Running from the Fire-Into the Arizona Frying Pan! (#31)

There's gonna' be some trouble around here! - Tombstone, AZ

Miller Fire-SE Arizona

On the first leg of our Vegas Loop trip in 2011 we entered Arizona on I-10 from New Mexico.  We stopped at the first rest area to pick up tourist information and a map, but only found a few kiosks.

What we did see to the south was smoke and it turned out to be the first of several progressively worse fires until the Sierra Vista fire which chased us to the Phoenix area a day ahead of schedule.

Next stop was a visit to Tombstone.  We got off of I-10 at Benson and missed our left turn to head south on Arizona 80.  It was a stroke of good luck because we saw the Old Benson Ice Cream Stop sign and stopped for one of their 44 different soft serve flavors!  I had the black cherry and we were off again. Before we ventured to downtown Tombstone we stopped for a little shopping, a nice antique shop and a jeweler next door who had a super collection of fire agates. As we headed to the tourist info office downtown we watched the rumblings of the Earp brothers and Doc Holliday as they tempted the crowd to watch them finish the gunfight at the OK Corral. We then picked up a historic walking tour map and headed down Main Street.  This is a tourist trap town, but we LOVED it! We visited several shops and went into the old Crystal Palace and Big Nose Kate's Saloon to have a beer and sarsaparilla. Phil went downstairs in Big Nose Kate's to buy a souvenir t-shirt and enjoyed learning the history of "The Swamper" before we hit the road to our first Arizona campsite.

Big Nose Kate's - Tombstone

June is one of the hottest months this far south in the USA and without air conditioning camping can get quite uncomfortable. Our strategy was to camp at elevations above 5000 ft, which was a great plan...as long as the places weren't on fire.

Sky Island Scenic Byway

 We headed west on AZ 82 toward Lakeview Campground located at 5400 ft in the Sierra Vista district of the Coronado National Forest. Anticipating one of 65 scenic campsites, we turned off the main road onto one of the National Forest designated scenic drive toward the beautiful Huachuca Mountains. About 7 miles into the drive a barricade in the middle of the road stopped us...Road Closed Due to Fire. I checked my laptop for National Forest updates and another campground in the vicinity. According to the website, Lakeview was indeed closed. then I looked for a backup plan. The Santa Catalina Recreation Area northeast of Tucson wasn't showing any closures and there were six campgrounds above 5000 elevation on the 27 mile Sky Island Scenic Byway. We climbed into the mountains through a hillside of blooming Saguaro cactus as the sun began its journey into the horizon. After six miles we saw the first of the campgrounds-barricaded. I checked the website again...no postings stating it was closed. We continued on and each time, each campground was barricaded. We arrived at Summerhaven and stopped in at the trading post where they informed us the campgrounds were closed due to fires, even though we had seen no signs of smoke north of I-10. Now what were we going to do?

Mt. Lemmon Ski Area - Summerhaven

Back on the laptop (and nearing 8:30pm) I found another campground on the west side of Tucson, this time I called. The recording for Tucson Mountain Park said the gate to the Gilbert Ray Campground closed at 10pm; we had to race to get there, but got there with five minutes to spare. Tucson Mountains Park is not really in the mountains, so we woke up early and decided to retrace our route to one of the tourist stops we missed even though Saguaro National Park West adjoined this park.

Mission San Xavier del Bac-White Dove of the Desert just might be the most beautiful non-secular buildings. Completed in 1797, they boast it's the oldest extant European constructed
building in Arizona. We spent the morning here and joined one of the docent led tours before heading back into Tucson for lunch.

San Xavier Interior

The 11 beer sampler

To get my microbrewery fix in Arizona we picked the Barrio Brewing Company where I had their colossal 11 beer sampler. Both beer and food were very good especially the happy hour appetizer of Pretzel Pillows with Nuclear Mustard dipping sauce. Barrio is located in an industrial area next to the railroad tracks so listen for the train crossing guard bells which of the railroad track gates, which signal Barrio Rail Pints are $3.25! We didn't know what to do, the fires had pushed us a day ahead of schedule and did not want to go back to the heat of the previous nights campground.
I called my friend near Phoenix and she graciously invited to come a day early.

We went back through the Tucson Mountain Park to Saguaro National Park West. Shortly after entering the National Park, we turned off the main park road onto the narrow and disserted Cactus Forest Drive. This one-way road lacked traffic road making it easy to stop and watch the birds who made their home in these majestic cactus pincushions. It was late afternoon as we turned north toward Phoenix and time to jump out of the frying pan. the fires finished with the blessing and the best two days in Arizona, catching up and spending time with old cherished friends.

