About Me

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Arizona City, Arizona, United States
We are Barbara and Bill Connor formerly of Meadville, PA. We sold our home in October, 2008 and are now living fulltime in a 39' Titanium 5th wheel RV and loving every minute of it! Back to Arizona for the winter. CLICK ON ANY PHOTO TO ENLARGE.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Goodbye Buckhorn.... April 24, 2011



Well, we are settled into our little "Vacation Home", our 27 ft. Prowler. In the next 5 months it will be home as we travel through New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Canada, Alaska, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, and back to Texas. When all is done we will have traveled over 15,000 miles and seen so much more of our beautiful United States. We will try to keep you posted as to where we are, depending on Internet availability!










On one of my last walks down Goat Creek Road with Syd and Jen, we found this beautiful claret cactus in full bloom in the entrance garden of a local resident. The people on this road are very friendly, always waving as they drive by us. One gentleman, "Mayor Jim" was always eager to stop us and chat for awhile. His closing remark was always "You come and visit us sometime."

















Here is a "weed" called antelope horn. I thought the flower, about the size of a tennis ball, was very interesting. It looked like little stars, as you can see on the flower on the right, before it was fully opened. A lady driving down the road saw me taking a picture of it and stopped to tell me what is was. Texas Hill Country people sure are friendly!






Back at Buckhorn Lake Resort, here are some of the pansies that I helped plant and "nurse" through the winter. It was below freezing for 3 days in a row in February. But they bounced back and are beautiful now.











The pool sure felt good these past few weeks when the temperatures have been in the 90s.



And the hot tub felt good after a day of planting flowers!








We spent a lot of time at the "Barn". We played dominoes in the Social Hall on the left and watched a lot of movies in the Theater on the right side. The main barn held exercises classes, dinners, jam sessions with the "Buckhorn Band" and was where I taught line dance classes. We held "Meat and Greet" on the back porch where everyone brought their own meat to grill and a dish to share. What fun we had here!!




Our last evening at Buckhorn was spent in the Social Room playing Mexican Train. Some nights there were as many as 14 in our group but as the season progressed, people moved on to their new
summer "homes". Here Sue, Sue, me, Bill and Darie are playing as my Bill takes the picture. We were playing guys against the gals and the guys won. One of the Sues was filling in for Darie's husband who was working that night.




Here's the office, store and the Buckhorn bus. The bus took us on a lot of fun trips including the San Antonio Rodeo, Bandera's 11th Street Cowboy Bar, and Johnson City to view the extraordinary Christmas light display.










So long, Buckhorn Lake Resort. We have made so many wonderful friends here. We will miss you!



Next winter will find us in Aransas Pass at a new resort there.



Now, North to Alaska!!

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Good Neighbor Larry


Good neighbor Larry lives a short distance from us in his motor home. On this particular day, Larry decided to take Ceilidh for a walk to his RV site.
































Larry has a small trailer he tows behind his motor home. He uses it to carry his little car, Suzi Q, his motorcycle and his tools. It is also known as a "snack shack" for the resort dogs. When the back door is open, Larry's home and the dogs always look for him on their walks.












Once inside Ceilidh knows Larry has a treat for her. He always has a variety of biscuits for the dogs. She doesn't even have to sit up for treats from Larry!




















Larry sure loves the dogs and the dogs love him! Thank you, Larry, for being so generous to all our dogs here at Buckhorn Lake Resort. They will sure miss you when you head to Colorado this summer!







Friday, April 15, 2011

LBJ Ranch, Stonewall, TX April 6, 2011


Leaving the Living History Farm, we drove to the LBJ Ranch National Historic Site. Our first stop was the Johnson family cemetery. The two large stones in the middle belong to Lyndon and Lady Bird. What a peaceful, serene setting under the live oak trees.









The next stop on the tour was at the show barn. LBJ raised prize winning Hereford cattle. There are two herds on the ranch, each with about 500 head of cattle. One herd is sold for meat and the other is the breeding herd. This little fellow is about 3 weeks old.
















It is hard to believe the calf in the previous picture will mature to the size of this 1900 pound bull in just two years! They raise all their own hay on the ranch.













The next stop was the ranch house itself also surrounded by live oak trees. The lower level of the house is open for tours. President Johnson was the first president to have a "White House" outside of Washington. He spend about one-fourth of his presidency at the Texas white house.









Air Force One had to land in Austin and this smaller plane would fly the President to the ranch, which had its own airstrip and hanger.













Doesn't Bill look important standing behind the presidential podium??

























One last picture of Syd and Jen standing in front of a huge Yucca plant in bloom behind the house.


We had a fun day!!









The Living History Farm, Stonewall, TX April 6, 2011


After lunch with Syd and Jen we visited the Living History Farm in Stonewall, Texas. The volunteers that staff the farm raise animals and have a garden, preserving the foods that they grow. Each day a meal is prepared from food they have raised. Here you can see the beginning of their garden for this year. Today they enjoyed radishes and lettuce, along with meat they preserved last fall. Milk from the cows is make into yogurt, cottage cheese, and cheese.


















Syd is giving me some suggestions on taking pictures. (He's an excellent photographer.) Here he suggested using the tree to frame the top of the photo and to also draw the eye to the small barn at the right.


Next, the LBJ Ranch.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Fredericksberg, TX April 6, 2011


We left Buckhorn Lake Resort early on Wednesday, April 6 with our friends Jenny and Syd for an all day outing. Our first stop was the Choo Choo Patio Shoppe in Fredericksburg, TX. What a unique store! Here Jen and I are sitting on a huge swing carved from a log. Wouldn't it look inviting sitting under a Live Oak Tree in a Texas ranch yard?





























Here's Syd and Jen admiring a longhorn barbecue. Some grill! And a nice price tag.

















Inside were "all things Texas" from longhorns to cowhide rugs, pictures, metal work, wood carvings, furniture, nicnacs, any so much more. You could spend hours looking around.




Before our visit to the Living History Farm and the LBJ Ranch we enjoyed a picnic lunch near the Visitor's Center to the LBJ ranch. Next stop-The Living History Farm.