San Antonio River Walk, Dec. 13, 2009

On sunday, Dec. 13, the Buckhorn Bus took us to San Antonio and the River Walk.

Our first adventure was a tour on one of the river boats. That's Judy, another workamper, with Bill and me.

A view of the river from under one of the bridges.

There are many cafes along the river. This one has colorful umbrellas over their tables.

We opted to eat by the river at this Italian Restaurant with Guy and Judy. The food was delicious, especially the bread and herb dip.

By the time we finished dinner it was dark and the lights were twinkling everywhere. It was so enchanting.

Everyone should experience the San Antonio River Walk at Christmas time at least once in their life!

Christmas Party, Dec. 11, 2009

Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived at Buckhorn Lake Resort in their 5th wheel and parked just across the street from us.

We had our picture taken in the "Barn" in front of the fireplace.

Our Christmas tree is gorgeous, about 20 feet tall. It stands in one corner of the Barn by the fireplace.

Dee, far right, and KC, second from the left are the owners of the Resort. Their daughter, left and son-in-law, middle, also help out with just about everything. (Jen and Marlin). Second from the right is Julie, our social director. She's a workamper and her husband helps her and also drives the Resort bus on our outings.

Dee and KC opening their gift from the workampers, a new fireplace set and wood carrier for the Barn.

Each of the workampers received a lightweight fleece shirt with the Buckhorn logo on the front.

It was a really fun evening, with a pot luck dinner and gift exchange.

What a great place to be!!

Camp Verde, Bandera Texas, Dec 12, 2009

On Saturday, Dec. 12, we visited Camp Verde General Store. In 1856, with $30,000 appropriated from the government, the army secured 73 camels from Egypt to experiment for army transportation and military purposes. The camels passed every test as pack animals by traveling longer distances and carrying heavier loads than the mules and horses used in this area. After the civil war, the war department didn't have the funds to continue operation of Fort Verde as money was needed for reconstruction. In November, 1869 the fort was deactivated.

Nestled in the foothills, 3 miles from famed Bandera Pass, on the banks of Verde Creek stands the old Camp Verde General Store. Outside on the patio there was a band, wine tasting, appetizers, and deserts for everyone to sample. It was a beautiful fall day. Inside the store you can feel the old charm of the pressed tin ceiling, old wood floors, antiques, and many old time and hand made products.

Here's a young Texas cowboy giving Santa a gift. Wonder if he asked for a pony or a new saddle. He already had the hat and boots.

Leaving Camp Verde, we drove to Bandera, the Cowboy Capital of the World. It is common to see a horse tied to a hitching post, as the cowboys ride into town for supplies or a drink at the local bar.

Walking around town, we found this Texas longhorn just waiting to have his picture taken with me! The horns must have a 6-8 foot spread.

Just before leaving Bandera we spotted these cowboys and cowgirls Christmas caroling, Texas style, on horseback. What a neat little town. We enjoyed walking through the little shops and the General Store on Main Street.

On the way home we stopped in Medina at the (No kidding) Adam's Apple Farm where we found some wonderful Apple turnovers for breakfast tomorrow.

Thanksgiving, Nov. 26, 2009

The "Barn" was bursting at its seams with our Thanksgiving crowd which overflowed into two side rooms. Everyone brought a dish to pass or a dessert.

Getting the two rows of tables loaded with all the different dishes was no easy matter! There was barely enough room for all the side dishes. There was everything imaginable.

Meanwhile the kitchen crew was busy getting the turkey, stuffing, potatoes and gravy ready. The resort supplied all of this.

They served 380 people in just 45 minutes!

After the main meal all the main dishes were transfered to the table on the right and the desserts were brought out. As you can see they filled the table, one end to the other. There were over 50 pies alone!

What a meal! Thank you, Dee and Kathy for a delicious dinner.

Lost Maples State Natural Area, TX Nov.11, 2009

In mid November we took a drive south and west of Kerrville to Lost Maples State Natural Area in the Texas Hill Country. This was the week the maple trees were to be near "peak". As you can see the Texas Hill Country is indeed hilly. This is the entrance to the natural area.

