Casa de Ziegler II – Page 11 – Our adventures touring the USA

Last of our time in the New Braunfels Area

new braunfels train museum

Caboose operator's perch. — Caboose operator’s perch.

I'm sorry, in case of derailment I'm getting the hell out! The tanks will empty themselves! — I’m sorry, in case of derailment I’m getting the hell out! The tanks will empty themselves!

The model trains were awesome! So much intricate detail!

VERY detailed train setup. These old guys have LOTS of time on their hands!

sophienburg museum of new braunfels

The Sophienburg Museum, a museum of the original settlers from Braunfels, Germany of New Braunfels in Texas

The all important saloon (they were German after all!)

Sample of the home furnishings and personal effects from the time.

Traveling essentials (2 bottles of booze!)

pedernales falls in johnson city near austin

The River below the Pedernales Falls. Notice the light green? That's how high the river was a few moths ago during the flooding! — The River below the Pedernales Falls. Notice the light green? That’s how high the river was a few months ago during the flooding!

Spring breaker's enjoying the water. — Spring breaker’s enjoying the water.

More of New Braunfels Area of Texas

san antonio botanical gardens

We made a day of visiting this beautiful garden.

Children's vegetable gardens. — Children’s vegetable gardens.

Turtlefest! Count 'em, 17! — Turtlefest! Count ’em, 17!

Original building from the 1800's — Original building from the 1800’s

Aqueducts similar to what the Spaniards built. — Aqueducts similar to what the Spaniards built in the day.

This was a beautiful place, even though we came a bit early so everything wasn’t in bloom yet. We hope to return before we leave the area since things are beginning to bloom now.

Austin texas and ladybird lake park

Mac loves water (unlike Zoe!) — Mac loves water ( unlike Zoe! )

We met up with Dana Lynch, Mary’s sister in law and Dana’s daughter Kelly and “their” beautiful GSD, Mac.

Beautiful walking/biking path along the river

Hmmm, that engineer's hair matches the train! — Hmmm, that engineer’s hair matches the train!

fredericksburg and the national museum of the pacific war (wwii)

These plaques represent thousands of fallen men and women from the Pacific theater of WWII.

These plaques represent thousands of fallen men and women from WWII.

Prop from an Essex class carrier. — Screw from an Essex class carrier.

I loved the subdued lighting they used on these displays.

What an inspirational thing to come from two Admirals, Nimitz and Togo, who always had the utmost respect for each other, and, of course, the Japanese people. FYI, Admiral Nimitz was born and raised here in Fredericksburg.

Japanese garden donated by the Japanese to this museum.

Great German food for lunch. — Great German food for lunch at Auslander, which in German means “Traveler” or “Tourist”!

THAT's where they buried Granny! — THAT must be where they buried Granny, she always had a green thumb!

Cool benches in Fredericksburg downtown area

FAT ASS RANCH & WINERY- A cool winery on our way home. Unfortunately they had just closed for the day

FAT ASS RANCH & WINERY (unfortunately they had just closed for the day!

Old Fordson (I think) tractor at the winery

GUADaLUPE river state park in spring branch, texas

Notice the flotsam left in the trees after the flood a few months ago! And yes, the water did get that high! WOW!

The "rapids" (Notice more flotsam) — The “rapids” (Notice more flotsam above in the trees)

More root patterns but it sure looks like a squirrel or something lurking behind!

ANOTHER TURTLE! And I haven't seen Turtle Soup anywhere! — ANOTHER TURTLE! And I haven’t seen Turtle Soup anywhere on a menu!

Stairs from the river to the picnic areas

That Cyprus tree has more wrinkles than me!

lunch at the famous salt lick BARBECUE restaurant in driftwood, texas

(left to right) Mark, Penny (Denny Hammond's 96 year young sister!), Jan, Jules, Liz and Brandt — (left to right) Mark, Penny (Denny Hammond’s 96 year young sister!), Jan, Jules, Liz and Brandt

Ms. Chang 016

HUGE hunk o'meat! — HUGE hunk o’meat! YUM!!

Huge grounds for picnicking. there's even a dog park too! — Huge grounds for picnicking, there’s even a dog park too!

MCKINnEY falls state park in austin, texas

We met up with Liz for a picnic lunch and sightseeing at McKinney Falls State Park

Now that's the way to RELAX! — Now that’s the way to RELAX!

The infamous Bluebonnets are beginning to bloom!

meanwhile, back at the campground….

Empty campground (temporarily until Spring Break at least)

Zook, our neighborhood watch dog! — Zook, our neighborhood watchdog!

Resident herd of deer. They really like the deer corn I put out every evening! — Representatives from the resident herd of deer. They really like the deer corn
I put out every evening!

The comphosts say there's a herd of about 30 that live in this valley. — The camphosts say there’s a herd of about 30 that live in this valley.

