DRAGGING OUT SOMEMORE MEMORIES…..

   All of the following photos were taken in 2005, when we had the Cougar.  This was our first Christmas away from home….It was a bit of a challenge for me…We didn’t have a webcam to see the Grandkids back then….Now that we have one, I don’t know how I survived without it!!!

Left 2 photos are the Menger Bar in San Antonio, right down by the Alamo.  Teddy Roosevelt recruited his “Rough Riders” in this bar, and there is lots of neat memorabalia…On the right is The Grist Mill Restaurant and Bar.  This is located in Greune, TX.  If you missed Greune, you miss a lot.  It’s a quaint small town that was settled by the German people, who have a huge history in the Hill Country…AND it has Texas’s oldest dancehall..  Have I said the I LOVE TEXAS!! ??? I’m darn sure I have.

All the above photos were taken at the Riverwalk in San Antonio..These places should definitely be on everyone’s llist of “to do”s ….The Alamo is so revered that you tend to whisper instead of talking out loud…And if you stand in the middle and close your eyes, you can visualize the brave heroes who died here… Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie,  Colonel William Travis and many more,  loading their weapons to defend the Alamo against Santa Anna…  I swear I could smell the gunpowder!….There I go again, trying to channel history!!

This was at Canyon Lake, Potter’s Creek campground, Christmas Eve…I’m sure you know by now that this is one of our regular stops …..There is a reason for the luminaire in these photos (and they ARE true luminary, having a lit candle in every bag.  Needless to say,  I kept an eye out for Ranger Rick) …At home in Sandwich, it became a Center St. ritual for the whole street to light luminaries to line our street on Christmas Eve..Everyone would go get white paper bags, available at the local bakery.  Then we had to put gravel or sand in the bottom to hold a votive candle upright.  Also, the tops of the bags had to be folded over very neatly, at least twice, to keep them open in case of wind….So, of course I had to recreate the same ambiance at our campsite…Luckily, that year there were no burn bans, thank God.  We had the luminaries the next Christmas here, too, but that was the last time we were able to do it…The burn bans went up after that, and I feared we would burn down the entire campground and end up on the inside looking OUT of a Texas “calaboose”..…But, gosh, it was soooooo pretty….Speaking of pretty….

OK, SO WE WEREN’T VERY PRETTY….

MAN O’MAN, SANTA NEEDS TO LOSE THE BEARD!! HE WILL SCARE THE LITTLE CHILDREN, JUST LIKE THE SANTA IN THE CLASSIC “A CHRISTMAS STORY”….”HO…HO….HO…..YOU’LL SHOOT YOUR EYE OUT, KID!!”

 

2005…Christmas in The Cougar……..

  Obviously I seem to be thinking a lot about Christmas today….I guess when the winds of change start blowing, the leaves begin to get some color and the air has a little chill to it, I know what’s just around the pile of leaves...  It won’t be much longer and we will begin loading up the Hiker for travel.  You know what, though???  In some strange and kooky way, I really miss our first little fiver. Even the nights we nearly froze to death and went through 2 little heaters in one Texas winter…  The Cougar was our first camper, and she gave us many a challenge on our first camping experiences…. Not unlike a “first love”, I still continue to have a little soft spot in my heart for her that I can’t shake.  So here’s to the good ol’ Keystone Cougar….May she be , at this moment, continuing to give somebody else some of the camping memories we have, good AND bad  (hey, paybacks are Hell)…  I realize she IS getting up there in years, and wish her well….(Hopefully she isn’t sitting in some empty lot, forlorn and forgotten…that would SUCK PONDWATER!!)….. And thanks again to all who stop by in the blogosphere to check what drivel is in store at the Cave Dwellings!!!