Wimberley Event; Canyon Lake; New Braunfels; Petit Fours; Bluebonnets; A History Lesson; Doe-Eyed Looks; Lutefisk and Snow

Wednesday evening saw us at the lovely Unity of Wimberley, Texas, for our first tour event. Rev. Ellen Debenport greeted us warmly; she is an accomplished writer, and just this month authored an excellent article on Suzanne's work in Unity Magazine.  Click here












 

The positive energy from the large crowd of 75 friendly and enthusiastic attendees was evident. They loved Suzanne's Making the Connection presentation, and we were made to feel at home with wonderful Texas hospitality.





New Braunfels is located only a half hour away, and today we drove over to check out the ville. It has a strong German heritage, and we stumbled onto Naegelin's, the oldest bakery in Texas...










... and amazingly, they had some incredible pastries. Not wanting to be an ugly tourist who just looks and doesn't buy, we had to leave with an elephant ear and a petit four. Oh, yum!










New Braunfels also has some interesting watering holes; we didn't sample the libations or the chili, but the sign looked inviting.










On the drive back home, we passed several fields of bluebonnets (Lupinus subcarnosus), the same wildflower shown, but not identified, in the previous blog. It is also the state flower of Texas, and the shape of the petals resembles the bonnets worn by pioneer women to shield themselves from the sun.

For the past three days, our coach has been connected to all necessary services at the military recreation area at Canyon Lake, about an hour north of San Antonio. The facility services active duty service personnel and their families at Fort Sam Houston and Randolph Air Force Base, as well as lucky retirees like us. Due to drastic cutbacks in the military budget and the number of active duty personnel over the past 3 years, there are fewer service people using this facility. Only 3 of 12 RV spots are filled right now, all retirees. With the downsizing of our military, it's good that we're on such good terms with the rest of the world; does anybody else remember Neville Chamberlain's "Peace for Our Time" speech to his fellow Britons upon returning from Berlin in 1938? "This morning I had another talk with the German Chancellor, Herr Hitler... I believe it is peace for our time... Go home and get a nice quiet sleep." That was sure on the mark, wasn't it? Let's see, in that war we saved the Russians; maybe this time they'll save us. Hmmm... and then, maybe not?  Sigh... 



Quote for the day: "Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it." Edmund Burke















Here's a view of our campground the other evening around dusk.  These gals were out for a stroll and got Rudy all excited; Gretchen was strangely silent - perhaps courtesy to other females? I'm not saying that they were out cruising, but these young things gave me several doe-eyed looks...

Finally, as if that last comment were not humorous enough, I have to acknowledge an email from Loyal Reader Terri of the Frozen North, AKA TOTFN, a resident of the occasionally fair but usually frozen and cloudy city of Coon Rapids, Minnesnowta, of which the Twin Cities, Greater Minneapolis/St Paul, is a small suburb. Terri advised me that Minneapolis had been voted the Healthiest City in the USA, based on its incredible park system, good food choices and exercise opportunities. Park system: okay, there are lots of green spaces; good food choices: if you've ever sampled lutefisk, you know why the Vikings left Norway and began plundering the rest of Europe - to get a decent meal; and exercise opportunities: okay, but who wants to be snowed in for 9 months of the year and have to dig your way out from under snowbanks and then snowshoe to get to the grocery - in July? (If the word "snow" appears somewhat repetitious in this paragraph, there's a reason.) Also, the ratings don't count those thousands of residents who perish of frostbite, hypothermia, falling icicles, snowmobile accidents, being run down by toboggans, falling through holes in the ice while fishing, killed by rampaging moose, or being eaten by wolves... I guess this won't endear me to the Coon Rapids or Twin Cities Chambers of Commerce.