Beekeepers in the Hill Country

Recently we went to a conference in Kerrville and stayed at the conference hotel because it has convention center facilities. The environment and scenery were very nice and the bathroom looked fairly recently renovated...but sadly the rest of the hotel did not. As long as the bathrooms are clean, we're good. Still, we think they could draw in huge crowds in the hill country setting if they updated the rest of their hotel.

Traveling IH35 to Pearsall, Tx

Here are some interesting things I saw as we traveled from Seguin to Pearsall, Texas, in order to pick up some bee supplies from a 4th-generation beekeeper there (Youngblood Honey) - it's so lovely there! Here's a shot of the land behind the Youngblood property.



We took IH10 from Seguin to SA, then caught the 410 loop to miss some commuting traffic. Then we caught IH35 from there and headed south.

We couldn't decide if this was a Volkswagen or not. Saw this in Pearsall.



And during our long wait on the highway due to a major, fatal accident :-(, we saw these two things -

Hyatt Lost Pines (Bastrop, Tx)

This is a fabulous resort and I highly recommend it. The scenery is lovely, the hotel is AWESOME and the service is excellent. I can't post all the pictures I want to share but I really enjoyed our few days there!

And near by is the Bastrop State Park so you have to drive through there - it's beautiful and made me feel as if I was back on the east coast. The tall pines and needles on the ground cushioned all the noise. The road went on and on and on for something like 13 miles I believe. We went at dusk and totally enjoyed the quiet. We didn't get out since it was so hot and humid but there was a lot to do there it appears (fishing, hiking, camping, etc.).



And if you get hungry and would like to sample some local fare, be sure to check out Gracie's, which is a block off of Main Street. Their little historic downtown are was super pedestrian friendly and while it wasn't a huge area, it was a nice way to spend an hour walking through shops before dinner. Gracie's has awesome home-cooked food and a great, friendly staff. On Friday nights, you may even catch some live music. We did and loved it. We even got to see a saw being played in person. Very beautiful sound. :-)

Sky Watch from Chicora (PA)

Meant to get this posted sooner but trying to get home yesterday took forever literally and I was exhausted. So a little late but I wanted to share with you a sky over Chicora, Pennsylvania, where I spent my week for work. It is so lovely there. This is Leicher Farm, where I stopped to visit because I saw the beehives! :-) Great people - super friendly everywhere I went.

Check out the other Sky Watchers this week!

Marriott (Pittsburgh, PA)

If you're in Pittsburgh and you need to stay close to the airport, then the Marriott is a GREAT place to stay. I loved it! And it's got a bar/restaurant on site as well as great amenities. I love Bath & Body Works stuff so I was a happy camper. The airport is only 15 minutes away and you can fuel up on premises there. Nice!

As seen from the sky...

Flying over Florida - love to see the ocean like this! :-)

Hope, AR

I once traveled to Hope, Arkansas for work in order to deliver some training at one of our locations there. It was interesting. The people are very nice - here are some things I took with me as observations:

1. Former President Bill Clinton was born in Hope! I like him - he's not perfect but he is one smart man. None of us are perfect but I sure wish he could have left office without that certain cloud over his presidency.



2. Everywhere I went, the business had a VERY LARGE watermelon on display and for sale I believe (there was a price on each). I have never seen watermelons as large as these. Very impressive but it made me wonder how the taste was.



3. There was this field, a big one, full of little trailers. I have no idea why they were there, nor did anyone I asked. It was very curious. This was during the Katrina Hurricane time period so I wondered if they'd be used for those poor folks. And if not, then why not.



4. I landed in Little Rock I and drove to Hope. Nice little airport so it was super easy to manuever. AND I got to test out my first keyless car rental. It was weird but sort of cool. The only thing I didn't like was that you had to be careful not to put it near your cell phone or else it MAY cause your key to malfunction. Nice. I was worried the entire time that I'd forget and put both those items next to each other at some point, which is what I'd normally do with my car keys and phone.

