Gonzales, Texas

The first photo I use in any of my entries is of anything that makes the biggest impression on me of my visit to the area. As I drove into Gonzales from the northwest there were amazing green pastures with lots of cattle, fields of wild flowers and old farms. But once I got into town and parked my car I started noticing some incredibly beautiful homes with so much charm and character. This yellow beauty really made an impression on me and therefore this is how I will remember Gonzalez!

The wildflowers are just starting to come up. I wish I stopped to get a better picture but if you have ever driven in Texas you know that you just don't do that on a major highway!

The homes were not the only thing that got my attention. I visited the only original prison left in town and took many pictures. What got my attention was all of the names, graffiti and carvings on the walls, ceilings and anywhere there was space. Never having been to prison, thankfully so, I can't even imagine how bored one can get while in there. 

This is where the hangings took place where most of the prisoners could see what was coming to some of them. 

The original Come And Get It cannon is in one of the museums in town. 

I almost didn't make it out of town!

This is a very old town and some of these buildings are almost two hundred years old. 

As I left town I decided to take a different road back home and take some of the country farm roads. I was glad to see things that I wouldn't of seen if I was going seventy miles an hour. One of them was a surprise just like coming up on the Road Runner in New Mexico. I was driving along this country road and all of a sudden I saw a little movement out of the corner of my eye. I couldn't get my camera fast enough to take pictures of a very beautiful pair of Caracaras. 

The other thing I ran into reminded me of my new friend from Simon from Silver City, New Mexico because it had the creativity and spirit that he has. 

Thank you for the good time Gonzales, Texas and until we meet again!

Fredericksburg, Texas

I  had to make this the first picture from Fredericksburg because when I read it, it summerised so much of what my journey is about. As I drove along the beautiful Hill Countey roads into town it reminded me of my childhood around the age of five or six years old and going on long walks on my Grandparents farms. 

I came upon farm after farm with huge green pastures, some had horses, a lot had cattle but this one had many llamas on it. 

I finally made me t to town and parked in front of this beautiful old home that had been made into a quaint gift shop named Henfeathers!  Of course I had to go inside and look at all of the wonderful items they had. I met Edie inside and we struck up a conversation. I told her about my trip and she just thought it was the best thing in the world. She told me she had retired to Fredericksburg after working as an airline stewardess. She had been coming here on vacation with her husband for many years and loved it so much that she knew she wanted to retire here. 

I asked if we could take a picture together and she giggled, said she wasn't very photogenic. I think she's beautiful and can just picture her helping so many up in the friendly skies. 

I started walking down Main Street and one can see immediately how busy this little town in the Hill Country gets and how its charm draws people from all over the world. From what I understand the town was settled by German immigrants and to this day that is the influence that attracts all the visitors. 

The town has many very old buildings and homes. 

The visitors are as varied as the colors of the town!

Overall I had a wonderful day and at the end of it all I could think of was how I could continue swimming out to my ship!

Hello Seguin, Texas!

We arrived in Seguin, Texas at around 3:30 in the morning after driving for around fourteen and a half hours. After letting everyone take potty breaks we had to get some sleep because the moving truck was to arrive by eight in the morning. 

I was only able to get a couple of hours of sleep in the back of my car because I couldn't get to the bed in Motel Miguel since we had packed all the house plants in the open space available. The first thing I heard was a male Red Cardinal singing away in the early morning light. Even though I was exhausted, I was also thrilled to see this bird for the very first time in the wild!

The movers arrived right on time at 8am!  It took them the whole day and we were slap happy from the exhaustion. 

By the next day we all had rested and I was finally able to take a walk around the neighborhood. 

The neighborhood cows ran over to the fenceline and welcomed me. Isn't the new baby the cutest thing in the pasture!

Some of the homes around the neighborhood sit right on the banks of the Guadalupe River and they are up on stilts for flood reasons. I guess they had some bad flooding around here back in 1998 and again in 2001. Nevertheless they are beautiful!

On Friday afternoon I met my friend Sue and her daughter for the first time. We decided to meet up at the San Antonio zoo. It was raining but we didn't let that stop us from enjoying the park and a lot of the animals were also having a blast bathing in the cool sprinkles. 

I had only seen one Congo Peafowl in my life at the San Diego Zoo. San Antonia had several pairs throughout the park and I was able to get close to several of them. This male was up on a ledge looking down on us and he was gorgeous. 

