Roadtrip2011: Thursday 3/17/11

We all decided to take a recovery day from riding. So, we drove to Enchanted Rock which is the second largest batholith (basically, a huge, mountainous boulder of granite sitting in the middle of a plain) in the USA. We hiked both around Enchanted Rock, and to the top. We were fortunate to arrive early before the park opened and to gain quick access to the trails. By the time we finished our 3 hour hike, there were cars backed up for 3/4 of a mile in both directions waiting their turns for entry into the park, and the lines were growing as we drove past the hundreds of cars.

Jim and Kelley decided to take a true recovery day and stay at the house to check emails, work on the bike, return to the Nimitz Museum, etc.. Cam and Karen climbed in the truck once again for a 1.5 hour drive down scenic backroads to Wimberley, Texas. This is a cute community with old buildings that have become a walking downtown center for shopping, surrounded by hills and forests and bordered by the Blanco River. This is easily the prettiest area of Texas we have seen so far. Our very good friends from NJ, David and Ann, moved to Wimberley this past year. David is a naturalist, known as Mr. Dave back in NJ. He is a naturalist, and a wonderful teacher of all things biological. Ann shares his love of the outdoors, and of critters. In addition to their dog, Quincy, they also have a vast collection of snakes, turtles, frogs, tarantulas, mice, rats, scorpions, hedgehogs, lizards, hissing cockroaches, insects, etc.. Cam loves to go play with all of David's animals. David is also a dedicated member of our church's ministry in Honduras, and he will be returning to La Entrada with our church for 2 weeks this year even though he no longer lives in NJ.

David and Ann gave us a tour of their beautiful new home situated on 10 heavily wooded acres, then drove us "to town" for a walk-about view of Wimberley. When we returned to the house, David and Ann took us for a stroll around their property, then treated us to a totally relaxing dinner on the back porch featuring home made quacamole and chips, quesadillas, and margaritas. Karen and Cam got so comfortable that we almost forgot to go home to Fredericksburg. David and Ann have a special gift for making everyone they meet feel like family, and we felt very fortunate to have had an afternoon and evening with them. Wimberley was a wonderful surprise as well, and now ranks high on the list of "someday" places Karen and Cam. We just loved it!