Chino the Magnificent

Meet Chino, my son's pooch. At the Christmas Eve gathering everyone received gifts, including Chino. He got his first pair of pants. Here he is strutting his stuff. He's a real character. 

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve at Mom's house was full of people again. Represented are Charles (Ben's pop-in-law), my sons Joseph & Jason, Christa and I, and Steven (niece's hubby). Next down is Mom, Deliscia, Tiffany, Tammi and Ben. On the bottomis Ali, Little Steven, Kyle, and Jessica. Aside from having to stand (or sit) for "The Photo," we had a great time sharing family time, opening presents with the kids (because they all have their own places to be tomorrow), and chowing down on some great food. Missing were my sis and her husband (off to Kansas this year) and Blair (my baby brother, ha) and his family. They are in Montana with a new house and granchild, so they are a bit busy. But I'm sure they are happy to be spending this Christmas in their new home. Christmas day Mom, Christa and I are invited to spend the day at Ben's with Tammi and her dad, Charles (oh, and Jessica and Kyle, also). More food and fun. Merry Christmas Ya'll! 

Paddling the Guadalupe River

An awesome Monday with temps in the low 70's makes for a great day paddling the Guadalupe River as it passes through Lake Wood near Gonzalez, TX. The river banks were a bit drab in their winter dress, but there was still plenty of wildlife to be seen. My youngest son, Jason, has opted to join me today as Christa thought it was going to be cold. Warmed up nicely as we prepared to go out on the water. You might notice that I'm going to change things with the blog a bit. The nature of the blog is that entries are made sequentially. Starting with this entry series, I will endeavor to place them in an order that reads better, useful when there are numerous entries to record.

Jason getting ready to go with the old man out for a little paddle. Three and a half hours later, he was feeling the tinge of a "little Paddle."

A lot of birds on the river today. We saw egrets, herons, and a number of smaller species that I couldn't identify. The most prevalent birds in the area were buzzards. Down the river is a roosting sight and you can see nearly a hundred or so of them. Graceful in flight and very necessary, but nasty as all get out.

Here is the footshot and catching Jason in the pic as well.

As the day wears on we decide to head back towards the docks. A really nice day on the river. As we were breaking down the gear to go home, a local fisher commented that "The river lets you forget the world, and the world makes you remember the river."

They drifted pretty close to our house and I was able to get a few really good shots before they turned more to the southeast.

Here the balloon gets a clear take off. They were taking off around 4 PM in the early evening. I gather the winds were just right.

On arriving back at my Mom's place, we were treated to another piece of eyeball liberty. We noticed this balloon getting ready to take off from a little field behind our neighbors place that is used frequently by Ulta-lite enthusiasts and infrequently by balloonists.

Having not found a suitable site (yet) for the San Marcos River, I returned to one of our old stomping grounds - Lake Wood on the Guadalupe. A fairly large lake that is part of the Guadalupe Blanco River Authority and power system. Here is a picture of the dam, looks old and I hope thos spurts are not leaks.

Another nice visual point was this artesian well built by the same corps group that built the Refectory. Nice water feature.

Near the little lake on Palmetto Park we encountered these guys. They seemed quite used to people as they came running in a pushing/shoving gaggle up to us. Unfortunately, we didn't have any goods for them. Not to fear, a family pulled up shortly after this picture with the intent of having a quiet picnic, sort of. These guys hauled tail when they saw the family setting up the table.

Most of the park is a series of hiking trails, this one leads to an old structure I'm sure of what it was used for. Looked like an old grain elevator that was converted to a house or something.

From the back of the Refectory the San Marcos River can be seen winding its way south towards the Guadalupe River. I will have to do a little more scouting before I determine where I want to put in at. Many sections of the river require porting to go around low spots and low water bridges. Combine that with fairly high loose banks and I would just as soon find a constant run not requiring some extra navigation. I think one or both of my sons may join me for a paddle, that would be cool.

Been awhile since I posted last because we're just sitting tight waiting for this cold blast to move on. Today was warm enough that we went out for a drive in the country and ended up near Gonzales, TX. Actually we ducked into Palmetto State Park to see what was there. The park covers 270+ acres with the San Marcos river passing through. I was scouting for put-in/take-out spots for some paddling. The San Marcos offers a variety of of river conditions with a wide selection of in and out spots. This is a picture of the Refectory built in 1931. Built from solid stones and large timbers, pretty sturdy.

Waiting for Sunday Football

Today is a big day around here. Cowboys play New York and its a big game for both of them. NY has the edge, but I'm counting on the Boys to pull it off. Lucy is excited as well, you can almost see the nervous anticipation in her eyes as she sits on pins and needles for the game to start. As a side note, I would like to wish Angie and Jason luck for their new adventure as full time RVers. Thanks for reading my blog, I hope you are able to enjoy the life as much as we do. 

Proud Papa Scott and Sister Sydney look after Baby Delaney. How cute. Some long nights ahead I can only assume, but what a darling to share the long nights with. Congratulations.

Today I received an email from my good friend Scott announcing the arrival of Delaney Marie, his new daughter. Here Christine and little Delaney take a personal time out. We are very proud for them and their new baby.

Well, we have arrived back in Seguin and completed our tour of dog duty at my sisters and bro-in-laws house. They have a German Short Hair Pointer that gets pretty lonely and they had to go on a short business trip. Buford is a pretty good boy and loves to have the fun, but misses his "mom & dad" greatly. Of course we also kept an eye on the house, cat named Maynard, and parakeet named Victor.

Following our stay at Lake Livingston, TX, we proceeded south to Stagecoach, TX to visit some of our friends from the Alaska Caravan - Roger and Jeannie. We stayed at their beautiful house and enjoyed a fine evening dining out and indulging in good conservation. I really enjoyed our stay and wished we could have stayed longer, but other commitments pressed us. I do however look forward to revisiting when time allows, they are gracious hosts and made us feel very welcome. Tomorrow we head on down to my sisters place to do a little dogsitting while they take a little trip to Dallas.