On to Fredericksburg + Second. Worst. Hike. Ever.

Zinnia Field at Wildseed Farms

Hi All, Dianne here.  We left Lost Maples State Park for the Texas Hill Country, one of our favorite places.   In our past visits we have always stayed in Kerrville at either Buckhorn Lake RV Resort or Guadeloupe River RV Park.  Both are nice places, but we found we spent most of our time driving back and forth to Fredericksburg to do what we wanted to do while visiting the area.  This trip we are staying in Fredericksburg.  More on that later....

First, I'll give a quick update on the West Trail hike that we completed on our last day at Lost Maples State Park.  If you read our last blog post, I commented on how the East Trail was the worst hike I'd ever done (my opinion).   The West Trail wasn't much better, but I won't bore you with the details.  It was a little longer, not as steep, but much of it followed a very rocky dry wash.  Even out of the dry wash, it had the same large stones to step on, which made for slow-going. 

Once again, we plodded along, picking our way over the rocky terrain.

Not as many river crossings this time.
I won't give a play-by-play, but here are a few pretty photos from the hike, with captions:

Pretty Limestone Cliffs

Interesting Vegetation Pattern on the Pond

Pond Area 

At one point I saw tall, spikey, red flowers growing in the river and posed next to them to illustrate their height (I'm 5'3"):

This time, I was smart and wore no makeup and used a sweat band!  No repeat of the stinging blindness from the last trail hike.

Here's a close-up of the red spikey flower, plus a few other pretty wildflowers we passed on the trail:

Just one more....

Now, on to Fredericksburg...

We don't normally stay at KOAs, but this trip we decided to stay right in the middle of all the action:  Luckenbach, Wildseed Farms, Circle E Candle Shop, Grape Creek and other Wineries -- all of these are on the east side of Fredericksburg, along with the KOA.  

Our first full day we made a trip to Wildseed Farms.  We have been here before, but always in the spring on our way north.  This time, we are on our way back to Retama, so we could buy what we wanted for our tiny yard, knowing that we don't have long to cart it around in the motor home.

Before we made our final purchases, we strolled along the flower fields...

Row of Gayfeather

Sweet Alyssum

Wildseed Farms is known for its seed mixtures.  We didn't buy any perennial or wildflower seeds, because it's just too difficult to grow from seed in the Rio Grande Valley, with the harsh sun and wind.  Here's what we did buy:

3 Barrel Cactus + 3 Pots to Plant them in 

Candelilla + Pot (It will be taller when planted)

Multi-Herb Pot + Herbs

I've already started my beefsteak tomato plants for this winter, from seeds left over from last year's packet.  This photo was taken a few weeks ago in Creede.  The seedlings are a lot bigger now, and should be ready to plant in our big pots when we get home.  Roger made a dandy bird cage to keep the mockingbirds out of my tomatoes this year.  I only need two of the seedlings, so if any of my Retama friends want a tomato seedling or two, let me know.

We have lots to see and do this week in Fredericksburg.  Check back soon for Roger's update on our wine tasting tours and a revisit to Luckenbach.

The pet photo of the day shows Bandido and Tequila enjoying the crystal-clear spring water pool along the West Trail at Lost Maples.  I'm sure the cool water felt good on their feet after walking five miles on the rocky terrain; I know I was sore all over by the time we got home.