Saturday, April 4, 2015

Blanco State Park, Texas and Seeing Good Friends…

Blanco State Park 008While we enjoyed our stay in Fredericksburg, Texas it was time for us to inch closer to Canyon Lake where we will see the grandkids. Our next stop would be Blanco, Texas at the Blanco State Park just about a half hour drive from Fredericksburg. We pulled into the state park and settled in site number 12.

This is a nice state park sitting along the Blanco River. There aren’t a lot of trails but there is ample walking available along the river’s edges. Also one of the reasons we decided to be at this park was to visit with some friends of ours that were our former neighbors in College Station, Texas back in the late 1980’s. It had been about 15 years since we last saw them and they currently live in nearby Wimberley, Texas.

We had planned to meet them in Wimberley but they said they wanted to come pick us up and take us out to dinner so they came to Blanco State Park instead. What a treat it was to see Bud and Sue after all these years. We gave them a tour of our little condo on wheels and then we decided maybe eat at Oak Creek Café in Blanco. There were a lot of cars out front so we opted to give it a try.

The place was a little rustic but the food was pretty decent as we enjoyed our catfish. The place has a bar attached to it and that is seemingly where most of the people were eated as there was some live music playing there. This was a nice treat as we could hear the music but it wasn’t too loud so we could carry on our conversations. They also serve a nice assortment of Texas craft beer and wines so that was an added bonus as well. We really enjoyed our visit with our old friends as the time seemed to simply melt away. We promised to return for future visits because it was such a blast reconnecting with these dear friends.

 

The next day we received an email from some RV’ing friends on their way to Marble Falls, Texas. We decided that we would meet up for lunch midway between where they were and where we were. We picked the Pecan Street Brewery in Johnson City for lunch. We met Brett and Darla when we wintered in Mission Texas a few years ago and have kept in touch ever since. Boy it sure was fun meeting up with them again where we had a nice wood fired pizza and excellent draft beer for lunch.  We have now seen these friends in Texas twice and once in Montana...how great it is when our paths happen to cross!

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As we were returning to Blanco we decided to stop by the Real Ale Brewing Company  at their new tasting room. They are only opened on Thursday, Friday and Saturday so since we were leaving Friday we really wanted to go. Now this brewery has some real good craft beers as Sharon really enjoyed their porter and I liked the Rye IPA a lot. As is typical at a brewery we sat at the bar and had a nice chat with a younger couple while sipping our beverages.

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Also on the drive home we encountered some beautiful bluebonnets and paintbrushes in a field so we couldn't resist stopping for a few photos.  These wonderful flowers are part of the reason we like to be in Texas in April.  (The other reasons are the wonderful Texas State Parks, Texas BBQ, Tex-Mex food, seeing the grandkids and revisiting our old home in College Station).  Always fun!

Next stop....Canyon Lake!

5 comments:

  1. It is always so much fun to reconnect with old friends. One of the best things about an RV lifestyle. Love those bluebonnets. They really are incredible.

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  2. It's amazing how many times your paths will cross other RV friends. Beautiful photo of the bluebonnets.

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  3. I sure am liking spring in TX! All the green and the flowers is wonderful!

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  4. Meeting up with friends again is always fun, especially over a cold one.
    We are missing the Bluebells this year, sure enjoy spring time in Texas.

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  5. Small world indeed.... Brett and Darla are our neighbors, just down the street. We discovered the area of the hill country that you are in now last fall and loved it. We did not stay at Blanco State Park, but we did go there to rent kayaks and settled for canoes. Is the llama still there?

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