"Today is a Good Day to Drive!" .....Van-Go

March 29, 2008 The deer leaped over the fence like Michael Jordan going for a basket! We have driven down US290 many times and have seen the chrome longhorn standing guard just outside Johnson City, but never imagined what was in the turn of the road. Thanks to Bob and Dolly we turned down and drove back about 5 miles and discovered an artist’s haven, the Benini Sculpture Ranch. Benini and guests’ sculptures line the two-mile drive. The large-scale pieces range from the realistic to the obscure. Vittoriana, cousin of Benini, flew in from Italy; she will be receiving an award today for her artwork. Inside the gallery were many paintings and all of them look like you could grab some part of the picture as it appears to be sticking out. He spent the 70’s painting roses. He was inspired by his grandmother’s garden in Italy. President Clinton used one of his paintings, L’ultima Rosa, at the White House when he announced the rose as the national flower in 1986. His mother later bought him th...

We said goodbye to Hill Country and off we go a little west, a little south, a little east and a little north....

March 28, 2008 We spent the morning at Walt’s Ranch; he joined us for morning coffee. We walked around the ranch and our friendship grew a little closer. The rest of the day we worked on craft projects until the cool air and drizzle forced us inside. After dinner we went to The Friendly Bar where they were hosting a wine tasting party with Llano wines. Kathy tasted them all and Will got beer instead. They served cheese, crackers, veggies and other goodies. Kelly Carper was doing a book signing for her book, Puppy, about her Aussie she got from the local humane society. You can read about it at http://www.kellycarpercommuncation.com/ . The front area of the bar is set up ore like a coffee shop. The owner, new to bar business, shared the story of how the bar has been around longer than Judge Roy Beane’s back in the early 1870 time. When he bought it there was a lot of fix up to do. He saved the mural on the wall of the original owners standing behind the bar full of customers of every so...

March 27, 2008 We spent the day at Walt’s ranch. Will finished designing a tee shirt for Kathy of all the pickers/ singers/ songwriters and characters including a great storyteller that we have met in Luckenbach. Kathy wore it for our last night this season in Luckenbach. The shirt was a great hit! We even got people willing to pay money to get one, but it is a one of a kind for Kathy. Luckenbach is like fishing. You never know what you’re gonna happen. You cast your line out there; sometimes you get a bite, sometimes you get the big one, and sometimes you just enjoy being there. Sitting outside under the great oaks were John Bardy, tonight’s host, Dale Mayfield, Danny Terry, Levi Darr, Richard Viper, another picker and a tub bass player. Music drifted expressing dramatic turns of emotion. Levi’s fingers were on fire! He would take a deep breath and become totally absorbed into the music leaving everything behind and going into a zone carrying us along with his energy. John, wearing hi...

March 26, 2008 You learn in kindergarten that roosters crow at first light-WRONG. They crow all night long. We spent the night at Luckenbach where the chickens and roosters roam free. At dusk their nightly ritual begins. The roosters’ crow and the chickens work their way up the trunks, into the lower branches and soon they are all up high perched in the gnarled live oaks. But that is not the end of it. The roosters stay up all night taking only little naps, as they have to guard their harem of hens. Thus when a stray rooster gets too close to a hen belonging to another, well, all crowing lets loose. It goes on all night. At daybreak there is a grand finale to announce which hens belong to which rooster. Throughout the day everyone scatters pecking the ground looking for food so there is just an occasional crow, but things remain pretty quiet. That is until a stray rooster decides he likes a certain hen belonging to another. Then there is crowing and cackling and lots of running about. ...

March 26, 2008 Finalists were chosen in the Cowboy Doug Davis look alike contest yesterday at Luckenbach. Winners will be posted on blogs everywhere. Cast your vote in our poll to the right. Cowboy Doug ( http://www.myspace.com/thenoteropers ) was host for the evening at Luckenbach. He plays real cowboy songs like Old Chisolom Trail and Whoopie Ti Yi Yo. He was joined by Cam King, singer/songwriter. Aficionados may recognize that name as the author of "Circuit Queen" made famous by Marcia Ball and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre , and band member of The Explosives ( austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2005-02-11/music_phases9.html ). Walt Perryman ( http://www.myspace.com/WaltPerryman ), storyteller/poet stopped by to tell a few of his true tales. We love listening and watching Walt share his stories. John Bardy stopped by our seat under the live oak and chatted a bit. He will be hosting tomorrow at Luckenbach. http://www.myspace.com/jbardy

March 25, 2008 We woke to birds singing. It was a cool morning, perfect for putting in a little play time. We finished stacking all the lumber! It was a little slower work looking for black widow spiders and scorpions. We found several spiders including a brown recluse, another poison biting one. Kathy cringed remembering getting bit by one while "playing" on the brig Niagra derigging the ship for winter storage. Will had to rush her up to the hospital with a pink line running up her arm. It took weeks to heal up. The rest of the day we spent relaxing at the ranch. We mostly watched the birds and listened to the bugs. Later that evening we headed over to the Stonewall Saloon and met some freinds, Bob and Dolly and their friends, Les and Iona. The music was so loud we had to retreat to the back room. We sat around the table sharing travel adventures with the music still loud. Iona mentioned that the space shuttle was to be visable in the sky so we all went out to see the site....

