SWTR-Southwest Tandem Rally Sunday April 26th

This morning we are headed to the Wildflower Ridge Alpaca Farm. Along the way we rode by way too many thistles. I have a story about that,let me indulge. Many years ago we re riding down in the Hill Country. We had some friends that had had a bad crash on a descent. We were getting ready to go to New Zealand. I had to ask Jim what he would do if a descent got too fast. He said "Well, I would never let it get that fast, I would take it down in the bar ditch. About that time we're riding by some really tall thistles. After a moment digesting what he said. I asked do thistles hurt worse that road rash. 

Fortunately we have never had to find the answer for that.

At the alpaca ranch there was coffe and hot cinnamon rolls (with lots of icing) us. 

Up the hill these little guys were waiting for us. They were not keen on getting petted.

However they were looking for some handouts.

Everyone found out that farther up the hill there were more alpacas and a fellow talking about them.

These alpacas seemed sad that everyone left. 

Here we are full of coffee and cinnamon rolls ready to work it off. 

I made Jim hunker down to get this shot. The side of the road was filled with wild flowers 

Cheering us home. We make our way back to the house and said our goodbyes and head home. 

For those who ride bicycles this was the perfect weekend. Good weather, great friends and mile of

Awesome roads to ride. If you have not ridden the Hill Country figure out a way to get down there.

You will be like us and smile all the way homes when you leave.

2015 SWTR-Southwest Tandem Rally Saturday SaturdayApril 25th

Saturday morning and everyone is getting ready to ride!

Sargent Phillips is going to escort us out of town.

This armadillo I would like to think is just taking a nap in the road. But like most armadillos you happen on have usually come into contact with the undercarriage of a vehicle. It's been told and I truly don't know if it is a fact, that armadillos don't get hit when a vehicle runs over them. It startles them and

they jump straight up. Consequently hit the underside of the vehicle and kill themselves.

Blackeyed Susans

There are a lot of goats in the hill country. The baby goats are soooo cute!

This is the Gypsum Mine on the famous Gypsum Loop. I have looked up history about the mine.

The best I have found out about it is it called the Cherry Hill Gypsum Mine. The reason gypsum is mined, it's used in plaster, drywall, forms sculptures. The last statistic on the mine is it employees 12 people as of 2007.

The roads get long and rolly here..

Finally lunch! With the shade of the old Liveoaks you didn't realize the temperature was getting up 

Into the high 80's.

Charley and Rhonda Pummill. Jim and I have know them for many years. We caught up with them at lunch. Rhonda and I discussed that there was another Rhonda on the tour. We have always been the only two. Fortunately we met the third Rhonda. She met our expectations. She is really awesome as well!

The tandems are like horses resting along the fence waiting to get saddled up 

while we all enjoy our lunches.

Nearly back home we rode by this field in the city. The flowers are given their space in the city.

You can't help but smile as you go by.

We have stayed many years at the Ressmann Haus. It much the same as the our first visit only subtle 

Improvements that time brings. Possibly one of the favorite things about this area are the morning doves. You will hear them along with cardinals, bluejays, wrens and sparrows. It's nice Sitting on the porch watching all the activity going on in that small front yard.

Here is Mr.Jimmy enjoying the cool breeze that blows up on the porch on an otherwise hot 

Sunny afternoon. Gosh I love the sun and the warmth of it.

If any of you reading this do not ride a tandem you might consider it, if only for the happy hour happenings at a tandem rally. There are people from all over the country here. Happy hour is a great time to get to meet others and enjoy their stories. Riding together is an added feature too. Now I will have to say the SWTR is known for it's happy hour. So when you get your tandem be sure to sign up for the SWTR. Tomorrow we ride to an Alpaca farm!

2015 SWTR-Southwest Tandem Rally

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Friday the 24 th of April finds us headed out of town back to Fredericksburg.

This time without the fifth wheel and no Diggity and Doogie. However we have our tandem with us.

We haven't been on the tandem since we rode it a few days on our ride across the country in 2013.

This is the 25th year for the rally. There will be 92 tandems at this rally.

Temple Texas has a new Buc-ee's. This is not your regular truck stop. In fact big rigs are not allowed there. It is amazing. They have 112 pumps and the restrooms beat out some of the fancy hotels we've stayed in. So next time your through Temple check out Buc-ee's"

The blue bonnets are starting to fade away. So now the coreopsis, Black-eyed Susans, Indian paintbrush and Indian blankets are starting their show.

