PhotoStory Friday-Haunted

The curvy, twisting, winding, hilly roads of my past now haunt me. Not because of the memories that lie along the way...not because of the cemeteries we visited...but because the hills, curves, twists and turns of the Ozark Hills in Missouri and Arkansas now make me CAR SICK!!! I NEVER suffered from car sickness in all the years of long road trips along those curves and Ozark Mountains as a child or teenager or since....until the last two trips to Missouri. Now when we are on our way to Missouri, before we even get as far as Batesville, Arkansas enroute my husband takes over driving and says "you may as well go to sleep or you're going to be sick!" So that's what I do and I wake up just before we arrive at my mama's house. How miserable! I have always enjoyed the scenic drive through the Ozark hills and can't even enjoy it the way I once did.


This time when we visited, I found a way to travel my favorite roads and enjoy them once more! We hauled my husband's motorcyle to Missouri with us so we could enjoy riding it while on vacation. We took it all over the country roads along the rivers and guess what!? No headache, no queasiness, nothing! I so enjoyed that cruise from the back of the bike!

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Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Thoughtful Thursday

I still have nothing new to post so I leave you with more photos from this spring. (Bill, you may recognize these from the day we all went road trippin' with you.)

Road Trip...Revisited

I posted photos of a recent road trip with friends here. I also posted more photos of that day here. While we were out and about that gorgeous Saturday, I also snapped some pictures of a couple of churches. I like old churches, probably because I grew up in a very old, small country church. When that church was first established it was a one room school house. One of the churches I photographed Saturday reminded me a lot of the church I grew up in.

The other church was just down the highway from the huge field of bluebonnets I posted pictures of recently. Even in the field of bluebonnets we could hear the chimes of the bells from the bell tower of this church. It was a beautiful sound and so complimented our trek through the pretty flowers!

While we were roaming around we stopped at an old general store and we all got a kick out of this population sign posted on the building. I wonder how close it is to the current population???

Road Trippin'

This week our friend Bill asked what we were doing Saturday after the VBS clinic. He then invited Marty and me to go with he and Denise to look at the largest field of Bluebonnets he's ever seen and asked if Heather would babysit their girls while we were out. Heather adores their girls and was all too eager to watch them and Marty and I were ready for a road trip.

The day of our road trip turned out to be simply gorgeous! As is always the case when we go road trippin' with Bill, I get totally, completely lost. He has a love of back roads and Texas history and is very familiar with both. But, he finds some of the most interesting places and loves showing them to us. I knew our final destination of the large bluebonnet field was somewhere near Weimar but had no idea how to get there and knew Bill would lead us there taking the long scenic route.



Bill was a very good sport about all the stops Denise and I requested he make for us to get a closer look or take pictures. They definitely share a love of old buildings with us and we stopped to photograph of few of those too....even crossing fences for a couple of them!

Marty snapped proof that I trespassed on this property for a closer look at this old building....

Upon closer inspection it appears to be an old store building and it sits out in the middle of nowhere.

from the back. Notice the grape vine embedded in the stone above the door.

I wasn't the only one interested in taking pictures today! This is my friend Denise.

I SO want to live here!!!!

I loved the Texas Paintbrush and Bluebonnets in the hay field!

Believe it or not, this is still not the field of flowers we were headed toward.

Gorgeous as this field is, it's still not THE ONE.

We scaled another fence (well, gate!) for a closer look at another building...

Another old store building we found. This one says "Hackberry Tex" at the very top. Click here to see more information on this building and town. This place was fascinating and when a family member of the owners came to see what we were up to, gave us more history of the old properties in the area.

THIS is the field that was our destination today! We debated back and forth whether we should cross the fence for pictures IN the field...

As you can see....cross the fence we did!

Me, Marty, Bill and Denise in the field of Bluebonnets.

Marty wanted to snap a photo of me in the Bluebonnets.

Marty and Me.

Denise and Bill.

Anyone hungry for some Bluebell Ice Cream???

As we headed back toward home we passed an exotic animal ranch and found some of the animals near the road so Bill parked for a closer look.

This guy was very curious and posed for several photos before becoming nervous and running away.

These 2 were across the road from the above photo and almost as curious and a whole lot more nervous.

awwwww........

He wasn't curious at all and just seemed to hope I'd go away.

Perfect ending to a beautiful day!!!

Thank you, Bill and Denise for a great day!!!

Saturday Solo Road Trip

I decided to take my camera and take a road trip by myself today. When I left I had a few desitinations in mind, but still wasn't sure where I'd end up. When I pulled out of town I was armed with a full tank of gas, a full coffee cup, a bagel, my cell phone, a map and of course MY CAMERA. What more did I need? As I was driving, and before my mind was made up about my destination, Erica called on her way to a baby shower to inquire whether I'd made up my mind where I was going. I told her a few of my destination choices, one of which was Blanco. She encouraged me to drive there via another more scenic route if I went there. So, that made my decision easier. I pulled over to consult a map and headed for Blanco. I told her the route sounded familiar and sounded like a route I had printed out this spring as one to take in search of wildflowers. I never did get the opportunity to do so then. As I was driving toward Wimberley I passed a unique looking building in the middle of nowhere and noticed the sign out front "Wimberley Glass Works." This was the route I'd considered taking in the spring and the glass gallery was one of the businesses I'd found online that looked intriguing. I pulled a u-turn and headed back to look around. What a beautiful gallery! I roamed around looking at various pieces and found a glass door to a room where glass blowing was being demonstrated. I walked in and had a seat to watch. I've always loved watching glass blowing. It fascinates me!

After they finished the piece they were working on I hit the road again. Soon I came to some really pretty views from the road so I pulled off to the side and hopped out with the camera. It wasn't long before I was joined along the roadside by another car with a couple with a camera in hand. I could see why it was a popular place to stop!











When I arrived in Blanco I headed straight to a little trail downtown that leads to a very beautiful park I discovered with my mom this summer.

I found a few colorful fall leaves on the trail:

This is the sight that greets you at the end of the short trail:







I spent some time sitting on a ledge, dangling my feet, listening to the ducks and the sound of the water. What a peaceful spot. I highly recommend it for reflecting, soul-searching, or just resting!




As I headed back toward home I ventured down a route different than the one I took to get to Blanco. As I turned onto this route, this is what I saw. You can see a glimpse of Canyon Lake off in the distance.