Hill Country Vacation

Conversation between Jason & I last night...

Jason: Did you blog about our trip to Fredericksburg?

Me: No, why?

Jason: Because I wanted to read it.

Me: Why? You were there. You know what happened.

Jason: Yea, but I wanted to hear your opinion about it.

Me: I can just tell you my opinion about it.

Jason: No, you are much funnier in writing.

There you go folks... my own husband only finds me amusing in writing. Anyhow, I guess I'll share a few tidbits about our vacation.

Day 1

Jason and I headed up to Fredericksburg on Thursday. We stayed in a cabin just outside of town. It's actually located in a small old railroad community called Cain City. It was a fabulous little cottage perfect for 2 people. The front porch was very relaxing.

Since it was built way up on a hill, it had great views of the countryside.

And the best part of it was that we could bring Radar along. I mean, what pet wouldn't love to get away from the city and enjoy a nice quiet weekend in the country?

Apparently our dog. This picture was taken just as Radar realized he was brought to the country for a weekend. Right now he is probably trying to scratch his way back into the air condition where he will remain for the rest of our vacation.

So Thursday evening, Jason and I went to a few of the wineries along Hwy 290 between Fredericksburg and Stonewall.

They were very enjoyable. I can't say the wine was as good as our Sonoma trip earlier this year, but it was still fun.

This winery, Becker Vineyards, was hoppin. Jason and I felt a little snubbed here though, because all the high rollers were buying cases at a time. We shared a $10 tasting and bought 1 bottle. Oh well, it was still nice. After our tastings we went to Cabernet Grill for dinner. It was very good and I would recommend it.

Day 2

Friday started out by reminding us of all the joys of being an adult. We stopped for breakfast on the way to Enchanted Rock, and realized my car was leaking anti-freeze. Being the environmentalists we are, we wanted to get it checked out so we weren't leaking poison across the Hill Country. We ended up spending all morning at the auto mechanics. We didn't even really get the car fixed, only patched up for the time being. Soon I'll be posting about the joys of new car shopping.

So, since we missed the prime Enchanted Rock hiking time, we headed back to the cottage to get our bikes. The plan was to bike about 8 miles from our cabin to the Bat Cave and Alamo Springs Cafe. Blame it on the hills or the heat, I only made it half way and we went back for the car. It had nothing to do with how out of shape I am of course. ;)

This is the Bat Cave. I expected a man in tights with a cape, but got stinky stream instead. The bats are supposed to come out in the evenings, but even in mid-day we could see them fluttering around down at the end of the tunnel. Crazy little rats with wings.

So Alamo Springs Cafe was definitely a highlight of our trip. Texas Monthly named this joint as the 3rd best burger in Texas, and Jason and I can contest that it was the best burger we have ever had. A man working at the cafe made fun of me for taking pictures of the burgers. What-ev man, your burgers are picture worthy whether you like it or not. I mean, look at the behemoth.

The rest of the day we just rested and then met my parents in Kerrville for dinner.

Day 3

We finally made it to Enchanted Rock on Saturday morning.

Hiking it was not nearly as easy as I remember as a child. It only took us 20 minutes to get to the top, but there was definitely some huffing and puffing along the way on my part.

And then, this big rock started tumbling down the hill and I had to go rescue the children and the bunnies from getting smooshed. Good thing Jason had my camera to capture the heroic venture.

Naw, but my parents did want me to re-enact a picture they had of me as a kid holding this rock up.

Around lunch, we met the parent folk and Trey and Melanie in town. We did a bunch of the little shops along Main Street.

Then we headed back to the cottage to grill some dinner. We had fajitas, sausage, beans, guacamole, watermelon, and cantaloupe.

We spent a lot of time hanging out on the porch watching the wildlife.

In addition to deer in the evenings, we had roosters in the morning, and numerous hummingbirds (like an infestation if you ask me.) But, they were nice to watch.

So, that was our Hill Country adventure. It was a very nice trip and it was great to spend time with family.

Note: This picture was taken the first night before Radar fully realized that he was outside near dirt, bugs, and heat. Sad, sad story.