A little sunshine and a little adventure

 as we wandered across Texas.

Leaving College Station, we wandered through Austin and Texas Hill Country (aka Texas Wine Trail). Along the way we met up with an old friend.

 

In Fredericksburg we pulled off the road into the parking lot of Messina Hof Winery, anticipating a glass of their High Plains Malbec.

However we were allowed to spend the night in their parking lot. Have you ever been a spectator to a party to which you were not invited? Yeah, not much fun.

We heard the Grey Mule Saloon down the road a bit (280 miles or so) in Fort Stockton served some outstanding wines from Mesa Vineyards. So next morning we hopped on I-10 and headed to Fort Stockton.

I-10 in West Texas

Parking The Wanderer at the Event Center

we started out for the Grey Mule

which is closed on Mondays. Dang it!

After a quick tour around town (that would be Main Street,) we headed back to The Wanderer. To our delight, a couple from Canada was also parked at the Event Center.  We had a nice chat with Serge and Sandy, sharing tales of travel, body part replacements, and differences in health care in our respective countries.

Continuing west along the Southern Border, we found ourselves crossing the border into Mexico . 

where ABN found a wonderful Imperial Stout beer

 

at the Icebox Brewing Company in Las Cruces and we parked for the night.

 

Don’t let the photo fool you, it was actually pretty nice. We were parked near the back where construction was taking place.

Waking up to the sounds of construction made us feel right at home!

We were blown down the road to Deming (actually we drove, but with 30-40 mph wind, it seemed like we were being blown.) We pulled into the parking lot of Lescombes Winery to sit out a dust storm. After 5-6 hours of The Wanderer rocking and the sound of the wind blowing, it finally calmed a bit.

Going to the tasting room to make our Harvest Host obligatory purchase, we found it was closed due to power outage (apparently from the wind.) Along with 4 other rigs, we spent the night in their parking lot.

This morning we returned to I-10 West and next thing we knew, we were back in one of our favorite towns!

In our last post we mentioned we were in search of sunshine and adventure; we found a little of both. Thank you, Harvest Hosts, for finding these unconventional places to overnight; so much better than the Walmart parking lot.

 

 

 

How far would you drive to drink beer with friends?

I suppose that would depend on the value of the friendships. For these friends, 800 miles was not unreasonable.

Book of the week,(for those that want to know,)

Great week of eating too much, drinking a bit and a lot of catching up. 

We are now meandering across Texas, looking for sunshine and adventure. 

A Little Calm Before the Storm

 

The storm we are talking about is not the predictable rain, wind and lightening. Our storm is about the frenzy to which we return every spring, aka the neglected garden; the rush to get the weeds and spent plants removed and get new plants in the ground.

We are expecting a stormier spring than usual since ABN, due to shoulder replacement surgery last fall, was unable to properly put the garden to bed.

 

Knowing these daffodils will be blooming in just a few weeks, ABN was a little reluctant to leave this week

 

And we have a ballet to attend, quilters coming for Quilt Week, a college graduation and the house renovation.

If you read our last post, you will know the renovation starts with foundation work which is scheduled for the end of May. But first there is packing, moving, and removing.

 

The good news is it will take only 2-3 days and will not require a French drain (the new landscaping will not be disturbed!) However, all that stuff we pack will have to be returned and unpacked. If you are a crafter or married to one, you know that is a lot of stuff! Yeah, we are talking about ABN’s craft studio. And Captain’s wine cellar which will have to be rebuilt. This could take a while!

Whew! We need a little calm before the storm! Texas, here we come!