And We're Back...

When I was a senior in high school, there was a popular singing group called the Go-Go's that sang a song called "Vacation."  It was the classic summer song that always put me in a good mood and made me think about vacations.  One of the bad things about starting a new job is that I started back at zero in terms of accrued vacation.  Now that I've been there for over a year, I was able to take vacation!  Yeehaw!!  It is quite hard to find someone to watch over the farm to be able to get away, but Tricia arranged a deal with a friend that has a farm where she watched over ours and we'll watch over hers at some point.

We generally like to camp and hike and take in all the sights of semi-secluded areas.  A good friend of Tricia's brothers had graciously offered for us to visit their property that is on the Nueces River in a small town west of San Antonio near Uvalde, Tx.  So we made the trip over there.  In the old days, the whole family would get to go, but now, Laura Lee is working and Russ is working, so Tricia, Benjamin and I made the trip and joined with Tricia's brothers and their families. 

We were 15 miles from the headwaters of the Nueces River.  It is spring-fed and the river is lined with stone, making the water crystal clear.  We approached and looked over a cliff down into the pristine water.

You could see all the way to the bottom, but we knew it was deep.

Benjamin jumped off the cliff and plummeted (I estimate) 25 feet down.  His cousin Juliet had already jumped into the cool, refreshing water.

SPLASH!!

Over the next several days, we didn't come into contact with many other people.  We visited, cooked, laughed, swam, relaxed and recharged.  Here is Tricia walking down the stone lined river. 

I kicked up my feet and took in the sights.

There were some rapids where the water made a nice sound against the rocks.  As we camped in our tent, we could hear the soothing sounds.

We swam down river a couple hundred yards and discovered a really deep part of the river, perhaps 30 feet deep, and there just so happened to be a rope swing.  We would swing on it again and again, plunging in the cold water to cool off.

All the cousins (and even us adults) had fun on the rope swing.

The river house over-looked the river.  Rainfall and high waters last year actually shifted the river closer to the house.  It was nice and shady where we set up our tents.  One night we sat around after dark and watched fireflies.  The cousins ran around catching them.  It was peaceful.

Here is Tricia in the tent.  Fortunately, we had some cots as the ground was rocky.  At night, it cooled off and it was very comfortable to sleep.  There were no mosquitoes.

We even did some kayaking on the river.

At night the area is frequented by axis deer.  They are native to India and Nepal, but in 1932 were brought to be a game animal.  Some escaped and now there are thousands roaming around.  They have a big rack and make a loud noise.  One morning Tricia was having quiet time early in the morning beside the river and this big fella came to get a drink of water.  He "barked" a high pitch bark at Tricia.

Soon it was time to go.  As we exited the campsite, we looked at a big cross someone had erected on a hill (mountain).  Pretty cool!

I always like to take pictures of clever signs.  The welcome sign to Hondo, Texas caught my attention.

In case you can't read it, it says, "Welcome.  This is God's Country.  Please don't drive through it like hell.  Hondo, Texas"  We obeyed. 

We made it back home and will be back posting as we normally do.