"Out in Luckenbach, Texas ain't nobody feelin' no pain"

It's time to hit the road again.....
On Friday (6/7) We head up to Luckenbach, Texas for the Thomas Michael Riley Music Fest. He puts on a great show and he has other great Texas Music artists there. We've gone the last few years now and have missed one in there. Of course it's in the hottest time of year but so far we've been lucky enough to find shade and a breeze.  This year was just as hot but some of our usual breeze was blocked by the building but we stuck it out.
As we rolled down the road toward Fredericksburg we decided to stop for food. Usually when we travel we try to not eat anywhere that is a franchise or somewhere that we have in Houston/Bryan

area now. So we roll into a BBQ place that every time we pass it we always comment that we need to stop and try and so we did.  We stopped at Brett's Backyard BBQ in Rockdale, TX. It was pretty darn good. They have live music on Friday's we've been told but we haven't checked that out yet.

We met up with our friends the Harper's at the Alstadt Brewery when we first rolled into Fredericksburg.  They had ordered something to eat already but we just tried the beer. We were full of BBQ. This place was beautiful. I'm not a big beer drinker so it's hard for me to find something I like. This time I didn't find anything but I'll try again when we go back on another trip.

We head to the hotel to check in and then go to Luckenbach for some music.
While sitting there listening to the music

I felt like someone was watching me. Eeek there was!
This chicken was watching me very intently.
She didn't look so Friendly either.She finally got tired of watching me and moved on and then so did we. As it got later in the evening the sun was low enough in the trees and was hitting the table we were sitting at so we decided to move back a couple of tables. There was a couple sitting there but we asked if they minded we sat with them. We introduced ourselves and started talking. Margo and Smitty were a fun couple. All of a sudden I felt something next to my leg and to my surprise they had a big dog under there. He was big, good and so sweet. He just laid under the table until they were ready to leave. Before the night was over we meet a lot of new people Thanks to our long time friend Ross. He was in rare form. mmm could have been the beers. LOL. He started inviting people to join us at the table. It was funny. He left to get a beer and comes back going I just met Michael Jordan. We're looking at him like "You What?"  Ross replies "yep I just invited Michael Jordan and his wife Tabitha over. I told him I was Dennis Rodman."  He then explains that Michael Jordan is a 5' 11" white guy. LOL  We had so much fun with all of our new friends. Ross was our top notch Social director.
We had so much fun that we all decided to meet up Saturday morning for Breakfast at Hilde's. David loves this place. Well okay so we all really like this place.  Tim and Gigi our other long time friends waited to go there for breakfast till we got there. They knew that would be David's first choice of place to go.  So Saturday (6-8) we all met up at Hilde's for an awesome breakfast.
Before everyone got there Sheryl gave Me & Gigi some cookies she made.

She sells her cookies on a page called Country Cottage. 
Click on the name and go check them out.  
Aren't they cute. Very tasty too.

We all made plans to find each other at the Music Festival again that night.

Left side: Me, Smitty, College friends Tim & Gigi and my husband David.
Right side: Margo, Tabitha, Michael, College friends Ross and Sheryl.




We split up and went our separate ways till that night. David, I, Ross and Sheryl went to Johnson City to go antique shopping.  We got a surprise though.... The shops we went to shop at had either closed or changed their type of store. Two of them now had stuff that were made to look old but were made in Mexico or Japan. At least the one shop called Vintage still had a good selection of stuff to look at.

And the pottery and garden art shop still had fun stuff to look at.
he hasn't been able to lift his arm up very far and well I know this is mean but I told him he

looked like a T-Rex. So I had him stand by one. I should be ashamed but sorry it was funny.


Saw this little pot holder inside. Cute.



We hit all the different shops and after a few hours we all decided we'd head back to Fredericksburg.


David and I shopped at a shop outside Johnson City that sold wine barrel stuff. We came away with  a split wine barrel.  whew!
After our car was locked up and in the heat we could almost get drunk off the smell of wine in the car. LOL We're gonna fill them with plants on the front porch.
David actually planted  a plant in each of them this weekend. When we watered them wine colored and smelling water came out the bottom.
We met up with Ross and Sheryl again at Hondo's for a bite to eat and a jalapeno margarita.  Mmmm





We had to hurry up and get out to the music festival so we could hear a couple of our favs.. Davin James. along with Heather and Max Stallings. Of course TMR himself is one of our favs to listen too also.  Here's snippet of Davin.

It was another HOT one. Actually I think it was hotter Saturday than Friday. But a cold beer helped cool us off. Another late night listening to music and hanging with new friends and old friends. Tomorrow we have to head Home. We tried to meet up for breakfast again but it ended up just being Ross, Sheryl and Me and David. We went to the Sunset Grill. It's small but they pack in the people and food is yummy.  We beat the crowd by about 10 minutes. Thank goodness.