A Delicious Bite From "The Big Apple" (#17)

How and why does an architectural historian with a big city heart avoid going to NYC until she is 52 years old? Me either. It's everything they say and more-this city eclectic, eccentric and electric. It's an architecture and art lovers mecca.

I had been all around the city from Long Island, along the NJ Palisades, across the entire length of upstate NY, but never, not even once, did I venture to the core of the Big Apple...until a baby shower took me to the Upper East Side, just a few blocks from the Jacqueline Onassis Reservoir in Central Park. And then by sheer luck, I was blessed with not one, but two six-day visits within one year, first in April 2012 and then again the following January.

Enjoyable mornings started with brisk walks around the Reservoir and often drew me further into the arms of this Frederick Law Olmstead masterpiece.  Central Park embraces its history and retains many of the original cast iron and stone bridges from the late 1850s and 60s guiding park goers from one meticulously manicured area to another like Belvedere Castle, The Ramble and Strawberry Fields.

This is truly architecture heaven, street after street excellent examples of every architectural style from every decade dating back to the late 1700s. Even post modern buildings are stunning.

Like every good tourist, I visited the top of Empire State Building, sat in the first pew at St. Patrick's Cathedral, rode the Staten Island Ferry, walked the Brooklyn Bridge and went into the Chrysler Building to view the lobby. But that is really the tip of the iceberg, because there is so much more like the new Beekman Tower, old Greenwich Village, the Roosevelt Island Tramway and the emotionally moving 911 Memorial. All this with the aid of a superb mass transportation system and a 7-day Metro Pass, this apple was mine!

Beekman Tower-Frank Gehry

And no visit to this city would be complete without a trip to one of their then their great museums-both history and art. I discovered some treasures in the Met and at the American Museum of Natural History I followed the popular self paced Night in the Museum tour. Both of these museums are pay what you can. The Guggenheim and The Frick have special times to pay-as-you-wish, but prepare to line up around the building, so these times tend to be very crowded.

My second trip in January was dubbed the NYC Drinking Tour with visits to Heartland  Brewing before riding to the top of  Empire State building and drank beer at McSorley's Ale House, the oldest continuous pub on Manhattan. I splurged $20 for Bloody Mary at the St. Regis, where the French Red Snapper made its American debut, but the real highlight here is the opportunity to admire the recently restored Maxfield Parrish murals in the Old King Cole Bar with a history lesson for the friendly and attentive bar staff. And my last evening was spent in Greenwich Village sitting at the bar of the White Horse Tavern at the opposite end of the bar where Dylan Thomas drank himself to death-but I stopped at two-I want to make sure I get to come back.

Photo courtesy of the ultra cool bartender

America's Heartland, Part 1- Iowa (#26)

Holliwell Bridge

I have traversed Iowa both east to west and back several times. Each time I said I was going to stop and take a closer look. So on a road trip from Austin, Texas to Minneapolis, Minnesota, I finally did it.

John Wayne's Boyhood Home

I got off I-35 at mile marker 52 for a bucolic mini Bridges of Madison County tour. First was the almost immediate Imes Bridge just east of St. Charles, followed by a picturesque barn, the Holliwell Bridge and the Cutler-Donahue Bridge in Winterset, Iowa-hometown of John Wayne. Winterset is the county seat and is well worth a stop to stroll around the historic courthouse square to shop & get a bite to eat in one of the well preserved Italianate buildings from the late 1800s.

My next stop was Des Moines, Iowa's centrally located state capital. As I headed east on Grand Avenue toward the downtown I caught sight of a mansard roof topped tower and just had to turn back to investigate. Terrace Hill is the stately Governor's Mansion built in 1869 by Benjamin Allen-Iowa's first millionaire. I was fortunate to catch the day's last docent led tour before heading to experience Des Moines great selection of public outdoor art.

First stop was the 4.4 acre Pappajohn's Sculpture Park just before reaching the heart of downtown. Located just a few more blocks in Nollen Plaza is Crusoe's Umbrella, one of Claes Oldenburg's large-scale pieces.

After a very full day in America's Heartland it was time to relax and grab a pint and burger at the el Bait Shop with more than 100 craft beer taps.  I was thrilled to see several Bell's selections and after a nice conversation with my bartender decided to try the Des Moines IPA by Confluence Brewing Company.