John and Brenda on the roads. Long time friends we enjoy riding with them. Our pace on the tandem are about the same.

So this is view from the back of the tandem. Well not totally. The advantage from this position is you can see the vistas all around and not have to worry what's happening on the road. Picutre taking is much more spontaneous too.

Another field of flowers.

If you look closely you can catch the bluebonnets still putting on a great display.

Happy hour that evening was at the Perdenales brewing company. Hugh Reeves part of the planning 

Committee for the rally owns this brewery.

Pulling beers is hard work at the brewery.

Outside everyone is taking in brews,wine,munchies and good conversation.

Susie Mumby and John Harvey getting some hugs from Jim.

Jim and Melody Yuhn along with Lee & Becky Wilson surrounding Pete Holverson 

This is Jeff Lingo, with Mike Baker, Nannette and Ronnie Bryant

Jeff and Laura Hollingswortj are awesome tandem riders. They rode the Leadville 100 this last year on a tandem mountain bike. Unfortunately they did not finish. However it didn't diminish their awesomeness in our eyes.

Mindy Mashburn and Laura Roberts put together the wine and appetizers for the happy hour.

Back at the house Brenda put together a dinner of roasted chicken and salad. Ronnie and Nannette 

Brought some wonderful deserts including a peach pie to top off the evening.

Fortunately the weather cooperated and we were able to dine outside as well. This made for a perfect evening with good friends.

March 29th Sunday, the best day. It's about time

Today we all met at the front of RBM. Pam had a plan,. Let's ride into town across Martha Hunt's bridge and stop for brunch at on the the Resturants. We find ourselves at the Resto Bistro. Food is great there. With goods friends I can guarantee it's even better.

After brunch Brandon our waiter insisted on getting another photo for us.

On the front row you will find Pam,Susan,myself and Vicky

Back row Dave, Doug, Jim and Jamie.

This is Brandon in front of the Resto.  He had all kinds of favorite items on the menu.

It appears Pam photo bombed him.

When we get our bikes we found this little bike and scooters parked with ours. I believe the little guy who owned the bike was trying negotiate for one of ours.

Riding across the bridge is really neat. Riding back to the city the view is awesome.

Susan and Dave cruising. We all were after a delicious meal.

Here come Pam,Jim and Jamie in the background.

There's Jamie and Doug. By the way Doug is with Susan, Jamie is with Vicky.

And here is Vicky, she's been taking pictures as well. We have a great ride back to Richardson. 

Pam's daughter was flying in for the week so we had to make time. The absolute best thing about this ride?! The tail wind home. Hope all of you who rode today were able to enjoy the tailwind as well.

Retread/5thWheel Adventures March 9 thru March 16th

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Today is Tuesday and we are out on the road. We decided to go back to the roads we traveled before and go through those gates we didn't go through before. While riding we saw this hawk up in the 

Old Live Oak. Looking up this photo I found out this hawk is called a Crested Caracara. 

Many of the roads in this area are just like this. The roads west of I35 are called Ranch Roads and those east of I35 are called Farm Roads.

There are quite a few Long Horns here in the Hill Country.

The photo above and below are the of the road we didn't go down because of the gate.

There we many homes along this road, with no traffic at all.

There is actually a town called MorrisRanch is was all about breeding and selling thorough bred horses.

Established in 1846, the post office was operating in 1896. There were stables for breeding,a jockey house, school, general store and of course the home of the Morris'. They call it a ghost town. The Morris' ended their horse business when Texas laws changed concerning horse racing and betting. 

All of the buildings are still there. Above is a silo that was is on the site. 

We made our way over to MorrisRanch Road. Found this guy watching us as we rode by.

This is about the cutest little donkey we have ever seen. He wouldn't come to the fence, preferred

To stay with his mom.

We seen our fair share of horses with blankets on. This is the first time we have seen goats with

Their blankets on. The one below has a Camo blanket..cool.