After breakfast we took off and planned to make some other stops along the way.  Our first stop was Yee Haw. They always had old stuff and cool furniture and pictures to look and buy. Again they changed the store merchandise to more clothing, jewelry and boots. While that's all fine and good but we were looking for old rustic stuff. The one good thing we saw was the landscape. Gave us ideas for our yard at the Rock'n K.  

And we made our annual stop at Wildseed Farms. The hummingbirds were going crazy at the feeders. Caught a picture of one. It was so bright it was hard to capture a good pic. Then we saw the Desert Willow trees. I told David that was a tree that I wouldn't mind seeing outside my sewing window.  It's kinda wispy so it wouldn't block my view. 

 Well we didn't buy one there. I don't think it would  have fit in the 4 Runner but last weekend David found one and brought it home. Now to get the bed prepped and the tree planted. He just created another project. David is loaded down with projects he wants to finish. The Man refuses to stop to heal his shoulders.
We made a stop at a winery Tim told us about and the views. It was a good recommendation. It's a winery I need to take Pamela too when we go on our girls trip next April. It's called Narrow Path Winery. Sat on the patio and had glass of wine to enjoy the views. There was a good breeze so it wasn't too hot.

 Our next stop was at the Pottery Ranch in Marble Falls. Huge place with lots of pots and fun stuff inside. No shade here and it was hot. It felt good when we went inside. Next stop was food. We weren't far from home and stopped at our new place to eat since moving to the farm called Julio's.

Tummies were full and Our last stop was home. The sunset was awesome that evening.

  


Welp that's it for this post.
Are you ready for our Father's day adventures?

Until my next blog...

“Fill your life with experiences, not things. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show.” –Unknown

Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home. Thoroughly enjoyed our trip through Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas but it was nice to be home with the Hubby, Lilley and sleep in my own bed.
I think Pamela was happy too. She got to cuddle with her pups. She captured some nice Rock'n K pictures. David has been busy planting trees, building raised garden beds, and planting some veggie plants.
 Jerry came up to the fence requesting his jaw to be rubbed. He's such a charmer when he wants to be. I also think he likes his picture taken. Pamela was trying to catch a picture of the dogs but caught Jerry peeking through the fence at her and the pups.

He and the pups have some sort of relationship. Nose to nose. LOL Through the fence of course. Pamela hung out with us till about 11ish but she was ready to get unpacked and rest in her own home.






David asked if I wanted to run some errands on Saturday morning (6/1) with him and off we went. He had been telling me of this place he saw when he went to get some rock that we needed to go check out so this is where we ended up at on our outing just about lunch time.

photo from  Edge General Store FB

Such a cool place. The young lady behind the cash register gave us the tour and history along with future plans for the place.
The Edge General Store was built back in 1907 but was abandoned in 1967 until 2007 when Ron and Teresa Bordeau bought and remodeled the place.

When the store was shut down they just locked the doors and walked away. Everything was left on the shelves and the current owners 40 years later saved everything and proudly display it on shelves around the walls. They have preserved some of the history. We had lunch there. Mouth watering burgers on jalapeno buns. Not Keto but oh my goodness. Now we tried to save where we could.... LOL... We got a German chocolate dessert. It was made Keto and it was really tasty.  They did have other items on the menu but the burgers caught our eye.  They have a big back room where you can have a gathering. They had just hosted a graduation party I think it was. They used to have live music but ran into issues with needing to pay licensing fees for the singers singing cover songs. Did you know that churches also have to pay licensing fees to sing the songs from the hymenal. I didn't.
The store also has Steak night on Saturday's starting at 5:30pm. If I remember right for $21 you get a like a 20oz steak with sides. Wow. To date David and I haven't made it back to try it out but everyone sitting around us said it was delicious and you don't want to miss it. You can call ahead to save a plate if you're running late.
Inside you will find some unique gift items and clothing. They also have displayed the original store ledger and found on one of the pages where Teresa Bordeau's dad did some business back in the day.
The current owners have taken an abandoned store and saved a historical site. They have rebuilt the front porch and added a bathroom.
They've bought a house just down from the store and turning it into the Creek's Edge Retreat. Perfect for those quick getaways or maybe a wedding venue or even stay there when attending a fighting Aggie Game. Between the house and store they are in the process of building a wedding venue. The framing is up. This place is really cool. You'll find it off 974 and Edge cut off road. About 20 minutes NE of Bryan.
When we get home I find Jerry laying amongst the wild flowers. All relaxed and enjoying life.

He can be such a pretty boy.









