Medina River Tubing - Lydia trip, part 1

 Friday morning Caleb and Gloria headed to San Antonio for their weekend, and Lydia and I headed out of Austin and to Bandera. First stop, Twin Elm Ranch which rents tubes and runs a shuttle. We chose the 1 hour trip and were dropped off at the Medina River.

 There were a couple of families also there.

 We got in and started floating.

The first part was slow. The water was so clear and cool and we were the only ones on it. 

There were a few fast places so I was glad to have a dry bag for our snacks and camera. And the end of our run, we swam for a few minutes before we got picked up at the next bridge and taken back to our car.

We had a little time before checking in, so we partook of small town Texas culture and got a Dairy Queen blizzard (Lydia liked how they turned it upside down) and ate it by the river in town.  

Lydia trip - Dixie Dude Ranch - Day 1

I'm in love with everything about our trip so I am posting almost every picture! We arrived in our swim suits and hopped straight into their pool after checking in and before our first ride. 

It was hot but we were wet and there was a breeze. We joined other families and were put on horses for the ride.  

Lydia was on Cash and I was on Geronimo.  We left the building area and went up through the hill country. There were several climbs and once went by a gorge with about a 30 feet drop (camera was in my pocket for that and two hands on the saddle horn, the wrangle said a horse or rider had never fallen but some had freaked out!). Each ride was about an hour. 

After our ride, we swam again. Then back to our room. I thought this was a fun picture: swimming stuff and boots and hat, perfect summer day!

The Apache room had a big room and bathroom,

big windows and a nice porch.

After a yummy dinner of chicken fried steak served family style in the dinning room there was nightly entertainment. Tonight was a world famous trick roper and his assistant son.

It was super fun and impressive and the kids got to be a part. Here is Lydia trying to tie a knot.

Then we relaxed some on the porch,

had a few marshmallows at the bonfire and played on the playground with other kids.

We posed and headed to bed.

Dixie Dude Ranch - Day 2, part 1

We woke up on Saturday and said hi to the horses before breakfast-pancakes, fruit and more. I'm a snacker and I never ate besides during the meals here.

For this morning ride, a professional photographer came and took some photos of us. Lydia had Custard,

and I was on Blue. The cowboy in the picture with me is Bubba, one of the wranglers that helped us out and took us on the rides. They were fun.

Lead wrangler Rachel with our friends following.

Beautiful morning and beautiful place.

Back to my camera-breakfast.

I love this picture.

Everybody up and getting ready to ride.

Off we go.

We rode beside longhorns, saw jack rabbits and deer and lots of pretty birds. I was impressed there were still wildflowers including Mexican hats and the prettiest little purple touch me nots.

Red/pink shirt day. My horse decided to take a short cut down the hill, so I waited to get back into proper line (some horses don't get along and can't be beside each other) and got to get a photo of Lydia.

Bubba again with a longhorn and our line of riders.

After our ride, it was still relatively cool so we went on a walk and found the pond. They provide gear for catch and release fishing. We found frogs! And named this area Froggie Peninsula and visited it several more times.

The ranch dogs came to visit too and cooled off.

These are the official ranch greeters.

We waited for lunch sitting on the front porch and watched baby birds being fed by their mom.
Lunch was chicken spaghetti, fried zucchini, salad, potato chip cookies and more.  Lydia fed herself :)

Dixie Dude Ranch - Day 2, part 2

We had our afternoon ride and Lydia was on Bob, I got Blue again.

This time we went on a different part of the ranch and not by the gorge. Hot yet peaceful and beautiful. I think I am starting to get a hang of this horse riding thing and the wranglers were always nice to trot by and chat.

A picture for my brother of my shoe view :)

After the hot ride, we jumped into the swimming pool with new friend Anna.

We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming. A big group of other girls joined us and categories and Marco Polo were played.

We cleaned up for a BBQ dinner under the shade on the porch with live music.

Then took a hayride around the ranch.

After the ride three families went to Froggie Peninsula.

It was one of those moments of idealistic childhood: the kids kicked off their shoes, were wading, catching frogs and tadpoles, running from a snake, throwing and skipping rocks. The sun was down enough, there was a breeze but still the heat of Texas summer. One girl was 13 and we giggled at her crush on the roper's son (which is foreshadowing that these moments of childhood aren't forever). I enjoyed chatting with another dad as well. This isn't the best picture but the moment of perfection is frozen in my memory.    

Then the tired extra silliness took off, and we came back and the girls swam one last time until after the pool lights went off.