Finally, we’ve reached that magic day, the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of sunlight and the longest night of darkness. Now we can begin the process of watching the days grow longer, minute by minute.
We’ve been enjoying very nice days here in San Antonio, this morning when we got up it was 63. It was cloudy, almost foggy, but by noon it had cleared up and the sun was shining brightly.
Jim was having a conversation with a friend who had been asking about my blogging habits. He told this friend that it’s hard for me to write a blog every day when we’re not doing much of anything, who wants to read about us drinking coffee for a couple of hours while we wake up, then go do laundry, clean the house, fix meals and read. We’re told there really are people who are interested in these mundane activities, so I’ll try to pick up the blog writing pace a little.
Actually, we have been getting out and doing a few things. A couple of days last week we spent polishing the Castle, I even asked Jim to find some metal polish so I could polish the wheels – I have 2 of them done, 2 to go.
On Saturday, we decided to take the day off and go for a drive. We ended up doing a “Texas Wine Country” tour, up to Johnson City where we visited the Texas Hill Country Vineyards:
Ah, choices, choices!!
Along Highway 290 from Johnson City to a few miles past Fredericksburg, there are about 10 vineyards – no, we didn’t go to all of them. We stopped at one more along the way, William Chris Vineyards, then skipped ahead to the Chisholm Trail Winery. It’s located about nine miles west of Fredericksburg, then another 2.5 miles down a narrow, almost dirt road through cattle and horses until you think there can’t possibly be anything down there, but finally come to the sign:
Where we were greeted by “Pick-up” the Santa-costumed dog (sitting pretty in her chair by the tree):
After our wine tour we stopped back in Fredericksburg at a local German restaurant before coming back home.
Brenda and John arrived Sunday, so we all gathered at Deb & Rod’s for dinner. Deb made a fabulous casserole with turkey, mashed potatoes, dressing and gravy, and I made a big salad. Brenda managed to save a bit of peanut butter pie she’d made, so we enjoyed that for dessert. It’s great to get together again!
Yesterday, Jim & I had planned to visit the missions here in San Antonio, but the morning was overcast so we decided to wait for a sunny day to get better pictures. Instead of the missions, we ended up going to the Market Quarry Shopping Center, where there is a Whole Foods market. One of our favorite stores to browse! We found some goodies to cook for our “Dinch”. Of course, as soon as we went shopping, the sky cleared and the sun warmed us up! After we ate, Deb called to let us know Happy Hour was at Brenda & John’s, so off we went for that. We sat outside, enjoying the warm weather. When it got dark and chilly, we came back home.
Today, we got together for lunch in Boerne with another group of friends who are staying at Buckhorn Resort near Kerrville. We picked out a restaurant “about halfway” between our respective locations.
Below (left to right ) are Steve, Cathy (she’s behind Paul so you can’t really see her), Paul, Mary, Rod and Deb.
And on the other side of the table are Brenda, John, the other John, and Sandy, and another view of Steve.
After lunch we gathered outside the restaurant, “The Dodging Duck Brewhaus” which is located across the street from the city park along Boerne Creek. Below, Mary prepares to hug friends. Jim has his back to the camera, and John is on the left:
What a fun time – it was wonderful to meet new friends and reconnect with Sandy & John and Mary & Paul. We hope to catch up with them again before long!
After we got home, it was already time to get set up for today’s Happy Hour, which took place at our home. Again, we sat outside until it got dark and started to get chilly.
Not a bad deal for being winter! We’ve been on the road for 4 years now, and this is the warmest we’ve been at this time of year, we’re loving it.
4 comments:
We loved Workamping in San Antonio last winter. . .although the locals told us it was the coldest winter they could remember. . .our hoses froze twice. . .after that we remembered to unhook them! : )
We had planned on being down there this month but best laid plans of mice and men...We will be up here in the north with the kids this Christmas...next Christmas we will be far far away.
Wish we could have been there, but your blog made it almost so. Love the area around Fredericksburg. Merry Christmas to you both, hugs.
Glad you are enjoying the warm weather this time of year! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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