Fun in Gruene, Texas!

Louis Dean and I were on the road heading SOUTH by 4:30 this morning! I LOVE traveling with this man! I sit in the passenger seat beside him until we are safely out of town and heading in the right direction. THEN I crawl (and I do mean CRAWL!) in to the back seat and snuggle down into the covers and go back to sleep! I woke up when he stopped at a rest area - went BACK to sleep - and before I knew it we were HERE!!

Breakfast at IHOP before checking into our motel room. Good news! Even though it was early - our room was available. We checked in and Louis Dean was able to take a little nap before we drove the few miles more to Gruene, Texas!

I LOVE this little town!! SO cute and quaint and PRETTY!!

We last visited here when Amber graduated from Texas State five years ago.

I have been here several times over the past 25 years but each time is as special as the last!

Everything is so quaint and picturesque!

The day was beautiful! We had a picnic in the park for lunch.

Lucy is with us so we have walked a LOT!!!

She has had a wonderful experience so far.......prancing around in new areas......smelling all these different smells.....she is loving it!

All the flowers look gorgeous!

Flowers and cactus! Pretty!

He has enjoyed bringing his beloved Dodge 3500 Diesel WHITE truck!

We brought chairs, ice chest, a guitar, baskets, tools, Lucy - complete with kennel -

you name it - we packed it and brought it with us!!

Wonder if I can talk Louis Dean into letting me take home a table and chairs like this one at The Grapevine? I'm sure we have ROOM in that big old truck!!

We did a bit of shopping in the many and varied shops in Gruene.

I HAD to buy this box of......

.....made in Texas! Who ELSE would make this??

I would NOT let LD buy a Hillbilly "BRIEF" case!!

There were ALL kinds of interesting things there. I only bought  the candy!

After we finished browsing the shops we strolled over to Gruene Hall......the oldest dance hall in Texas.

Awesome history in this place. Over the years people have carved their initials into the table tops.....and legs and SIDES of the tables!

As we sat at the table sipping our drinks we noticed the weather was changing!

The sky grew dark and the wind whipped up.

The old screen doors were literally 'swinging in the wind.'

I had one last shop I wanted to visit and it was just a few steps down from Gruene Hall.....the wind had let up so we went for it!

Then all of a sudden - the wind was BACK!!

Then came the lightning and thunder and we were back in the truck when the rain started!

We made it back to San Marcos where we AGAIN took Lucy on a good walk after the rain was over! She has been such a GOOD dog!

We ended our day by eating dinner at Herbert's Taco Hut.

This is a local 'hole in the wall' recommended to me by a young man whom I have known since he was four years old. Mac goes to college in San Marcos now and he knows good Mexican food! After dinner we walked some more down by the river.

I love this college town and I love the vibe and energy from the young people here!

I would not want to be young again myself......but I sure do enjoy being around those who are!