So, every spring the annual hunt for bluebonnets and wild flowers begins and ends quite quickly. Texas wildflower season is well known for its vivid splash of fleeting color. The season is short and the timing is everything if you want to get the obligatory "kids in the bluebonnets" pictures. I think it is some sort of mandatory Texas mom activity.
The weather has not been cooperating for the past few years. With our great rain this year, I was expecting great things from the blubonnets. However, one quick check to a bluebonnet watcher website revealed that bluebonnets were 'aplenty in Potontoc, Texas. ??? No, I have never heard of it before. A couple of clicks later, the day trip was planned.
So, I love Texas in the spring. Even without the wildflowers coloring the lush green carpet of grass, Texas has a certain charm. We hopped in the truck- all six of us, and headed out to see the flowers and spend the day together.
Driving along highway 16, I fell into a reminiscence of my first memories of Texas. We moved to Texa when I was about 14. Of course, I hated it. Mostly because I was 14. I soon found a mentor who taught me how to train dogs and show like an expert. We would spend hours driving around Texas looking a dogs, buying and selling livestock and traveling to dog shows. My dear mentor told me stories about old dogs she had known, history of old Texas towns and regaled me with stories of her childhood. I learned to love Texas driving around with her.
Driving in the hill contry brought me back to those times that so greatly influenced my young and obnoxious life.
I hope to share my love of Texas and nature in general with my kids. I always point out flowers, trees, animals and other natural interests to them. I was rewarded for my efforts in Comanche. Around lunchtime we rolled into town and after a quick pitstop, headed to the city park to eat our picnic lunch. After lunch, we explored the large park and found the most amazing treasure- a great tree.
Check out the pics of our tree. The kids took to the tree and climbed all over it. While standing there, my imagination took over. I spent a long time imagining the things that tree has seen. It looks to be hundreds of years old. When it was time to go, I had to coax the kids out and drag them away from the tree. They loved that old amazing thing. I was so proud.
On to the next adventure of the day. We traveled for a couple of hours and hit the jackpot. Around a corner and over a hill, we drove into wonderland. A blanket of blue and yellow and orange lined the tiny little farmroad and dotted the hills and fields.
When we finally arrived in Pontotoc, we were rewarded with a large patch of bluebonnets, tall and as healthy as I have ever seen backdropped by an old crumbling building- piece of Texas history. My hubby read the historical marker and discovered that the building had been a teacher college in the past.
Photo Sharing by Polaroid Studio :: jtinker's Polaroid Studio Gallery :: Bluebonnets
The kids posed like pros and hung around admiring the flowers for a little while. The kids begged to go back to the tree in Comanche, but we finally decided to take 281 home and drop by Lake Granbury for a quick little dip before heading home.
In Llano, we picked up Cooper's bbq to go for me and hubby and Sonic for the kids. They are not bbq aficianados. The rest of trip flew by and by sunset we were dipping our toes in chilly Lake Granbury.
Our twelve hour adventure was the most relaxing day. The kids laughed and talked all day long. We got our Texas bluebonnet photos and enjoyed each other's company. What more could we ask for?