The girls came to spend the night and play with Lilley. And they do play hard plus running with Jerry. When they come in the first thing they do is lay on the cool concrete. I'm sure it feels good on their tummies.  Brianna is such a pretty girl but she can be loud.

And Sophie has such a teddy bear face. She's our little pillow princess. Trust me after her tummy cools off she finds the pillow on the couch to rest her head.  And Lilley is our pretty lady.  She always looks so innocent but the looks can be deceiving.

I took the girls home Tuesday (6/4) when I went to pick up Pamela so we could go visit Mom. We picked her up so we could go to lunch at the Whistle Stop Tea Room in Tomball and go get her hair trimmed and shaped up. 

With her tummy full we went to see Brittany so she could work some magic on Mom's hair. I've never seen it this long. One day she'll say it's so long and that it's driving her nuts then a couple days later she'll be saying she kinda likes her hair longer.

This could be rough. But it went smoothly.  She said she wanted lots of it cut off then she'd say well maybe not so much.  LOL I wouldn't let Brittany take it too short this time just to make sure Mom was okay with it. The big thing is to give it some shape.

Once Brittany was done Mom didn't stop looking at it or playing with it.  Whew!  It could have gone either way. But when I asked her to turn around she had the biggest smile on her face. She liked it. She called me the next day to tell me how much she liked it but maybe next time we could go a little shorter and especially around her face.  Her hair naturally tends to fall into her face.  It was nice making her happy. Pamela and I did good and Brittany did great!

My sister-in-law Lynn joined the ranks of the retired while Pamela and I were out running the highways in May. I asked her recently how it felt. She said right now it just feels like she's off for the summer since she's always off in the summers.  She's She was a teacher in CyFair ISD. Same district I retired from.  I'm sure it will sink in by August when she would be going back on contract.  Congratulations to her on a job well done on trying to educate the youth of today.

Are you ready for another trip? It's a quick one. This time it's me and David... But more on that on my next post.

Until then....Live every day as if it were your last, because one of these days, you’ll be right… unknown 

That's it Folks Time to leave Missouri and Kansas. Heading home.

Friday (5/24) is our last full day of adventures with Hannah. She's been a great activity director and host. Stella didn't want us to leave her. Such a pretty baby.

We head out for our last full day of adventures. We have to head home on Saturday.   When we we arrive in Weston and we head to the Tin Kitchen for lunch.




We got there just in time. There was plenty of tables, booths and one big long community table available and we grabbed a booth. Just after ordered the crowd arrived and kept pouring in.

With our tummies full we headed for O'Malley's/ Weston Brewery. O'Malley's is deep down in a basement. I don't remember how many flights of stairs there were, only one very steep ramp with lots of turns.  We finally hit bottom, deep underground. It rather chilly down there.  It was a pretty neat place. Too bad we can't say the hospitality was there.

Friends having a beer. We were the only ones there. The bartender wasn't overly friendly. I think we were interrupting her movie she was watching when we got there or whatever she was doing when we got there.  Of all the places we have been this week this was the only place that was just kinda blah. I mean she wasn't unfriendly but bartender lacked personality or maybe it was me. Either way that didn't detour us from enjoying ourselves.

 We went above ground to find sunshine and heat. Especially since we were in underground cellar. A couple blocks toward the Main St we find this cute little purple building called the Weston Wine Co. This has to have been the friendliest place we've been. The guy serving the tastings decided to give everyone free tastings. He was funny, friendly and very entertaining. He managed to memorize everyone's name there. There was 8 of us he was serving. I figured he wouldn't be able to remember who was who when we moved around but nope! He remember our proper names even when not sitting in our original stools. Great sign outside.

 Drink up girls we need to head down the road to our next stop, Pirtle Winery. Our next stop was around the corner only when we went in there was no one downstairs tending bar. We saw people on an outside balcony but no one downstairs and we couldn't figure out how to go up. No one came came down to check. We could have helped ourselves if we dishonest but we didn't so instead we headed down the road to the Holladay Distillery.

Did I mention that all of the tastings have been $5 for 5-6 wines/beer/whiskey and at this distillery the tastings were free. After a few tastings we all ordered a drink and sat outside on the patio. 

Pamela spotted this cute little bunny. As she talked to it, it began to watch her. It probably felt safe since we we up on the deck separated by railing. It's the Wine-o Bunny.

David benefited from the place with bottle of Whiskey. He hasn't tried it yet but I know he will. I found a T-Shirt and a bottle of Irish Creme and Chocolate liqueur so I could make the drink I was drinking there.

From here we headed back into Kansas City, Mo to Amigoni Urban Winery ..  Hannah called her friend Angela and co-worker at an architect company to see if she wanted to me us. Angela came with Hannah last when came to visit. And she joined us. 

