fergy
11-27-2006, 05:11 PM
We left Friday at noon, me on the bike and Lily (wife) and Maggie (dog) in the SUV, headed for Johnson City to meet up with two more bikers, my best friend Frank, and our good friend Ruth. We headed out to Fredricksburg and down to Medina hoping for an early dinner at the Apple Cider Mill Diner, but they were closed, so we hit 337 and headed on toward Leakey. We hit the major twisties just at the wrong time as the sun was right in our faces any time we were pointing South West, and it was pretty bad. Literally couldn't see at all sometimes, but we kept it slow and with my flip face helmet half up, it blocked enough sunlight to get us through the bad spots. We pulled into Leakey right at sundown and deer were running all around town. Had to dodge several right as we crossed the Frio River and really had to keep your eyes peeled for more of them, as there were groups everywhere. Anyway, we checked into our cabin right on the Frio River. Nice cabin at Criders, bran new and very clean. Just about a 100 foot walk to the river bank from the back of the cabin. Nice peaceful setting. Ruth cooked us a fine meal of fish and sweet potato fries and fresh green beans.
Headed out Saturday morning back to Leakey and hit 337 West to Camp Wood, took 55 South to Laguna and 334 West to Bracketville. We went in to Fort Clark and parked the bikes, hiked a bit around the spring there and piled into the SUV and headed up 674, 7 miles to Alamo Village. Alamo Village is where the John Wayne Alamo movie was shot in 1959, along with a large number of other western's etc. It's still a working movie set. It was a pretty cool setting, constructed at 1/4 scale and it was cool to see it all and hear all the stories. Frank has done lots of research on the Alamo battle and he told of different accounts from different people who were there. Cool stuff.
http://pages.tstar.net/~fergy/images/Alamo.jpg
Just inside the gates, a shot of the mission building.
http://pages.tstar.net/~fergy/images/Alamo_set.jpg
Some other buildings inside the walls.
http://pages.tstar.net/~fergy/images/Lily_Maggie_Alamo.jpg
Lily and Maggie inside the mission. Maggie is not much of a poser. She did take a crap in the middle of the mission grass though.
We had lunch in the cantina there at Alamo Village. All the buildings there are part of movie sets, but several have gift shops and of course the cantina has good food and ice cream, and root beer on tap.
From there we headed back to Brackettville to get the bikes and then headed East on 90 to Uvalde. We went through an Imigration Check Point on 90, pretty interesting. Of course, they just waved us through on the bikes, but we had to pull off and wait while they searched the SUV. The drive from Laguna to Brackettville and then Brackettville to Uvalde is about as boring as it can be. It's basically desert, dotted with mesquites and a few cedars, dusty and windy as heck. Nothing to look at but a few goats. From Uvalde, we headed up 83 back to Leakey and it just got more scenic the farther we went. We got back to Leakey right before sundown and once again, Ruth did some fine cooking!
Sunday morning, we headed back through Leakey and hit 337 going East, back through the twisties and to 187 where we turned North a couple miles and stopped at Lost Maples State Natural Area.
http://pages.tstar.net/~fergy/images/On_the_road.jpg
Lily shot this pic of us coming off one of the "mountains" early that morning on the way to Lost Maples.
Once we got to Lost Maples, we parked the bikes and went hiking down the Sabinal River. All the rivers down around there are crystal clear. It was a beautiful scene with the maples in full color dotting the river banks. Lots of the trees had shed most of their leaves, but what was still on the trees was really pretty.
http://pages.tstar.net/~fergy/images/Fk-Rt-Ly-maples.jpg
Here's Frank, Ruth and Lily along the trail.
http://pages.tstar.net/~fergy/images/creek-maples.jpg
One of the river and the maples in the background.
http://pages.tstar.net/~fergy/images/Maples1.jpg
More color.
http://pages.tstar.net/~fergy/images/maples3.jpg
Nice reds.
http://pages.tstar.net/~fergy/images/maples4.jpg
Another shot of the same red tree.
http://pages.tstar.net/~fergy/images/maples5.jpg
This one had lost all of it's leaves up top, but was still sporting some fine colors below.
All throughout the Hill Country, the Red Oaks, Spanish Oaks and Sumac were all in full color. Don't really know what the other gold and yellow leaved trees were, but sometimes it was hard to keep an eye on the road!