This evenings destination was camping at Ledges State Park, recommended by the tourist information attendant just inside the Iowa border on I-35. As its name suggested, this was not the flat farmland I had driven to get there. After securing a nice non-electric site it was time to drive down into the canyon where I forded my car (Rosemary) across several little streams.

One of several stream fords

The next day I traveled several miles of the historic Lincoln Highway before findind myself back on I-35 heading north to Minnesota and looking forward to the continuation of my Iowa visit next week.

Enchanted in New Mexico (#32)

Emory Pass - Gila National Forest

I have passed through New Mexico several times, but never really lingered.  My last visit I decided next time we would return to really explore this diverse state. In June we spent two weeks making a loop from Austin  to Las Vegas, Nevada and spent several amazing days here. We were truly enchanted and hope we will get the opportunity to return soon.

We entered New Mexico briefly the first day of our trip to visit Carlsbad Caverns National Park in the southwest corner of the state. Considered one of the largest cave systems in the world, most of it has not been invaded by man and only a small fraction is open to the general public . We arrived at the park early and took a 9.5 Walnut Canyon Scenic Loop that was anything but scenic.  We also attempted to take one of the trails along the loop for a view of the canyon, but after more than one ascending mile and 100º temperature, we gave up and returned to our air conditioned vehicle (what in the world was I thinking?)

Self Guided Walking Tour

We love underground exploration, so we chose to add the 1.5 hour ranger-guided Kings Palace Tour to our general admission ticket that allowed us to descend more than 800 feet via the elevator to the underground lunchroom and rest area. Ranger guided tour tickets can be prepurchased on line (highly recommended), nothing worse than to get here and wait or find them sold out. However, as a word of caution, we reserved the last tour (3pm) on Saturday and ended up with 50 other people! I think they may have allowed more people because it was the last of the day-I recommend calling to check about their policy.  We arrived at the visitor center with what I thought was plenty of time to take the 1 mile self guided Big Room Tour, but with all the stopping, oohing and ahhing it took us every bit of the 1.5 hours they recommended. This incredible cave is not the most beautiful we have ever visited, but it harbors the entire range of formations found in caves and here they are of colossal size.

After a short wander back into west Texas we entered New Mexico again just north of El Paso. One of my new goals is to visit a microbrewery in every state I visit, so our New Mexico stop was Las Cruces (of Billy the Kid fame), for a sampler at High Desert Brewing Company.  I loved the presentation of the four samples in little mugs and loved the American Pale Ale so much that it called for a pint. Hubby enjoyed their homemade root beer. We followed the recommendation of my fellow Yelpers and ordered a couple appetizers to hold us over till we found a place to camp for the night. We chose the "small" nacho with ground beef and beer battered mushrooms. When they arrived they were HUGE-so we called them dinner. The nachos in particular were heaped on what looked like at least a 10 inch pizza tin and the mushrooms filled a burger basket.

We headed north up I-25 and found a wonderful campsite along the Rio Grande River at Caballo State Park in their Riverside Campground.  The next morning we turned west onto State Highway 152 toward Gila Cliffs National Monument following sections of two outstanding New Mexico's Scenic Byways: Geronimo Trail and Trail of the Mountain Spirits.

Downtown Hillsboro

We spent the morning exploring two great old mining (semi) ghost towns-Hillsboro and Kingston. Hillsboro had a super cute and colorful downtown district and on the hill overlooking town we discover the Miller House- an 1898 Victorian cottage constructed of black slag block made from smelter waste. As we drove into Kingston, it was hard to believe this was once a bustling boom town in the late 1800s that had 23 saloons, a brewery and three newspapers. That was until we saw the beautiful old Percha Bank (1884)-now a museum it is one of only a small handful of surviving buildings. As we left town we caught sight of the Kingston Cemetery and stopped. As we walked around a very stark cemetery we happened upon Congressional Medal of Honor recipient James McNally, who served for more than 30 year in the mid 1800s.

Kingston Cemetery

Shortly after leaving Kingston we climbed into the beautiful Black Range and stopped at the not-to-be missed Emory Pass Vista Overlook. The Gila National Forest was a land of incredibly tall pines and one scenic vista after another. We turned northwesterly onto State Highway 35 and made our way to Gila Cliffs National Monument.  This is one place where the 20 minute video at the Visitor Center is a great place to begin your visit.  We could not do the entire one mile loop due to recent fires, but we were able to go into the dwellings and back out the same way.  The 175 ft climb up into the dwellings was relatively easy considering we were at 5,700 ft elevation. We were also surprised at how relatively few people were in the park. A guide stationed in the dwellings gave us and another couple a great tour and when I commented about how difficult it must have been to raise children, he took us over and showed us an area they theorized was a nursery. There was plenty of free camping in the park proper (Upper & Lower Scorpion), but we opted to head back south on State Highway 15 towards Pinos Altos where we found the incredible Cherry Creek Campground (no fee!).

