Fully restored we left for a trek to the Pines and Prairie region, a little north of Hwy 10 and east toward Houston. This is cattle country mixed with plenty of those sweet towns again like Bastrop, Fayetteville, Navasota and Anderson. We found ourselves just hunting out State Parks with interesting historical significance like Washington on the Brazos. This Visitors Center/Museum is dedicated to the place and events involved in the signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence from Mexico just at the same time the folks were giving their lives at the Alamo. Kae discovered that Judge Jesse Grimes was attending the conference of the declaration the same day his 18 year old son Albert was being killed at the Alamo. These events were the beginning of Texas’ nine years as an independent republic before they joined the US as the 28th state in 1845.
Independence Hall
Brazos River
Cistern-Only original structure
We heard about a spot in Anderson that was the Fanthorp Inn and is a recreated 1830 farm that the Ladies just had to see. I had some really good sniffs and the gals got a personal tour of the Inn and grounds by the Park Rangers. We thought we might stay around and go back on Saturday for the horse drawn stage coach ride but the gals decided we needed to get closer to Houston so that they could have plenty of time to brave the big city for a trip to the Houston Museum of Natural Science and the exhibit of “Lucy’s Legacy”.
Now, personally, I think that any bone that is 3.2 million years old is going to be lacking in some if the important things like good odors or edible bits but these gal pals of mine were way excited about this common ancestor thing and just had to go see her. Go figure! The Museum is classified as the busiest in the entire US and is starting a major expansion program just to keep up with the daily crowds. After checking out the glorious trees and grass I settled down for a snooze and off they went to visit this famous ‘relative’. 
The entire exhibition is a cooperative effort of the Museum and the government of Ethiopia. It included hundreds of wonderful artifacts from that country’s rich past. It was too bad that photography wasn’t allowed but here are a few brochure shots to give you some sense of the experience.
Now I wish I had been with them when they visited the Cockrell Butterfly Center to stroll through 2000 live butterflies housed in a 25,000 square foot, six-story high glass cone. Here they were able to take as many photos as they wanted. Lucky us!
I was totally refreshed and ready to roll when they returned from hours of sniffing out things. So off we went to find an overnight campsite before we lighted at Galveston Island to meet my buddies Mikey and Jake and their Gal Pals Anita and Margaret. We stayed at Galveston Island SP for a few days to romp, roll, swim and sniff until I thought I had died and gone to Hound Heaven. I had so much fun with my buds – the Corgi Guys. All of the Ladies were busy with hikes, photographing and eating. (Be still my happy heart!) There was one really big, scary storm that just made us appreciate the bits of blue we did get, but over all, the area and the weather was beautiful.
Ta Ta Texas! We headed almost due east out across the oil fields, past the refineries and power plants, over the various bridges and over the Sabine River into Louisiana and the State Park at Lake Charles. We’ll be lounging in Louisiana for a bit so catch y’all later ‘gator. (I’m practicing!)
Traveling into the unknown, going where no canine has gone before, such is the life of the Intrepid Trekker!! Ta Da! Texas Hill Country? Trees? Streams and Lakes? Oh, be still my happy heart! This is THE beautiful area of central Texas, full of lovely valleys, spring-fed creeks and lots of good hills with nauseatingly curvy roads. We loved it. The area was settled by German immigrants in the mid-1800s, so the farms and villages have a very interesting blending of Y’all and Achtung! Names like Boerne, Fredericksburg and New Braunfels, sprinkled in with Bandera, Blanco and San Felipe, make asking for directions an adventure all by itself! We began the scenic drive by leaving Amistad on Hwy 90 to Uvalde, turning left onto Hwy 83, shooting north to the little farm road 337 and Vanderpool. We took our time over the next few days winding up through Leakey, Kerrville, Ingram and on up to Fredericksburg. Charming, quiet little towns and villages, tucked into the valleys and river bottoms of the Frio, Sabinal, Guadalupe and Pedernales Rivers. We stopped as our interests, curiosities or needs dictated but we often found ourselves in one of the Texas State Parks. These are wide ranging environments with very interesting natural or historical points of interest which we always enjoyed. So much so that we bought a Texas State Parks Pass and plan on using it over and over. Personally, I was sooooo happy to be in green, tree covered, water-fed country that I nearly wore my old self out every day just trying to sniff and mark every inch of it whenever my Gals stopped. Happy, happy puppy!
