Hill Country anniversary trip

We took a little day trip to Enchanted Rock--where we got married--on our anniversary this year. It's too bad I forgot to charge the battery of my loaner camera overnight, but it actually ran out of space before it ran out of juice.

On the way we stopped to take some photos of things we've passed by a zillion times and always meant to photograph if we weren't rushing from here to there. It was nice actually making time for them.

This little hobbit house in Hunt, Texas, is tucked into the woods and sits right on the river's edge. It has a sign that says 'Toad Hall' but an quick online check says that's for two cabins they rent out, so I'm thinking this must be their residence, as photos of it do not appear anywhere on their website.

Just down the road there is a unique fence that keeps some horses off the road. (Click to biggify).

The cedar posts are covered with used boots, some of them quite colorful. I've heard this started in the old days as a way of recycling old boots and protecting the ends of posts from absorbing rain and rotting. But cedar posts are very long-lived even without boots. I have the feeling the owner started it, and then people passing by have just added to it over the years. I've certainly watched the collection grow over the past decade.

On the banks of the river we saw this very large, rubbery Evening Primrose species. The flowers were at chest height and I'm fairly tall. I didn't get enough details to key it out, but it's definitely water-loving and day-blooming so that should narrow things down a bit. Unlike others in its genus, it doesn't seem prolific as this is the only one we saw.

We took a back road through the ghost town of Crabapple, and stopped to photograph the ruins.

This building was the old school until the late 50's and is now considered the Community Center, although the Census does not show anyone presently residing in Crabapple. The next two images I processed to give them a vintage feel.

This building was the teacherage, where the teacher lived.

And this was the church, built in 1897. These are all great examples of the stonework that is so predominant throughout the Texas Hill Country done by the early German settlers.

Enchanted Rock State Natural Area can be seen in the distance from the highway approach to the south. The main dome where we were married is the tallest one on the right. Although sedimentary limestone is the predominant rock of the Hill Country, here there is a giant pink granite batholith pushed up from the depths of the Earth.

Along the trails there you will find many interesting rock formations, many of them sculpted by the wind. It is a mecca for rock climbers.

Here is Moss Lake and a view of the back side of the main dome on the right. In my younger days I took up rock climbing for a year and I climbed the steep, back side of Enchanted Rock twice. It is the equivalent of a 20 story building and takes about 7 hours. They say if you can learn to climb granite you can climb anything. I learned a lot about strength and courage but I could never, ever, say it was fun. Eventually I took up whitewater kayaking which I found more to my liking.

We continued around the loop trail, cut through Echo Canyon and made our own trail to the top of Enchanted Rock from a side with a more gentle approach. It was a blustery day similar to our wedding day, sans double rainbow. It was unfortunate the camera conked out at this point, as the view, as always, was spectacular. We caught a bite of Mexican Food back in Fredericksburg before heading home after a very nice day.

Sunday Stills: Valentines

Sending all my friends in blogland this image of one of my favorite vintage Valentines! This holiday is special to me, as it was on Valentines Day that Farmer Rick proposed.

We have been in San Antonio this week, down on the lovely Riverwalk, attending the state's Music Educators convention. The Riverwalk is the most romantic place in Texas and a good place to do photography.

 

Everywhere you turn there is something to delight the senses--textures, colors, sounds.

  

We stayed in a historic district a brief walk away from the convention center. Although we were in the newer part of the hotel, there was an old-world feel to the room. We only wish the lighting had been more suitable to reading!

 

There are many restaurants along the Riverwalk, and in better weather you can sit outside along the water. The food at most of them is mediocre at best, but you cannot surpass the view.

 

From our window we could see the Tower of the Americas built for Hemisfair 1968. Somewhere in that plaza my great-grandfather's house once stood. It rained the first day and a half, but Saturday the sun came out and it was a cheerful place.

 

When you are down along the Riverwalk you become oblivious to the traffic above at street level.

 

There are little pocket parks, paths, fountains, and art.

This statue is of Saint Anthony, for which the town gets its name.

  

Artistic detail abounds.

 

There are many foot bridges to get you from one side to the other without ever having to rejoin the hectic world at street level.

  

Usually there are more flowers this time of year, but even San Antonio has been having a colder winter than expected.

 

If you get tired of walking, you can always take a river taxi!

The convention center had a magnificent landscape joining into the Riverwalk.

The landscape architect obviously spent much time studying rocks and waterfalls in nature to be able to design such a pleasant space.

 

I'd definitely like to come back in a few months when the plants leaf out and the flowers bloom.

 

It is amazing something that mimics the beauty of where I live could be forged out of concrete in the heart of the city.

For more Valentines, visit Sunday Stills!

Sunday Stills: The Open Road

This was an experiment Saturday on a nearby road to see if I could get more road in the shot. I kind of like all the converging lines and the texture of the macadam in the foreground.

Please click to biggify

This panoramic photo is one that I took on a business trip to visit west Texas clients a couple years ago. I'd actually stopped to photograph the large wind farm running along the left mesa as my subject. But perhaps the neatest thing about the photo is that--just like the song--the road goes on forever.

I'm sure Ed can attest to this, since he was driving through it earlier this week! Visit him and the rest of the gang at Sunday Stills.

Sunday Stills: Fences

Still trying to wash the New Mexico dirt out of our laundry from our week long adventure. Along the way I was able to visit another Sunday Stills photographer, Lisa at Laughing Orca Ranch, so be sure to check out that story. (I figure it can make up for my lost post on Sunday).