Gila Cliff Dwelling National Monument

Greenstone banding - Aztec Ruins

We headed for Arizona the next day, but we would return one week later to the northwest corner traveling south from Durango, Colorado. Luckily, I spotted Aztec Ruins National Monument on the map. Located between Mesa Verde to the north and Chaco Canyon on the south, the ruins here are what is left of the three story building with more than 500 room ancestral Pueblo people from 1000 to 1200. This complex possesses some unique architectural details such as a double band of greenstone, T-shaped doorways and windows placed in corners at wall junctions.  There is also a rare tri-wall structure built of three concentric walls with 22 rooms encircling a kiva.

Rio de las Vacas Campground

We continued southeasterly on US 550 to Cuba, and turned east onto State Highway 126-the northern leg of the Jemez Mountain Trail National Scenic Byway-just one of 26 New Mexico Scenic Byways. Shortly before the pavement ended across the mountain pass we found our favorite campsite of the trip at Rio de las Vacas in the Santa Fe National Forest. Soaring pines, paved level parking spots, clean restrooms and super friendly camp host at the bargain rate of $10 a night. At 8300 ft elevation this lofty campsite chased me into my sleeping bag in the middle of the night, but otherwise slept like a baby.

**Warning Soapbox Rant** I have a beef with the US Forest Service-they do not make it easy to find campgrounds on their website.  I can totally understand that they cannot afford to supply everyone with a paper map, but US Forest Campgrounds were super easy  to find on their website a decade ago. Now you have to know the National Forest for that area, then delve deeper in a time consuming search without knowing quite where they are when a decade ago I just clicked campgrounds on a map along the route I knew I was going to take. It seems they intentionally took maps off the website to force us into purchasing them...at an average of $10 per map, it gets to be rather pricey.

Grazing Elk-Valles Cadera

The next morning we headed east across the mountain pass after inquiring how drivable it was with our camp host and was told that we would "probably" make it.  And a slow go it was, but so incredibly beautiful that made us happy we have bravely chosen this route. Shortly after joining State Highway 4 on the eastern side of the mountains, we stopped a Valles Cadera National Preserve where we watched more than one hundred elk grazing in the ancient collapsed caldera. A little further on I took a short 1.5 round-trip trail to Jemez Falls before reaching Bandelier National Monument.

Main Loop Trail-Bandelier

An absolute gem of the National Park Service system, Bandelier National Monument was one of my favorite stops on this trip. This is not a "drive-thru" park by any means.  With only 3 miles of paved road and 70 miles of trails, this park is best experienced on foot. It is also very easy to have a great experience by merely spending most of one day. The best thing about this particular park is you really can imagine what life here was like one thousand years ago. We "borrowed" a guide from the front desk in the beautiful CCC built Visitor Center from 1936 and exited through the back door to the short 1.2 mile Main Loop trail.  Strategically placed concrete and  wooden stairways help you explore the places (nooks and crannies) where the ancestral Pueblo people lived their everyday lives. Make sure to take plenty of water so you can add the one-mile round-trip Alcove House trail. The Alcove House trail requires you to climb a series of wooden ladders (some up to 30 feet) to experience the ceremonial cave. So worth the effort!

**Unfortunately on June 26, 2011, the day after we were here, they were forced to close a part than all of the National Monument. The Las Conchas Fire, which began just west of the park burned well over 140,000 acres (including more than 50% of Bandelier).** 

Santa Ninos Chapel-Chimayo

Our last New Mexico destination was the Enchanted Circle. Several friends who had been to this lovely area all recommended one restaurant in particular-Ranchero de Chimayo located on The High Road to Taos Scenic Byway. The quaint town of Chimayo was impossible to resist before heading to the restaurant. We stopped at El Santuario de Chimayo (1856) and the Shrine of Santa Niño de Atocha,  Unfortunately, we had not planned very well, we had eaten a late lunch and it was too early for dinner when we arrived at the Ranchero, so we enjoyed the their delicious salsa and chips, the specialty house drink made with Jose Cuervo Gold Tequila, Chambord and Apple Cider served in a cinnamon sugared rim glass with an apple slice and split the dessert of the day-Leche de Dulce Cheesecake.We still needed to find a campground tonight and found little information on my smartphone (see my USFS rant).