One of the best little parks in Texas was Lost Maples State Park. These bigtooth maple trees aren’t really lost they are just very selective about where they grow. Left over from the last Ice Age they only thrive in protected mountainous areas with plenty of moisture and moderate temperatures. We would love to come back in November some day for the color show. Since the trees weren’t at their bountiful best we decided to drive around looking for interesting things to photograph and looky-looky what we found! We have no idea what they are and there was no one around to ask but they smelled and looked way different so we added them to the collection.
Enchanted Rock State Natural Area is a huge dome of pink granite known as a batholith. Revered as a sacred site by local Indians it is now one of the most popular hiking areas in the state; so much so that there is a mounting erosion and compaction problem and they actually have to limit visitations sometimes. It is still a very impressive 1,825 foot high rock.
Knowing we would most likely never visit Salisbury Plain in England, we just had to check out the replica of the famous megaliths. Known as Stonehenge II, it was fashioned out of concrete by a local rancher and is 60 percent as tall and 90 percent as large in circumference as the original. Due to a visit this rancher also recreated a couple of the famous Easter Island statues. 
On Hwy 290 between Fredericksberg and Johnson City my eye was caught by something bright and shiny near the edge of the road – a metallic longhorn steer, flashing his Harley Davidson parts and pieces. Created by west Texas artist Bettye Hamblen Turner, it was only one of an entire collection of works at the Benini Foundation Galleries & Sculpture Ranch. The 140 acre ranch is owned by a charismatic Italian artist, Benini, and his photographer wife, Lorraine. Establishing the ranch in 1999, because it reminded Benini of his Mediterranean homeland, they developed a large studio for his works as well a living landscape for the works of their friends and students. Driving the curving ranch roads is a trip of constant surprise as each sculpture enters your field of vision and adds a dimension of surrealism to the vast scenery.
On eastward, past LBJ National Historic Park (not a favorite President and looked pretty ho hum) to Pedernales Falls SP. This was spectacular, even with low flows due to lack of rain. Cokie spent hours photographing one of her most favorite subjects - (no, not me!) - flowing water.
Then we shot south to try to drive the Devil’s Backbone, but the wind and nasty weather made us duck over to Canyon Lake and Potter’s Creek Campground for a few days just to relax and swim for a bit and soak up some quiet. 
We took a full day to drive into San Antonio for our dose of Texas history and the tour of the Alamo. What an amazing story and we found out that it is actually a shrine dedicated to the brave men and women who gave their lives there. It had also been a mission and settlement for more than 100 years before the infamous battle. Franciscan friars actually began their church as early as 1724 and the Alamo (Mexican for cottonwood) was a nearly completed structure at the time of Santa Ana’s siege. It was interesting to read the names of all of those who died in the fray and to discover familiar names like Albert Calvin Grimes and William Irvine Lewis. Kae will tap into her brother’s genealogy research and see if there might be some connection. The gardens were so lovely with amazing trees and plantings, plus the buildings and chapel just seemed to require attention and reverence at all times.
We had heard about the famous River Walk in San Antonio but didn’t really know what to expect. It is remarkable what a city can do when a river runs through it. The Ladies apologized for not being able to take me on a stroll through restaurant row but I was noble and understanding and suggested I would be fine napping in the Pod if they would bring me back a few gourmet goodies afterwards. I was and they did.
So many places, so little time, plus one really huge state! We’ll take a break and come backatcha with more Texas tall tales in journal 54. Stay tuned!
Independence Hall
Brazos River
Cistern-Only original structure
