Off to see the Wizard -continued

Phase 2: Hangin’ around in Texas...

Our first dental appointment with the amazing Dr. Nunnally was Tuesday, April 1^st.  I should have taken this as a warning when the date was offered, as I did hesitate, but thought “Oh, don’t be silly; it’s just another day on the calendar.”  Well, the joke was on us, as they had only scheduled us for our preliminary cleanings, and not the impressions we needed for our partials to be made.  It was going to be another week before we could be seen for those!  –and, another two weeks before they could be constructed and returned from the lab in Arizona.  Three weeks with nothing to do but wait!  –and eat pie at our favorite café!!!!!

 

This family-run, historic establishment is one amazing place.  Packed with customers trailing out the door at peak times (and still fully occupied at others), it always manages to run like a well-oiled machine.  Our favorite place to be seated was the counter; it plops you right into the center of the action where orders pour out of the kitchen at amazing speed, and wait staff and dishes fly by with nary an upset or error.

Everyone is so good at their job, and so concentrated –yet smiling and friendly.  And the coffee cups never go empty.  No one stands idle, as there are always napkins or boxes to be folded, coffee ground and coffee filters to be filled, pies to be cut, tables to be cleaned, counters to be tidied, or some other of the myriad tasks to running an excellent food service business. 

 

                        
                            "The Meringues"  --they tower at 8" tall!!

Many employees outside of the family have been there for 15 or 20 years, and love it.  The wait list to be hired here is very long  –folks are treated well, have health insurance, and earn paid vacations.  I’ll bet there’s one heck of a Christmas party to boot!

All that leads to happy customers, too  –like this one! He's simply in awe of this place.

Then there are those of us content with the ‘Blue Plate Special’.  Today’s was Mama’s Pot Roast, with your choice of three sides.

But I won’t say I didn’t have a bite or two of that pie!

         Joyously, on April 6^th, we had some special birthdays to celebrate.  Happy Birthday! to our precious granddaughter Emma, and our dear friend Stan.  We had a slice of pie in your honor, and made a dinner toast to the two of you!

           After a few days of this gluttony, we realized we had better put some distance between us and our dearly beloved Blue Bonnet Café, so we pulled up camp and headed east towards Austin.  There seemed to be much to do there, and I was looking forward to the gardens and museums.  The drive was lovely, and opened up to much more greenery, rolling hills, rivers, and flowers.  The Blue Bonnet is the Texas state flower, and the fields and roadways are blanketed this time of year in Bonnets and Indian Paintbrush  –pallets of blue and orange/red everywhere.  We passed lines of cars pulled off to the side of the road so that folks could photograph them, roll in them, let their kids or pets play in them.  Apparently, it’s a big tourist attraction here in the Hill Country.  I did the best I could to capture a photo at high speed, cuz Norm don’t stop for no stinkin’ flowers(!)

So I got these close-ups at the Blue Bonnet Café, where their namesake abounds –a living version in the landscaping...

and a beautiful stained glass version displayed in the window...

Once we entered Austin’s boundaries the traffic became horrendous!  Seems that with all their growth in the past several years, the city has not chosen to upgrade the road system  –supposedly a ploy to keep population down(!)  Well, it isn’t working.  Folks are pouring into the area, prices are skyrocketing, and it’s very, very crowded.  As one fellow told Norm, “Austin is an island of blue in a sea of red” (the only open-minded, liberal, progressive place to be ...if you want to live in Texas).  In addition, almost every driver is either texting or talking on a cell phone; a vehicle running a red light (by a long distance away, and at very high speed) was seen all too often!  It was a disappointment for us, since it kept us from going into the city any more than we absolutely had to.  Maneuvering in crowded traffic is difficult and stressful when –like a turtle– you carry your house on your back!  No gardens, no museums, just a day’s worth of grocery shopping –then high-tailing it back to camp.

            Camp, on the other hand, was delightful.  Miles of lake-shore dotted with miles of trails, and hardly any other campers on the weekdays.  We practically had the place to ourselves.  Best of all, no PIE in sight!!  So we spent four days exploring the trails and viewing the flora and fauna. 

While deciding how we were going to spend the remainder of the third week, we got a phone call from our dentist’s office.  Our partials were expected back early, which meant a four-day savings in time for us!!  Though we were enjoying the cool days, the hot ones were debilitating, and besides...we really wanted to get on with the trip!  –Grandbabies await!!

        So we happily departed South Shore Park and headed back towards Marble Falls in order to be close to town for the next visit.  

Our dental work was completed on Thursday, and everything felt comfortable and proper (one ‘fake’ tooth for me, and three for Norm  –to replace the extractions we had done in previous years).  We decided to give it two days of trial before leaving the area.  Of course, the only true test was a meal or two at the Blue Bonnet!  Now content that all is well, we are leaving the great state of Texas tomorrow (4/20), and continuing our journey eastward.  

Gracie is very thankful for the change of scenery from her perch!  Virginia, here we come!!

Postscript:  I never realized how time consuming it would be to create these posts in a "summary" format, as opposed to the daily (or almost daily) emails I used to send out!  I apologize for the long delay in last month's journal, and hope to catch up soon. This trip has been so different on many levels, and the time to sit and write has -oddly- just not been there.