Lake? Medina

Up until Thursday we were staying in Bandera at Skyline Ranch RV Park. We had a great site out by the pasture so we could watch the  steer and donkeys. Who needs an alarm clock when the donkeys and roosters go off at the crack of dawn each day ? Being here makes a connection, for me, with my roots of growing up on a dairy farm. Boomer loves watching the deer when they come out each evening and stroll through the campground. The little ones would crawl under the fence and the big ones jump over the fence....it was cute to watch.

On Sunday, the 17th, we drove down to Hondo, to the Skp park, to visit our friends Wendy and Cindy. Since it was St. Patty's day, they had fixed an awesome Irish meal of corned beef and cabbage with some Irish side dishes. We brought a non-Irish dessert of apple pie, apple ice cream and apple strudel coffee. We had picked up all of these at the Apple Store, in Medina just before we drove down to see them. The apple pie was hot out of the oven just before we got there....it was so yummy ! They use 5# of apples in every pie they make. A high dome crust, filled to the top with apples. I didn't realize it, until I spent time talking with the owner of the Apple Store but he is the largest propagator of maple trees in the state of Texas. He raises the "Lost Maple" trees, which are a sugar maple and grow 3' per year. He has a variety of trees for sale outside the store. We had a great time with the girls. On Wednesday, they came to Bandera to do some sight seeing and joined us at the 11th Street Cowboy Bar for Steak night. Everyone brings their own meat and you cook it yourself over large grills they have gotten ready. There are all sorts of seasonings available and for $6 you get salad, a huge baked potato, roll and all the fixins to go with your entree. It had been quite a while since I've had a baked potato and theirs was particularly yummy (I don't think the blue cheese dressing I put on top of it in lieu of sour cream hurt either). Linda's cousin and his family joined us and we had a great time with our friends and family.

Ok, so that catches me up to now. It's Saturday and we are in Lakehills next to Lake Medina, which doesn't look much like a lake anymore. The water is down 70 feet and it looks like a big crater in the ground. I wish I could find a picture to post of this same shot from three years ago when we first came to this area....it was bad then. It's really sad now. This picture is taken at the top of the hill before you descend down to the ranch where our campground is, along the shores of the lake. The drought has affected so many of the homes and businesses in the area. People's wells are going dry...businesses are closing up. But people keep chugging along, hoping for some enduring rain to fill the lake and several people told me that it can happen in 36 hours. Someone told me that 10" of rain would go a long way to filling it and it's happened a number of times in the past 10 years. If a category 2 hurricane were to come ashore near Corpus Christi and then slow over the Bandera area and just dump the rain, it would do the trick. Hoping for rain for this area (no loss of life) but the one time where a little hurricane might be welcomed in this area. 

I mentioned that the campground is part of a working ranch. Yep, we drive through the pasture to get in and out of here. More calves this year than we've ever seen. So cute to watch them as we drive through the pasture. Lots of deer here too for Boomer to watch. Each night at dusk they come around and he sits up on the couch and watches them out the window. We are finishing up here and heading out on Tuesday for our next jobs in Oklahoma. Hoping that all the cold and snowy weather is drawing to a close in the central part of the country. Every time I talk to my mom in Pennsylvania, she is getting cold temps and more snow. She's getting really sick of it and is ready for spring. I can't say as I blame her although the oak pollen here is killing me right now. Springtime in Texas !