We left Lost Maples and headed back down to Vanderpool to pick up 337 heading back to Medina, hoping this time to find the Cider Mill Diner open, and it was. We had home made burgers on fresh Jalapeno buns that were to die for, and fresh apple pie with a scoop of apple ice cream, all home made. I guess all we did on this trip was pig out, but man, was it good! Medina is apple orchard country and this diner/bakery is a must stop if it's open and you're going through there! We left Medina and headed back to Fredricksburg and on to Johnson City where we split up and headed home. I pulled into my driveway at sunset, with 538 new miles on the bike. It was nice to be home, but I was a little sad that the trip was over. Can't wait to go back down there again!
Headed out Saturday morning back to Leakey and hit 337 West to Camp Wood, took 55 South to Laguna and 334 West to Bracketville. We went in to Fort Clark and parked the bikes, hiked a bit around the spring there and piled into the SUV and headed up 674, 7 miles to Alamo Village. Alamo Village is where the John Wayne Alamo movie was shot in 1959, along with a large number of other western's etc. It's still a working movie set. It was a pretty cool setting, constructed at 1/4 scale and it was cool to see it all and hear all the stories. Frank has done lots of research on the Alamo battle and he told of different accounts from different people who were there. Cool stuff.
http://pages.tstar.net/~fergy/images/Alamo.jpg
Just inside the gates, a shot of the mission building.
http://pages.tstar.net/~fergy/images/Alamo_set.jpg
Some other buildings inside the walls.
http://pages.tstar.net/~fergy/images/Lily_Maggie_Alamo.jpg
Lily and Maggie inside the mission. Maggie is not much of a poser. She did take a crap in the middle of the mission grass though.
We had lunch in the cantina there at Alamo Village. All the buildings there are part of movie sets, but several have gift shops and of course the cantina has good food and ice cream, and root beer on tap.
From there we headed back to Brackettville to get the bikes and then headed East on 90 to Uvalde. We went through an Imigration Check Point on 90, pretty interesting. Of course, they just waved us through on the bikes, but we had to pull off and wait while they searched the SUV. The drive from Laguna to Brackettville and then Brackettville to Uvalde is about as boring as it can be. It's basically desert, dotted with mesquites and a few cedars, dusty and windy as heck. Nothing to look at but a few goats. From Uvalde, we headed up 83 back to Leakey and it just got more scenic the farther we went. We got back to Leakey right before sundown and once again, Ruth did some fine cooking!
Sunday morning, we headed back through Leakey and hit 337 going East, back through the twisties and to 187 where we turned North a couple miles and stopped at Lost Maples State Natural Area.
http://pages.tstar.net/~fergy/images/On_the_road.jpg
Lily shot this pic of us coming off one of the "mountains" early that morning on the way to Lost Maples.
Once we got to Lost Maples, we parked the bikes and went hiking down the Sabinal River. All the rivers down around there are crystal clear. It was a beautiful scene with the maples in full color dotting the river banks. Lots of the trees had shed most of their leaves, but what was still on the trees was really pretty.
http://pages.tstar.net/~fergy/images/Fk-Rt-Ly-maples.jpg
Here's Frank, Ruth and Lily along the trail.
http://pages.tstar.net/~fergy/images/creek-maples.jpg
One of the river and the maples in the background.
http://pages.tstar.net/~fergy/images/Maples1.jpg
More color.
http://pages.tstar.net/~fergy/images/maples3.jpg
Nice reds.
http://pages.tstar.net/~fergy/images/maples4.jpg
Another shot of the same red tree.
http://pages.tstar.net/~fergy/images/maples5.jpg
This one had lost all of it's leaves up top, but was still sporting some fine colors below.
All throughout the Hill Country, the Red Oaks, Spanish Oaks and Sumac were all in full color. Don't really know what the other gold and yellow leaved trees were, but sometimes it was hard to keep an eye on the road!
We left Lost Maples and headed back down to Vanderpool to pick up 337 heading back to Medina, hoping this time to find the Cider Mill Diner open, and it was. We had home made burgers on fresh Jalapeno buns that were to die for, and fresh apple pie with a scoop of apple ice cream, all home made. I guess all we did on this trip was pig out, but man, was it good! Medina is apple orchard country and this diner/bakery is a must stop if it's open and you're going through there! We left Medina and headed back to Fredricksburg and on to Johnson City where we split up and headed home. I pulled into my driveway at sunset, with 538 new miles on the bike. It was nice to be home, but I was a little sad that the trip was over. Can't wait to go back down there again!