After so many years of riding in the Hill country we ride by many businesses with the name Boos

And a road as well. I finally looked up the Boos family to learn a little more about them. This is what I found. Boos’ family were among the original approximately 120 German settlers in 1845, who arrived via the Gulf of Mexico in ports in New Orleans and Indianola. Due to boundary disputes at the time with Mexico, transportation was limited and immigrants traveled 140 miles by foot to New Braunfels, where they spent their first winter, In the spring of 1846 the immigrants continued to Fredericksburg, where they established the small German community. Laverne Boos is an interpiter at the pioneer museum. When she and her husband are home they communicate in German.

The last of the locals for the day.

This morning Doogie is sharing his spot on the couch with Jim.

The sun is out and it is nice and warm. We pass this pup dog protecting his land. 

All the while his tail is wagging.

Llamas and alpacas are raised throughout the hill country.

Way off in the distance there is a tiny white spot on the horizon. It acutally the road we are on and it

will be a long climb to the top.

Made it! Looking back. It always great to see where you've been. Tomorrow Judy and Mike Pluto will be coming in to ride during Hell Week. We last saw them in Lajitas in Big Bend. It will be great to ride with them on the roads here. The off road stuff is fun and challenging. Especially when you're not good at it like me. I hit the dirt way too many times.  I'm a roadie!

 Mike and Judy are here. Doogie makes himself at home in Judy's lap. We go out for a quick 30 mile ride. It is glorious" it is warm and sunny.

Found these wooly guys. They were just as curious about us as we are of them.

We are riding with a friends who live outside of Stonewall. A lot of the land around here is pretty flat and rolling. However at any given mile it can get challenging to climb some of the hills.

And here's Judy!

Wow! Davis can you believe the horns on this guy! (Davis is Tom Ernst 8 year old son). We have seen some awesome horns  on Long Horns, but this guys is awesome. I believe this one would win for having the longest horns of all. We passed them in a pasture on Cave Road.

Peach orchards are everywhere in the hill country. These are starting to bloom. It's great to see the pink blossoms.Spring is on the way.

Drew took this photo of the guys at the start of the ride on Friday. They will ride over 300 miles in 3 days. That is all the time Tom has till he goes back to Portland.

Tonight we have dinner with some of the guys from Matrix. The fellow opposite Jim is Tom Ernst. He use to work with us at RBM. He now lives in Portland Oregon. He has been coming down to Hell Week 

In the Hill Country for many years. It is always great to see him and the others for dinner and have them

Pass us on the road.

The airport next to the RV Park is very active. This morning these little planes are practicing 

Formations. They flew over the park all morning.

We had a late morning start and decided to go into town for brunch. Silver Creek Resturant is a great place when the weather is nice to sit outside. Today was a perfect day.

Riding out on a loop we had road before I found this plum tree blooming up a storm. 

We had passed "Fred" earlier in the week. It was fun to see him decked out in his Easter duds.

Great barn with a stone fence. All through out the area there will be fences like this. They are impressive. It takes a long time to place all those stones just right. Many of these fences have been around since the 1800's.

Tonight we decided to go to the Hill Top Cafe. It has and interesting menu.  Johnny who plays with the group Asleep at the Wheel is Cajun and his wife Brenda is Greek. Mix those to influences together and 

Dining there is a unique experience. During the day you may pass this place and think "I think I'm gonna pass on eating there." When you do try to dine there you better make reservations. 

Inside the Hill Top it is hard not to want to walk around and look at all the things on the walls.

Makes you smile.

The drive home brought a beautiful sunset. Judy and Mike leave tomorrow. Jim and I will probably

Be headed home on Tuesday. The weather is changing again and we are ready to end this adventure.

Almost 3 months on the road in our 5th Wheel. From the coast, to the desert to the Texas Hill Country.

Lots of bike riding and time with good friends. Oh yes, with each other and our traveling buddies,

Diggity and Doogie.

Judy and Mike are on their way home. This is Laura and Joel from Enid Ok. They invited us to ride with them and a group of friends from Wisconsin and Minnesota. Boy are they glad to be here. We are on 

The roads that Jim and I have been riding. It was interesting, we were all together and next thing we knew everyone was headed back or different directions. So Joel decided to ride with us and we were able to show him some new roads.

I had to get this shot again. That road up in the distance is the road we are on. It is just a long

steady climb.

My last shot of the. Day. On old San Antonio Road we passed this dead tree with cactus growing out of it. We made it back to the trailer. It has gotten cloudy and cooler. Wee went out to for pizza. Still trying to decide to go home tomorrow. We'll see what the weather does.