Taos Junction Campground

Just outside Bandelier, we encountered more fires. We stopped at the White Rock Tourist Information Center and asked for camping recommendations near Taos. The very nice and super helpful lady made calls to make sure campgrounds she was going to suggest were open. She suggested Orilla Verde Recreation Area along the Rio Grande Gorge-a popular rafting area-after we visited Chimayo. We were not impressed with the campsites when we arrived here, but it was turning dusk and now we were getting hungry.  There were several campgrounds along the river and we settled on Tao Junction, the last one in the string.  There are two things I would have done different next time. First we should have headed due north along the Gorge to the high bridge and turned east toward Taos instead to driving back to State Highway 68 the way we went.  Second, I would have timed my camp stays to spend the night at Bandelier or in the Sante Fe National Forest (which was on fire), then head to areas above Taos in the Carson National Forest where we could have camped at up 9300 ft elevation. 

I have a confession...we were ready to head home.  It was a Corn Dance day when we got to Taos Pueblo, and then there was a laundry list of fees: $10 each to enter, $6 for each camera, $6 each cell phone-no pictures allowed of the actual corn dance, but there was still a fee for taking pictures-outside of course, not inside (some of this a completely understand, like inside churches). I certainly did not mind paying an entry fee and paying for one camera fee and leaving one in the car, but cell phones-really?  What did they think I was going to do, blaze  through the Pueblo, camera in one hand, cell in the other snapping pictures at the speed of light?  But wait, this was corn dance day and you cannot take pictures of them dancing. To top it off I was warned by friends, prior to leaving Austin, if they caught you breaking policy they would confiscate your camera and not return it. NO THANKS, lets keep going around the Enchanted Circle and head to Home Sweet Home in Texas. 

Old City Hall-Las Vegas, NM

We do want to come back this way, mostly it was near the end of a long journey. We did three quarters of the Enchanted Circle than headed south on State Highway 434 past Angel Fire, which looked to be a very nice ski area with a green trail from the very top. In Mora we made a left on State Highway 518. We were not going to stop an-y-where, but then there was Las Vegas again! Las Vegas, New Mexico that it :) How fitting, we just had to stop and I am so glad we did. Inhabited since 8000 BC, this charming town has nearly 900 structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places dating back to the mid 1800s.  We visited several different historic districts around town including the downtown plaza and the railroad district with the beautiful train depot and Hotel Castenega next door-one of the Harvey House gems. Stop at the train depot and pick up one of the Historic Las Vegas brochures, before venturing around town.

Visiting Las Vegas, New Mexico redeemed the final leg of our journey...I so want to return here, but the day is over...Texas here we come!

One Month - Five Texas Breweries (#44)

Three friends at Shiner

The American Craft Brewing industry is finding a foothold here in Texas...and I couldn't be more thrilled!  Hopefully legislation will follow that makes doing business here in Texas a little easier for them.  A girl can only hope...and write to her local legislators to support reform like HB660.  But on with the tour!

Thirsty Planet Tap Room

Austin has recently been honored with several new brewing venues.  I welcome them all with open arms! In February Phil and I made our second visit to Thirsty Planet Brewing, located off 290 just west of the Oak Hill Y on Circle Drive.  Thirsty has a couple "anchor" beers like Thirsty Goat, Yellow Amadillo and my favorite, Buckethead IPA. In addition, they brew small specialty batches.  Brian and his wife are great additions to our brewing community here and we are glad they picked Austin to open their venue.  Besides brewing good beer, they are warm, welcoming and community minded.  Some of their beers give a portion of the profits to causes such as the Amadillo (local cancer research/support) and the small batch Silverback Ale (for gorillas of course!) that we sampled during our visit. Phil who rarely embibes beer enjoyed the small batch Ginger Beer.

Thirsty has been offering two tours on Saturday, one late morning and one early afternoon.  You can order and print tickets on line (recommended).  When you arrive you can buy the $7 pint glass and get bigger and better tastes.  The pub style tasting room has a wonderful atmosphere and the staff have been very friendly both visits.  It amazes me that they are so willing to "talk shop" with the home brewers in the group.  I do not doubt they will be successful here and hope they continue to stay grounded.