A mallard duck pair already had a clutch of about twelve babies out in the water. 

The next morning on my walk I photographed this male Cardinal just singing away in one of the trees by the house. The morning was a bit foggy but very refreshing. 

I've enjoyed walking around Seguins downtown and getting to know this city my friends Hal and Ann have chosen for their new home. I hope that they are able to enjoy it and continue living their life in happiness out in the garden!

Goodbye Silver City, New Mexico

It's been a while since I last made an entry. Things took a turn for the better and hopefully I've helped my friends Hal and Ann find a place they can finally feel at home. They moved to Silver City a year ago from Southern California. They found that they weren't truly happy in Silver City with the constant winds, cold weather and not being able to be outside in their garden because everything is almost solid rock. I told them I would stay and take care of their place if they wanted to go and find another place they would rather move to. Hal has a sister that lives in Seguin, Texas and so that's where they went to look around. They found a beautiful home and so the planning of a move began. It's not easy moving twice, to two different states with a lifetime of cherrished items. Ann did almost all of the packing and I have no idea how she did it other than she is an incredible individual.

On Monday, March 16 the moving truck arrived and in one day the house was emptied. They would meet us in Seguin, Texas on Wednesday morning. We couldn't leave until the next day because of final arrangements that needed to be made. It had already been decided that they would ship their cars and we would all make the 14 hour drive together in my car with Motel Miguel in tow behind us.  Little did I know what a great memorable experience that would turn out to be!

We loaded everyone into my car, the three Pomeranians way in the back because we needed access for potty breaks. Ruggie the Airedale would ride behind my seat on his bed, he's a great traveling companion and behaved so well. Oh and I can't forget to mention that we also had seven chickens and eight finches with us!

We started getting some rain after LA's Cruces but it was really coming down by the time we were in El Paso, Texas. The traffic was stop and go through the city and it slowed us down for about an hour. 

Ruggie was great and slept most of the way right next to Ann. 

There were some beautiful rolling clouds on the mountains in Texas. 

Sometime around midnight we pulled over not a gas station in Ft. Stockton, Texas to fill up. We also needed to use the facilities ourselves. Hal went first and then Ann and I went in. After using the facilities I told Ann that maybe we should get coffee to help us stay awake. I asked the attendant which was her strongest coffee to help keep me awake. She made a suggestion and was really nice and cheerful. At this point Ann said to me "I hope you brought money in because mine is in the car" I 

told her I did but then the attendant said "yeah, you better have money or else you're going to have to 

dance for it!"  We laughed and fixed our coffees then headed for the register. There were about five truckers in line and the attendant that helped us with the coffee was just leaning against the counter a few feet away. I jokingly asked loud enough where I needed to dance for my coffee and she turned around and said "right there is fine!"  So I started dancing, Ann probably was so embarrassed to be standing next to me because the truckers turned around to look and the attendant told us that the coffee was free. We had made her day and we didn't think she was serious and told her that she didn't 

have to do that but she insisted we take the coffee. Of course we had to take a picture with Gracie, as 

we found out, even though we looked like we had been hanging our heads out the window the whole trip. She absolutely made our trip and the coffee kept us awake for the rest of the trip. 

We finally pulled into the driveway at around 3:30 in the morning, fourteen and a half hours after leaving Silver City, New Mexico and around 750 miles. Everyone was exhausted but alive and we set everyone up for the night and only had a couple of hours to sleep because the first moving truck was going to be arriving by 8am. 

I only got about an hour of sleep because the extra shot of caffeine in the coffee was affecting me and the rain hitting my car didn't help either. 

The rain stopped as the morning light came out. We welcomed that so that the moving truck could be emptied and not have everything get wet. 

Even though this is already Sunday night on March 22 and the second truck has been unloaded and stuff is everywhere, we are all still very tired. Ann has been emptying boxes non stop since Wednesday, Hal has been organizing the movers and arranging for services and I have been trying to stay out of the way and started walking again here in Seguin. It was a huge effort on everyone's behalf. Would I do this again?

ABSOLUTELY! 

Unplanned adventures like this is what my journey is all about. I hope I have made a difference in my dear friends lifes and they have given me so much to be thankful for. The memories will last a lifetime.