March 24, 2008 Luckenbach is always a special place where “everybody is somebody”, but last night was different. It was mystical and personal. There was a small circle of players under the great gnarled live oak tree whose canopy is roost to the chickens and shades and defines this place. It seems to give off a kind of pure energy that radiates outward and is dispersed among all living things around it; another one of those mysteries of the universe. Come to Luckenbach and you will know what we are talking about. We were graced with a song by Candace Miller ( http://www.myspace.com/tandcmiller) before she got a call from T-Roy. Danny Terry, ( http://www.myspace.com/dannyterry2006 ) in his cowboy hat and Luckenbach jean jacket, sang some of his newly written songs to be released on his second CD. Levi Darr, ( http://www.myspace.com/jonesanddarr ) an extremely talented guitar and fiddle player, added character to every bridge sometimes going on for several minutes. He sang out a few o...

March 23-24, 2008 The evening was spent at The Friendly Bar in Johnson City, birthplace of Lyndon B. Johnson. The round-robin pickers play everything from cowboy music to oldes to rock. We love watching and listening to Henry, now 73, playing the electric guitar and Gale doing his Elvis songs. The guy to the right of Henry announced it was his last day; he was returning to Minnesota. His accent changed from Texan as he broke into an Olie and Lina joke. We colored Easter eggs and spent time at Walt's moving some more lumber. It was a little slower working, we mean playing....because we found black widow spiders and scorpions. Oh my! We had never seen a scorpion in the wild before. We had put up our hummingbird feeder and a few came along for a sip of sweet sugar water. Click on the picture to see the scorpion up close!

What? You expected a little fury rabbit!

March 22, 2008 We woke up at Walt's Ranch, enjoyed coffee looking over the back pond-to-be then got to work restacking lumber to save it from rot. We put 2x4s between the rows to let the air move freely between the boards. We took lots of breaks and drank lots of water. Before we left we finished dinner and washed up. We headed for town-Fredericksburg and found the restaurant, Hannah On Main where ShAnnie was playing. It is a linen tablecloth sort of place. We sipped our beers and took little bites from our cheese and fruit platter. The music is what we came for and we were not disappointed as Shan and Annie sang out their Eclectic Folk. The played Kathy's favorite, Easy Chair, and Will's favorite, Profound, and a newly written one, Weatherman, along with lots of others. We are true eclectimaniacs! You can listen to Shannie at http://www.myspace.com/shannieband

March 21, 2008 We slept in til noon!!!! Maria and Sueann left a message; they were making Easter Bread! That was a family tradition: Grandma Romano would come from Cleveland, Ohio and we would all help make the sweet bread for Easter. It took hours because you had to knead it, let it rise and knead it again and let it rise before putting it in the oven. Some loafs had colored eggs woven in. One loaf was always made into a woven circle with colored eggs put in for everyone in the family. The left over was made into buns. As the years past we made more buns and just a small woven circle loaf. The sweet smell of the bread filled the house. What a treat hot out of the oven smothered with butter! “Fond memories are remembered long after they are gone.” Walt has a small ranch here in the Hill Country just outside Luckenach. There is the beginnings of a ranch house made of cedar and stone. Plans for a pond, two more stone cabins and a main house with a barn are alive in Walt’s head. After spe...

March 20, 2008 After relaxing yesterday at the Rest Area on route 101 we decided to do some chores and ended up at Lady Bird Park. We did the Vista Loop, about a mile, for our daily constitutional and saw some pretty butterflies. One was big and bright yellow and black. The other was also big and black with bright blue, the Polevine Swallowtail. We enjoyed brunch under one of the large live oaks looking down over the dam. On our way in we had seen a small plane land and while walking we saw one take off. The park offers walks, watching and a great place to relax. Luckenbach was our next stop where Danny Terry and John were playing their guitars and singing. It was a beautiful day and soon the pickers moved outside. Walt Perryman arrived introduced us to Summer, his nurse. Walt graced everyone with a few true stories. Sally and Merrill arrived and we enjoyed dinner at the Luckenbach Feed Lot. Their basket of potatoes is legendary. They put the potato on a small rod that spins it around ...

March 19, 2008 We were spending the day relaxing at the rest area on route 101; they have wifi there. We got a visit from Sally and Merrill and got caught up. They are volunteering at LBJ National Park and are working with the cattle. The workers are putting the LBJ office back the way it was when LBJ was in office; it is to open in August.

March 18, 2008 We arrived in the hill country and our first stop was Luckenbach. Danny Terry was behind the bar and Bill was playing his song about the ghosts of music past playing there. We stayed a while and even did some internetting as they have wifi at the dance hall. The evening was spent at the Stonewall Saloon. We walked in and who should we meet there but Porfie, the accordian player we love to listen to at Luckenbach. His mother-in -law owns the saloon and he and his wife, Chrystal are trying to make a go of it. Tuesday night is pickers night. Many of the Hill Country Pickers from the Johnson City Bar now play here. Gayle, the fiddle player arrived and as the evening went on we had about fifteen players up on the stage entertaining the small but mighty crowd of listeners and dancers. Some Luckenbach regulars like Bob and his wife and Juan, Hondo's son, were here along with many we recognized but don't know names. Ricky, his son and wife, and some volunteers from LBJ S...

March 17, 2008 Happy St. Patrick's Day Boerne Riverside Park is where we spent the day. Lots of families came to feed the ducks. We came to relax. It was five in th evening when we left and headed north. We spotted a sign for a cave and followed the signs. Cave Without A Name was fully formed by the Guadalupe River that flowed underground through here more than 300,000 years ago. The sinkhole, which exposed the cave, is mire 30,000 years old. A goat herder who noticed a goat missing and found it at the bottom of the sinkhole discovered it. We will have to come back to go down under. Walked down to the Guadalupe River and were amazed by the evidence of 37 foot flood waters! We didn’t spend the night there! We found this neat wide spot in the road (route 1376) with a pond. We waited for animals to come for a drink, for birds to come and roost, or for any signs of life. All we got were frogs crocking.