The next Saturday was the Grand Opening of Jester King Craft Brewing on Fitzhugh Rd; practically next door neighbor to Thirsty Planet.  Jester King seems to be fashioning themselves as a Dogfish Head type of venue.  The facility is very nice with an open air "barn" next to the brewery. The party started out great, they had food vendors, great entertainment, tours and several tasty brews to sample.  An hour into the event, a very cool, slightly ratty car club showed up. They had a super selection of darker beer styles and I really liked the Commercial Suicide (oak not whiskey barrel).  It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed a tour, but less than three hours into the party, the drink lines went on forever and when people drink too much they often won't wait their turn...sadly it was time to leave.

Next weekend it was off to Houston to celebrate my very dear friend Heather's birthday. Now living in Minnesota, she flew home to Houston so we could help her usher in the big 4-0!  Phil and I planned to pick her up at the airport and head to Saint Arnold, but we had to venture there alone.

Saint Arnold recently relocated from their original industrial strip complex to a huge facility in a refurbished old warehouse just north of downtown and I-10. Houston traffic, even on the weekend is never fun and parking for the facility took some patience too. They profess to be Texas' Oldest Craft Brewery and amazingly they have a small staff of less than 30 who do it all.  Tours are free, but if you want to sample the beer it is $7. For your money they provide you with a very nice 8oz tasting glass and three wooden tokens for samples. They open at 11am and when we arrived about 11:30am the huge beer hall was jam packed (the website had warned us) and super LOUD. Did all these people come here to tour?

Saint Arnold Beer Hall

People brought in their personal larger sized Saint Arnold barware and bartenders often poured a bit more then the 8oz promised. Root Beer was free...and delicious. I questioned if all these people were using it as a cheap place to drink? At 11:30, we could not find two seats. I was rather surprised to see how many people had brought kids and babies (and even though I was raised in Las Vegas I do not consider it a family friendly venue either). Many people brought lunch/pizza/munchies/chess/cards as the website had suggested.  I wish we would have too, but there was no place to sit but on the floor anyway.

I have not been a big fan of Saint Arnold beer and I hoped somehow visiting the source would be different. Their best chance to impress me was their Stout, it lacked any complexity. I took the noon tour as my wonderful husband escaped to the van for a nap. The young women leading the tour did a fabulous job and all the staff members were super friendly. I was thrilled to see the brewmaster tossing hops into the batch of IPA and having my picture taken next to the tie-dye Rolls Royce, they were absolutely the highlights here.

My kinda ride

See those beautiful kettles

My friend Heather lived in Texas most of her life and had never visited the Spoetzl Brewery in Shiner, Texas! I learned of this terrible oversight shortly after she relocated to Minnesota and insisted we journey to Texas Beer Mecca for a tour on one of her upcoming visits. So what better way to spend a day of her birthday week visiting the place "every drop of Shiner Beer is made"? They have a really nice tasting room and an extensive gift shop.  Tours are free and come with three wooden tokens good for small tastes (I think it was about a six oz plastic glass).  My one complaint was they do not allow pictures.  The area around Shiner is a wonderful place to visit and we topped off the day visiting some of the area's beautiful Painted Churches.

When I moved from Michigan in November 2005 I had to leave behind my beloved Bell's Porter. Shortly thereafter Shiner Bock became my "go to" beer.  Shiner Bock is Texas beer...hands down. Bock is Spoetzl's primary beer.  I also enjoy their 97 Bohemian Black Lager and a couple of their small batches-Alt and Kosmos Reserve.  Unfortunately the small batches can only be acquired by buying a "Family Reunion" 6-pack which also includes one each of Bock, Blonde, Black and Hefeweizen.  They will switch out the Alt with something else down the line.  I asked during our visit and they are just small batches and have no future plans to market them in 6-packs. The variety pack is their marketing gimmick, so check the 6 beers before you buy, I have encountered 6-packs that were switched out and the Kosmos has always one of the missing.  They also produce a numbered anniversary beer coinciding with the number of years they have been brewing.  This year is number 102, a double wheat, I did not care for, but I loved the (97) Black and it was so popular they made it a regular.


Twenty nine days after Thirsty Planet, I stopped at Freetail Brewing on the northside of San Antonio on a Sunday evening.  I had been at an event for most of the day and was looking forward to a relaxing dinner and samples of the dark beers I had read about on their website. I like to sit at the bar, especially when I am alone like this time. Staff let me sit, apologized, then forgot me again without beer! Did she think I wouldn't notice the guy that walked up and got immediate service when I waited...and waited...and waited??

I ordered a beer sampler and was really looking forward to trying some of their dark small batches. They were out of three I wanted to try including the Lucinda Obscura (the black IPA) that I specifically wanted to taste. Maybe they should pay more attention to their website content. The Ancho Oscuro was flat and I do not like chili beer.  Of the five I tried the brown hbb660 was tolerable.