Our fences are pretty dull around here, so I thought I'd show you a few from my travels.

Santa Fe

Cerrillos

Velarde

This last one was long and colorful, but I'll be saving those shots for my next Color Carnival post!

For more images of fences, visit the other photographers at Sunday Stills.

Jemez Springs or at Least Looking for Them

Driving up from Bernalillo, through the Jemez Pueblo and the mountain town of Jemez Springs, we stopped at the Soda Dam. It has been over a decade since I was here last and it was sad to see that all the little dams within the cave had been broken away by people crawling through it.

Some creative soul, though, had made snakes and lizards out of nails hammered closely together on the entrance logs. Pretty cool.

There were probably 50+ people swimming here in the Jemez River, so it was quite a feat to get photos without them in it. We stopped at the first campground where I'd stayed before and it was full! Guess I'd never come during summer before.

Where have all the flowers gone? Young girls picked them every one.

The Jemez Falls campground also said full, but the park host let us know someone had just left and the site was ours if we could claim it before anyone else. It was a beautiful site.

We opted to stay two nights. Each evening an electrical storm blew in and it rained. This might have discouraged some campers, but since we haven't seen much of the stuff lately we were delighted. Rain--what a concept!

Sunday we spent the day looking for hot springs. We got up very early to beat the crowds the park host had described, and hiked the trail to Jemez Falls. There were numerous wild orchids blooming in the pine duff.

These little falls above the big falls were delightful...

as were the Harebells, Campanula rotundifolia.

Jemez Falls is always a lovely spot.

We backtracked up to the trail head and followed the trail sign toward McCauley Springs. Now, all of the hot springs I've ever visited were right alongside the river they were associated with.

The trail was strenuous, up and down, and kept climbing up and away from the river. Maybe because I was out of shape it seemed like we had already gone the 2.5 miles. Looking down from this precipice I could not imagine us further away from them. We came upon a little stream, and in retrospect, I should have stuck a foot in it. But at this point we gave up and turned around, retracing our way. The parking lot was almost empty, where were the throngs?

We met only a woman and her daughters looking for the springs. We talked again to the park host, who admitted he wasn't sure where they were as it had been a while since he had been. We decided to drive up the road where lots of people park, assuming hot springs were nearby.

Nope, folks were just going down to some part of the river where it was deep enough to jump from cliffs. Along the way we saw this flower. At first I thought it was Apache Plume, but I think it's something else I'll have to study. The locals here told us we should go to Spence hot springs as they were easiest to find and right on the river.

We got there and a strangely dressed man from Russia greeted us. I said hello in Russian and he corrected my pronunciation. He was wearing a dress shirt, shoes, and socks, but with outdoor shorts and sort of a woven safari hat. Maybe his luggage was lost, or is this how they look adventuring in Steppes? Or, perhaps a nuclear scientist (or spy) from Los Alamos with a small wardrobe?

Anyway, he seemed well versed on how to get to all the local hot springs, and in recounting our earlier trek to find McCauley he said we were basically there when we turned around! Rats! The newest problem, though, was both trails to Spence hot spring were closed due to landslides. While we were talking numerous locals ignored the signs and headed for warm waters. He did not want to risk his visa, and we really didn't want to incur any fines so we left.

Down the hill, and around the bend was a day use fishing park...might not a short hike up the river lead us to the springs? We were off, pushing through brush. And snakes. And crossing the river. And displacing fly fishermen. Finally, we saw the highway above and hiked out, realizing we still were no where near the springs.

Our solution? We drove down to Jemez Spring and rented a hot spring at Giggling Springs.

Years ago I rented this as part of an accommodation...there was the Big Dipper, Little Dipper, and the small cabin I stayed in, the Skinny Dipper! But the owners turned that into the dressing room, and now make their money renting the hot spring by the hour.

No wonder, as it's impossible to find the others!

Madrid and Cerrillos

If you saw the movie Wild Hogs (we haven't) then you might recognize Madrid. It was our first time to visit. We got in close to sunset on Friday and had this wonderful view from the rooftop deck of our casita.

The casita was filled with light, decorated with posters of the wildflowers of New Mexico, and even harvested rainwater. Very charming!

Once a company coal mining town, this village is now filled with galleries of artsy handmade items, local food, and music. During the 70's mining ghost towns such as Madrid, Jerome, Bisbee attracted the hippies who purchased places with $20 down and developed them over the years into real communities.

Here are some of the whimsical sculptures of our host Michael Austin Wright.



There's not a lot of downtown street parking, and some folks let you know how they really feel about it.

Apparently there was a self-proclaimed Marshall who made sure people parked in the right spots. He has since passed on, but his legend is still present.

Madrid has a sense of humor, too. If you look closely under the poster...

Saturday morning we enjoyed coffee at the local Java Junction.

Farmer Rick discovered a local green publication as we hung out on the patio there.

We did a little shopping. This means I was trying on clothes and looking at art while Farmer Rick discussed local foods with the shop owners. He can work the word manure into any conversation!

We had the most delicious salads for lunch at a cafe with three different names out front (none of which we remember but highly recommend). There were so many vegetarian choices it was difficult to decide. Next time I'll try the parsnip tacos.

Two miles down the road is the community of Cerrillos, where green turquoise is mined. We enjoyed looking at all the rock samples at the mining museum.

Even derelict buildings have style in New Mexico.

And so do the doors.

A small personal shrine.

We loved this image of Christ as a tree in front of the church in Cerrillos...

and this creative use of pallets! New Mexico is the land of recycle and we appreciate that aspect of this enchanting state.