Vickie, Ann, and Billy Hallmark
Denise, you know her by her shirt, and Laurie
On Wednesday 10-20-10, we left Buda (they think you're a local if you pronounce it Beuda as in beautiful) after a great breakfast and being overindulged by the friendly staff at Hampton Inn. They printed great directions for us and gave us each ice cold water for our ride. We began on FR2770 that is a narrow road with minimal traffic and gradual climbs. We connected to FR150 that took us to the small hamlet of Mountain City, population 673, which has a high school football stadium that would be the envy of most small colleges. We saw signs announcing we were on the Texas Hill Country Trail. At about 8 miles, the climbs became longer and steeper. The landscape changed from lowland scrub to rocky hillsides and a profusion of encroaching cedars that dominated the roadside vegetation. Wildflowers were abundant which continues to surprise us this late in the season. Our climbs rewarded us with treetop views of gabled roofs peeking out of the heavily forested hillsides in the distance. Our descents were an exhilarating 35mph. Ranch Road 12 delivered us to the unique village of Wimberley. Colorful fall banners, artistic Halloween arrangements, a kaleidoscope of flowers & street art informed us that we had arrived in a very eclectic place. As we passed a guy sweeping in front of a shop, he shouted greetings and questions which lured us back. We returned and met Billy Hallmark and Vickie. That resulted in an hour and 1/2 of great conversation. Billy is a musician/songwriter who gave us a copy of his CD "Still Fallin" He said we could smear some peanut butter on it and eat it if we got hungry on the road. It was great hearing the stories and inspirations behind the songs on the album. At their suggestion, we meandered over to the Cypress Creek Cafe for lunch and met Denise and Laurie who are what every waitress should strive to become-a great balance of efficiency and friendliness. After visiting with them, well......the biking portion of our day was done. Everyone was so enthusiastic about their town that we knew we were meant to spend a little more time there. We went several yards down the street and checked into the Log Cabin Motel right on Cypress Creek where we later played in the water. We ended the day on the porch of our log motel quietly staring at a big white moon while being serenaded by tree frogs. The excitement of the day was seeing a large herd of deer stampeding down a hillside and a flock of turkeys parading past our cabin. To paraphrase a quote from Lance Armstrong, "Today was not about the bike." Today was all about meeting some wonderful people in a very beautiful place, Wimberley: Texas Hill Country.
2 comments:
It looks like you guys have had a beautiful couple of days! It's so wonderful that you meet so many nice people and have so many interesting stories! I would love to do this at some point in my life. You guys are an inspiration!
Wow, it sounds like a most perfect day. I love that you welcomed a detour and enjoyed this special place. A good reminder to all of us that it's okay to stop and smell the roses.
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