The food was terrible too. The Rueben panini was awful. They used a fake tasteless corned beef, perfectly round, like Oscar Mayer DeliFresh. The fruit salad they gave me was several days old and on the verge of spoiling. Price: $9, come on! There aren't many beers or breweries that I haven't liked, but this one rose right to the top. Bad service, short beer supply, awful food=I won't be returning!

Three out of five breweries were great, and the "not-so-great" two made the three great ones even better.  I may be a little bit of a beer snob, but hey, life is too short not to drink good beer. What I really need is to plan a hike to the top of Enchanted Rock so I can visit my very first Texas brewery-Fredericksburg Brewing Company for the umpteenth time ;)

Cheers!!

Finding "Lost Maples" in Texas (#44)

What Midwestern girl would not be intrigued by the thought of finding "lost maples" ablaze with color in Texas Hill Country? The bigtooth maple is the tree that most closely promises some of the same vibrant fall color of Michigan's glorious sugar maples. Prime time for experiencing fall color in the Texas Hill Country usually occurs near the beginning to middle of November. To commemorate my birthday we took advantage of the long Veteran's Day weekend this year and reserved a campsite at Garner State Park and headed southwest for a hiking filled weekend.

We decided to take the road a little less traveled and letterbox our way to Garner State Park. The direct route would be about three and a half hours, but there were just so many places we needed to see and food to savor! We packed up first thing Friday morning and headed up SH71 to US281 and stopped at Spicewood General Store for one of the best breakfast tacos (a central Texas food phenomena) I've ever tasted. The steam table had more that ten different items to choose from like carne guisado, charrizo, sauteed green peppers and onions besides the basic eggs, potatoes and cooked ground bacon. I topped mine off with a pico de gillo and salsa; Phil had his with cheese, both cost $5. As of 2017 there are new owners and tacos just are not what they used to be.

Our next stop was Sisterdale, reputed to have been established by German "Freethinkers" in the mid-nineteenth century. We stopped at Sister Creek Winery located in a repurposed 1885 Cotton Gin. The winery offers several choices of red and white wines and tastings for a moderate fee. As we headed north of the town center, we saw the old schoolhouse and stopped to read the RTHL marker posted on the wall. Built in 1893 the schoolhouse was constructed with huge blocks of local limestone. We turned left to continue west on RM 473 and spotted a beautiful farmstead on the rise. The entrance gate was marked Siedensticker-1855.

We continued moving southwest towards Bandera, the Cowboy Capital on scenic backroads. We made a quick stop at Camp Verde, site of U.S. War Department's 1857-69 camel experiment run by Jefferson Davis. Today all that remains is the quaint general store, in continuous business since 1857. The highly remodeled two story building holds a cafe and the mercantile store selling specialty food, gifts and a whole room devoted to modern penny candy.

After stopping in Bandera for That Genghis Guy we headed for Tarpley to have lunch at Mac and;Ernie's Roadside Eatery. Featured on the Premier episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, we asked an owner how they were picked and she shared that Guy Fieri's veterinarian hadrecommended the place to him! The place has become so popular they had to expand, but they used the old kitchen for the entry so old customers can still recognize the place. We enjoyed the recommended Cabrito Burger and French Fries, which were cooked perfectly. The eatery is only open Friday-Sunday, but it is well worth rescheduling the day and the route you take to visit this beautiful area. The lunch menu is almost exclusively limited to burgers, including an Axis (deer) burger, but dinner and Sunday are filled with gourmet faire and if you bring your own vodka they will make you a pitcher or two of some awesome Bloody Mary mix to go with your breakfast.


We soon realized that Texas does offer nice fall color in some areas. I do prefer reds and oranges. and this area has a fair amount of bigtooth maple, sycamore, red oak and persimmon. We arrived at Garner State Pair in the late afternoon and snagged a great campsite (#468) in Rio Frio; part of the new "water only" section. This site is located close to the shower building and had good tree cover to set up our tarp roof. The rest of the day was devoted to relaxing and walking along the Rio Frio and resting up for our search of the elusive lost Maples.


After a leisurely morning we headed east to Utopia and north to Lost Maples State Natural Area. We arrived around 10am to find a short lineup waiting to get into the park and one nasty policeman screaming and shaking his fingers at the cars....give this guy a chill pill, we are here to experience nature folks! Once inside the park we continued with lines...lines to park, lines to go in to get a tag (glad I am a Park Pass holder), another line to park. In defense of the park we were here peak fall color on the Saturday of a long Veteran's Day weekend. And for the amount of lines we really did not wait too terribly wrong...it just all seemed contra to being in a State Natural Area.