This canyon area has quite a large growth of Texas Bigtooth Maple trees. They don't seem as tall as the maples of Pennsylvania.

As you can see, the leaves are a lot smaller too.

There are about 12 miles of hiking trails and a nice picnic area where we ate our lunch.

After lunch we headed out on a trail. We came mid week as on the peak weekends there is a wait of 2-3 hours to get into the park. They only allow enough cars that there are parking spaces and you have to wait until someone leaves to get in!

We took a picture of another couple and they did the same for us.

The maples were a pretty change to the mostly oak trees in this area.

You can see the grass also turns a pinkish red color in the fall. Even Ceilidh got to go for a walk.

The trail we took followed a pretty stream through the park. Ceilidh was able to get a drink here.

We found this field of long horn cattle on the drive home. The trees are pretty for this area, but nothing like the Northeast!

Buckhorn Lake Resort, Texas 2009

Welcome to Buckhorn Lake Resort, our winter "home" for 2009-10 located about 5 miles outside of Kerrville, Texas in the Texas Hill Country. It is so pretty in this area. Everyone is super friendly in Texas.

This is the office/store area. Notice all the flowers and hanging baskets? This keeps a gardener busy every day of the week. I usually work 3 days and 2 other ladies work 2 days each. But we get together for "projects" whenever needed.

This is pool # 1. We have 2 pools, one in the regular park and one in the adults only area.

Doesn't it look inviting? Bill's job is to keep the pools clean.

Each pool also has a hot tub to seat about 8 people. Boy, does that feel good after working in the flower beds! (Or anytime.)

My routine is: put laundry in washers, exercise for 1/2 hour, put clothes in the dryers, sit in hot tub 20 minutes, take a shower, and the laundry's done!

This is one of the flower beds I "rescued". It hadn't been cleaned out for a while so after 2 days I had it looking like this. Gotta be careful around those cacti.

This is a view of the exercise building. It's really relaxing to look out on the water while you are working out. Pool # 2 is just across the street from here. That's the pool I use when doing laundry. The laundry facilities (2) are located with the shower rooms by the pools.

Some more water areas. Pool # 2 is to the right, RV sites to the left.

This is our outdoor "Cafe Patio". There are huge grills here. We hold "Meat and Greet" (yes, that's spelled right) here on Sundays. Anyone from the park is welcome, bring your own meat to grill and a dish to pass...yum. Good food and you get to meet new people in the park.

Here's a view of the smoker at the Cafe Patio. It can hold up to 4 pigs at one time. Rumor has it they are going to cook a steer in this in November.

That's a Suzuki attached to the top of the smoker.

Another view of the Outdoor Patio.

There are 3 cottages available to rent. They each have a bedroom with queen size bed, bunk beds in an alcove in the hall and a kitchen/living room area complete with microwave, fridge, and TV. At the back is a patio that overlooks the pond. More flowers to water around the trees.

This is the "Barn" where all the activities take place. To the left is the Social Room complete with microwave, fridge, large screen TV, sofa, game tables, and book exchange. The center area is a huge dining room with a fireplace at one end that is big enough for about 8 people to stand in. There are also commercial kitchens. The room on the right is the Theater, complete with projection screen TV and 35 theater seats. Even has a popcorn machine. They show movies here and watch Monday Night Football. The tractor is surrounded with flowers and the wagon is full of flower boxes.



Tennis anyone? There is also a putting green in another area.

This is our "yard" for the next 5 months. The lawns look like a golf course. It is a really beautiful park.

This is "The Club" area, across the river. It is an exclusive Motor Home community. You "lease" a lot and can build any type building on it you want. Almost all of the buildings have a garage and at least a covered outdoor area. Most have enclosed rooms for sitting/cooking or even a complete house as you can see from these 2 buildings. People park their motor homes beside their building when they are in Texas.

This is our "Buckhorn Bus" which goes out on excursions every week. Last week a group of us went to Bandera for a night at the 11th St Bar. This week is the Johnson Ranch. Lots of shopping trips and golf outings. There is a wine tasting trip the end of the month.

That's it from "The Best Little RV Resort in Texas"!

What a place-we love it here!!