Pamela got a shot of the KC skyline. They say it will start raining later that evening. hmmm 

The winery mainly served dry wines. Not my fav. I like at least a little bit of sweetness.

I'm not a wine a connoisseur but I like what I like.

Photo via Amigoni Urban Winery FB

I found a table to have a seat. I passed on the wine tastings. Pamela bought me a glass of wine she thought I'd like.  She's so sweet. A lady asked if she could sit at the end of the table while she waited on friends. I said sure and we talked while the girls tasted wine. Then they decided to have a glass. I tried to text my childhood friend Mary Jane but never heard back. I was hoping she could join us for a while.  Found out after we got back home there was a reason I didn't hear back. I had a bad phone number. Damn. Next time I get back that way I'll make better plans. It's been a few years now since we've seen each other. Next time.

Anyway Amigoni has a very nice tasting room.

Hannah had one more place for us to visit and Angela joined us there too.  Not sure how we got there but  we did.

Boulevard Brewing Company. Cool place especially when you get off work and want to avoid Friday evening traffic home.

Angela was a hoot. The girls did a couple of tastings and a glass of beer.

  

  Time flies when you're having fun.
While sitting there the weather fell apart. It was pouring out and guess who didn't have an umbrella. Actually Pamela was the only one who brought one in.





We were in need of food and Hannah knew of a good Mexican Food restaurant near her house but we needed to finish our beers and get going.  Pamela told her to drink faster so as Hannah tipped her glass back to chug I sang a chugging song that made almost blow beer everywhere and start laughing. She wasn't expecting me to sing a sorority song for chugging.  LOL. I was in a sorority while in college so yep I knew the song. Can't sing worth a damn but I know the song/chant.

Well the rain was coming down and Hannah decided she and I would head to the restaurant called I think Mi Ranchito while Pamela went to Ladies Room. As we headed out Hannah grabbed Pamela's umbrella. Not that it made much of a difference. When we got to the restaurant we had to wade in water ankle deep. The restaurant was really good.  We're done for the day and head back to Hannah and Phil's place. And that's the end of us till morning.

Saturday (5/25) Our fun must come to an end but before we leave we go to brunch at cafe not far away from Phil and Hannah's house. My sister Jerri Lynn, her husband Kevin and my nephew Josiah join us.
They were heading to my great niece Maren's 1st birthday party.

She is definitely enjoying that cake. LOL

 She is such a cutie. Hate that we had to miss but the highway home is calling our name.
We need to wrap things up and head down the road to hopefully avoid any nasty weather. It was great seeing everyone and visiting. Just not enough time to see everyone.
I can't believe I missed so many photo chances. I'm BAD. Got too involved with the visits and hugs.
Before we could get on the road Hannah and Phil took us to one more Winery on our way out of town called KC Wine Company.  Pretty neat place out in the middle of nowhere . Well not really but Siri took us on the long path to the winery. LOL.
I thought Pamela or I had more pictures of that last stop but I only found a couple. 
There was already lots of people there. Live music was setting to start and the food trucks were serving up some tasty lookin' foods.
Everyone seemed happy with their food and wine.
I came away with a bottle Vidal Blanc. 
My car now looks like we're getting ready to open up our own bar. I mean Neither of us want to find ourselves short of wine when we have guests.  LOL like that will happen.
Of course I couldn't leave without at least a picture of the winery truck. It's almost 2pm when we got back on the road to head to the Rock'n K but I was determined we'd be home soon and drove straight through.

 

Can't thank everyone enough for their hospitality....Barbara, Cresia, Hannah and Phil. Y'all were awesome. These guys showed us a good time and the sights. 

Hannah and Phil will be in Texas In December for a wedding and we're already thinking of where we can take them when they're not at a wedding. And Maybe Angela if she decides she can get away.

We were very lucky in our travels to avoid the bad weather except Friday night with all the rain but really that was it. 

We hit Oklahoma City around 6:30pm Saturday the 25th the bad weather was supposed to hit around 9pm. We found the next morning that a tornado hit. Then Hannah and Phil had tornadoes on miles away from their house. I tell you we had a Guardian Angel on our dashboard and shoulder.

 My niece Melissa sent Pamela and I a Picture of Maren for her 1 year mile marker photo.


Aww Maren is sitting on the quilt I made her. 'Love Notes'


Again another big smile. I swear she always has the biggest smile.
So does her big brother Beckett.  LOL of course I know my Niece Melissa and Nephew Jeremiah see plenty of frowns and tears but all I see is smiles.  Works for me.



Pamela and I arrive home at 12:22am Sunday the 26th safe and sound. I started getting tired when we hit Waco but we only had an hour to go and I wasn't stopping.

Home Sweet Home.

Until next blog....  “Stop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the trip.” – Babs Hoffman