We parked in the first lot on the west and headed up the East Trail. We soon met what State Natural Area really meant...steep uphills with large, loose chunky gravel the size of golfballs. This 4.6 mile trail should not be attempted with flip-flops or kitten heels, yes we saw both, in fact I highly recommend good hiking shoes or boots that offer plenty of ankle support. The view from the top is well worth the effort it takes to get to get there!! We had packed a lunch and found a nice ledge to sit on and enjoy the view of the valley below. After finishing the trail with a thousand new friends, we headed out of the park and the mile long line of cars still waiting to get into the park at 3:30pm. I sure hope they don't think they can hike the East Trail before it gets dark.

On to Leakey for an early dinner at one of Texas Monthly's 40 Best Small Town Cafes. We arrived an hour before the Leakey Feed Lot reopened for dinner so we headed up to the scenic overlook (now closed) north of town on US 87 and enjoyed a Shiner Bock we had stashed in the cooler. This funky little cafe has varied hours that change with the season so I highly recommend checking their website link before you go. The article recommended the chicken fried rib eye, but all I could think was-Why ruin a perfectly good steak? So I had the rib eye sans the chicken fried with a side of bacon green beans and salad. My meal was delicious and my medium rare steak was cooked to perfection. Unfortunately Phil's chopped steak was overcooked to shoe leather and they served it on Styrofoam plates...I guess they don't want or have a dishwasher. To top it all off they brought the very tasty salads with croutons and cheese with our dinner, no mistake just the SOP. If I were to go again, which I might-the staff and owner were friendly and we loved the funky cafe decor-I would go for the food more appropriate to Styrofoam and have a beer. Another 40 Best nearby was Hicks House and Bakery east of Utopia on Lee Street in an old renovated house, next time will be a must stop.

We savored one last night around the fire. Sunday morning we broke camp at a leisurely pace, enjoying breakfast, hiking along the Rio Frio and plotting one last hike and the route back to Austin. We were glad we had chosen Garner over Lost Maples to camp. Lost Maples very limited campsites were out in the open and everyone using the trails had to pass by. Lost Maples would be fine for someone who had a recreation vehicle, but we like the peace and quiet without listening to generators running all night. We also liked the newer Rio Frio section of Garner because of the mature trees we like for setting up a tarp roof.

Our last hike was in the older section of Garner, south of our site. We took the trail to Crystal Cave (make sure to pick up a Hiking Trail Map on you way into the park). This trail is reminiscent of the East Trail from yesterday. Up,up,up we hiked over the same golfball sized gravel (did they import this stuff?). We climbed more than 1200 feet in elevation over a short 0.37 mile trail. Never so happy to see a cave entrance sign, we ventured into the small cave to see the crystals. Without a flashlight and feeling a little foolish (it did say crystal now didn't it?), we made due with the light from my camera and Phil's lighter. It was worth the effort to get there and next time we will bring our flashlight! Just before heading back down the boulder strewn trail we grabbed Baby Bear's Extreme letterbox Oh Crap, That Was Today. After all, I had made it this far, why not scramble up the hill another 20 feet...and as it turned out it was a super cute carving.

Leaving Garner we turned east to Utopia then north up RR187 past Lost Maples to SH 39 and headed easterly again. The road to Hunt weaves back and forth crossing the Guadalupe River numerous times. We rounded a curve to see several horses down in the river seeking a little refreshment. We stopped to take pictures and continued on our way. At Hunt we turned left to go to the old Stonehenge and Easter Island heads location. I had heard rumor they wanted to relocate the 7/8 size replica, but Phil had never seen it so I thought it was worth checking. The old field was empty, but a sign directed us to its new home just down the road in Ingram at the Point Theater.

Stonehenge and the Island Heads seemed happy in their new home and it was now time we headed to our old home. But I could not resist going through Fredericksburg and making one last stop at my favorite Texas brewpub for a light dinner and a few delicious brews. Fredericksburg Brewing Company is located downtown on Main Street smack dab in the middle of town and offers several staple beers like Not So Dumb Blonde, Enchanted Rock Red Ale, or Pioneer Porter. They also brew specialty batches and had a Fitztown Brown-their seasonal hoppy porter with a creamy head, this is a great transitional beer as we move into the colder winter months here in Texas. A perfect finish to the fantastic long weekend.