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!

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.

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.

Mountain Pies with Syd and Jen, Feb, 2011

We invited Sydney (from Sydney) and Jen to have mountain pies with us one evening. This was a new experience for them. Here is one ready to go over the coals. You butter the bread on the outside and put the filling inside. We had ones with pizza sauce, pepperoni, and cheese in them for our main course. This one contains apple pie filling for our dessert.

Jenny is very patient with her mountain pie, toasting it to perfection!

Yummmm, all ready to eat! I like peanut butter and jelly in mine. The combinations are endless.

Syd, enjoying a mountain pie that he made. We met Syd and Jen this year at Buckhorn Lake Resort, where we are both "wintering". They are heading to the Black Hills area of South Dakota this summer, while we head to Alaska.

Bill, belly full, enjoying the fire. We will be meeting up with Syd and Jen next winter at a resort in Aransas Pass, Texas, just a couple of miles from the gulf coast.

San Antonio Rodeo and Stock Show Feb, 2011

Once again, we couldn't resist the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo, the largest indoor rodeo in the United States.

After walking around the mid-way and sampling lots of good food, we took a rest and watched some cutting classes. One cowboy has to separate one particular calf from the herd and keep it from rejoining the herd. Here he is looking for his calf.

The light show before the rodeo was really awesome. Here is one of the "pictures" on the floor of the coliseum.

The opening ceremony was really colorful with all the US and Texas flags. Makes you proud to be an American and proud of the great state of Texas.

My favorite rodeo event is the bull riding and it didn't disappoint me. Lots of action!!

The concert after the rodeo featured Reba McIntyre. Naturally, she put on a superb, high energy show.

Then we boarded the Buckhorn Bus for our trip back to the resort that we call home for the winter. It was a long, tiring, but fun filled day.

Vacation Home Feb, 2011

Hi everybody-sorry I haven't been "blogging" lately but the Resort WiFi has been really slow.

Most of you know we are planning a trip to Alaska this summer, leaving in May and not returning to Texas until late September. Not wanting to take our big rig (39 Ft) to Alaska, we bought a 25 ft. Prowler 5th wheel for the journey-hence our "vacation" home.

It is a 2004 but in excellent shape, really clean. Here is a picture of the kitchen area. To the rear are bunk beds which we will just use for storage.

Opposite the kitchen is the dinette area and beside that is the sofa (see next picture). It is all on a 12 foot "slide out" and gives a very spacious feeling. The door to the left goes to the bathroom.

The bedroom has a queen size bed. I am really excited about taking this smaller rv as it will be so much easier to tow and park. And with the rising diesel prices, we will get better mileage than when towing the big rig.

Alaska, here we come!!