographer got to eat free every night; bonus! The bull riding was the highlight of the show but it happened at night and so for me the bronc riding was my most successful shooting. Here are a few shots and a video for you to enjoy.

The rodeo was fun, but the weather is still HOT!

Mother Neff State Park (the first Texas state park)

I had a wonderful hike and I'll take the hike over the tred mill any day. I left early in the day, because it is Africa hot, and drove about an hour north-east to Mother Neff State Park. This area is next to Leon River and it is a very wooded area. There was only one path that I didn't hike and that is because at the trail head there was a sign that read, "Watch for Snakes." My decision was made, why watch for snakes when you can avoid them? Anyway, here are some of this weeks shots.

  
The cave was excavated by the CCC workers and they found the remains of three indians buried there. The pavilion was built by the CCC; I ate lunch there.

The trails are pristine, this is what I've always envisioned our property to look like, minus the spider.

McKinney Falls State Park

My NewBalance shoes fell apart (literally,) so I had to get something I could go hiking in. It just so happens that there is an REI store near me in Round Rock, TX. REI is like a candy store for the outdoorsman. Slowly, I am becoming more of an outdoorsman again. Here are just a couple of the reasons why:

This is when I most think about God and marvel at his creations. Time is such a wonderful thing, I wish I had more of it.

Longhorn Caverns State Park and Inks Lake State Park

It was hot today so I decided to take my hike underground. Of course it was guided and there were some old crunchies with my group so it was a stop and go kind of hike but most of mine hikes are because I like to stop and take photographs. 

Our tour guide was pretty funny but he did point out some facts. Like this cavern was created by fast moving water hence the smooth sides. And the domes where created by whirl pools in the underground river.

This little guy was fast asleep and I though he was pretty cool. If only I had a different lens and more time in the cave.

We owe it all the the CCC workers for digging this cavern out and for putting together this wonderful stonework.

From the Longhorn Caverns and back into the heat of the day, I went just a few miles up the road to Inks Lake.

At Inks lake I found the Devils Watering Hole. I hiked up the rocks to the top and took this panoramic. Kids were jumping of the rocks on the over side, it looked like a place my kids would like to go. Alas, I hiked back down and headed for home.