Lily's Cookies (San Antonio, Tx)

I was in SA for an appointment and took a drive down McCollough for kicks on the way to Highway 281 and I was rewarded for my decision! I saw this adorable bakery and had to go around the block to get a closer look. I'm so glad I did!



This adorable bakery is gorgeous - just the sort of place I picture I would love to work if only I was a great baker. Which I'm not. So good thing people like these folks are around for us. It's lovely inside and the young lady helping me was really nice. I also picked up a couple of cookies and my friends said they tasted great. I'm on a diet or else I would have totally done the taste test myself. Check them out on the web as well - Lily's Cookies.

Fallon, Nevada

Today I wanted to post something about the trips I took out to Fallon a while ago because my coworkers out there have been on my mind. We have a plant out there (I work in the steel industry) but soon our company is going to sell of parts of our company, including the location out in Fallon. That makes me so sad because I just loved the people I met there. They welcomed me and another coworker and we felt right at home.

We loved the scenery as we made our way from Reno to Fallon. That's about an hour to two hours, depending on the number of times you stop to take pictures of the awesome landcape. I thought it looked really neat out there in the dessert! Roads just go on forever with no end in sight. And you see all this brown and then all of a sudden, a lovely oasis of green with a rippling river running through the middle. I loved it. I never expected to enjoy it so much but that part of Nevada was a jewel. And so are the people there.

Moultrie, Georgia - Dalton's Chicken

If you are ever in the Moultrie (GA) area, then you need to stop by Dalton's Chicken and try their yummy food. We stopped there overnight last month when we went to pick up beekeeping equipment and supplies from Rossman Apiaries. The Hampton Inn was very nice, as was the staff there - super friendly. The lady suggested this restaurant if we like chicken. We like chicken. And we liked this restaurant.

It was a very delicious fried chicken and we even got fried chicken livers. I can't remember the last time I had that! Not something you find on many menus. It's nice to be in the south, right. :-)

They also have this neat system for delivering the food. You order and pay for your food and then you're given one of these little "shirts." Once you find the table you want, you slide the shirt into that device you see and I guess that tells the wait staff which table has a certain order. Neat. I've never seen that sort of system before that visit. Great food, friendly people and learn something new - what more could we want?

Sky Watch over the Atchalafaya

A few weeks ago, we drove from Texas to Mississippi in order to pick up some bee equipment for our operation. Along interstate 10, you have to go over the Atchalafaya Bridge and it runs about 20 miles I believe. It's a really cool part of the drive and we always enjoy it. Never want to break down along there though...that'd be tough to have to deal with that on a long bridge like that. This is in Louisiana, after Lake Charles and before you get to Baton Rouge. Water everywhere. We always say it would be extremely interesting to take a boat around the swamp and explore. Maybe one day...

Check out other Sky Watch shots to enjoy other great skies!

Fuel and a taco to go, please.

While traveling through Lake Jackson (Texas) once, we stopped to fuel up before heading home. I saw this and went to check it out since I had not seen anything like it before anywhere I've traveled. I was so amazed and tickled! You use this machine to place orders for tacos and they are prepared as you fuel up your vehicle. Then, after you are done, you pick up the food inside. Pretty cool. I haven't seen these anywhere else I've traveled. Have you?

Sky Watch from the Roadtrip

Hello everyone. We took a roadtrip to Georgia this past week in order to pick up some bee supplies that we need for the upcoming season. To get there, we travel along Interstate 10 going east, a trek we have made many times to visit family here and there. I shot this out the window while in Mobile, Alabama, on our way back to Texas. It was so pretty - at times, it was foggy and misty enough so that you couldn't tell where the sky ended and the water began and the cars appeared to be driving through it all mysteriously. I liked the way it looked.

I'll post some more interesting things from out adventure this week, including where you can find good tires when desperate, where you can still find fried chicken livers and the nice hotels we stayed at along the way. :-)

If you like sky shots, be sure to check out the Sky Watch site for this week's great shots.