Our Month in New Braunfels Texas

SUMMIT RESORT & RV PARK

We’re now staying here in a really nice resort on the outskirts of New Bruanfels, Texas called Summit Resort and RV Park. We chose this location because of it’s central location between Austin, San Antonio and Fredericksburg. we’ll be here until March 16th, so plenty of time to explore the area. This campground is in a valley right near the Guadalupe River. There’s a resident herd of about 30 deer we see quite often (I’ll get pictures eventually, they seem to know when I don’t have my camera handy!)

DAY TRIP TO SAN ANTONIO

Jan at The Republic of Texas BBQ Restaurant on the river walk

Brandt at The Republic of Texas BBQ Restaurant on the river walk

View from the street above of The Republic of Texas restaurant.

Lunch at The Republic of Texas BBQ restaurant was fabulous! Best TriTip I’ve ever had!

Great river tour, lots of interesting sights and the history was interesting as well.

Interesting sights at street level too including the Alamo, architecture, street art and more.

DAY TRIP(2 TIMES) TO NEW BRAUNFELS

The Pour Haus Bar; notice the swings for bar stools!

Blake, Daniel and their dog Missy at The Pour Haus. They're locals and recommended Ink State Park and the San Antonio Botanical Gardens; both were outstanding! — Blake, Daniel and their dog Missy at The Pour Haus. They’re locals and recommended Ink State Park and the San Antonio Botanical Gardens; both were outstanding!

We met Daniel and Blake and Missy at the Pour Haus where I had a local pilsner beer called ZOE! Really nice laid back outdoor bar that was, obviously , very dog friendly.

Great turn of the century architecture too!

Fabulous murals all over the town of New Braunfels.

Even the local establishments get into doing them!

New Braunfels legendary murals all over town

The murals even had a recipe for Venison sausage!

DAY TRIP TO GRUENE (pronounced “green”)

Gruene Dance Hall (pronounced "green" we're told!) — Gruene Dance Hall (pronounced “green” we’re told!)

license plate on the floor of the dance hall. A long lost relative?!?

The Gruene Dance Hall was the community gathering place over the years. Very cool!

non-working water tower above the visitor's center. — non-working water tower above the visitor’s center.

Some of the funky local shops and architecture.

The Gristmill Restaurant where we enjoyed lunch.

day trip to marble falls (where there were no falls as it turns out) and inks state park

The sign by the road said"WINE AND VIEWS", what did you expect us to do!?! — The sign by the road said”WINE AND VIEWS”, what did you expect us to do!?!

Brandt, Haley, Jan and Melissa Our new friends! — Brandt, Haley, Jan and Melissa
Our new friends!

View from the parking lot. Wine tasting on the ground floor and top deck with vacation suite rentals on the second and third floors. The third floor is one unit!

Haley's getting married. — Haley’s getting married. They’re preparing for her Bridal Shower.

River City Grill in Marble Falls, recommended by Haley. Great food and nice view of the lake and river.

inks state park

Las Cruces, New Mexico

white sands missle range museum

V-2 rocket. Built in 1950. Restored in later years and put in it's own building for preservation. — V-2 rocket. Built in 1950. Restored in later years and put in it’s own building for preservation.

Some kind of helicopter drone built for the Army.

Multitude of missiles and armament. Your tax dollars at work!

I believe this is a shell of " Big Bertha", the first A-bomb but nothing had descriptions yet (note the empty frame in front) — I believe this is a shell of ” Big Bertha”, the first A-bomb but nothing had descriptions yet (note the empty frame in front)

Explanation of the "spaghetti" board! — Explanation of the “spaghetti” board!

Spaghetti" jumpers! — Spaghetti” jumpers!

Trackings terminals circa 1940's-50's — Trackings terminals circa 1940’s-50’s

Never knew they used dogs for recovering missile pieces, but it makes sense.

Snow capped mountains and it's 75 degrees :-) — Snow capped mountains and it’s 75 degrees 🙂

We went to Las Cruces to see this significant display, very interesting even though it seems they are a “work in progress”! Many of the displays had a frame for an informational placard but the placard was not in place yet.

Carlsbad, New Mexico

Brantley Lake State Park Campground

While in Carlsbad we stayed at a New Mexico state park called Brantley Lake (has a nice ring to it, don’t you think 🙂 . Anyway, it’s on a reservoir and the view was finally great, no more parking lot!

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

We went here for a day to explore the caverns; unfortunately their elevator (which goes down 750 feet!) was out so the only way in was to walk 1 1/4 miles down the 750 foot drop and then back out the same way! My back was acting up and Jan didn’t think her knee would do that so we opted to watch the movie instead and take in the visitors center. All was very interesting and informative!

RosWELl, new mexico UFO Museum and RESEARCH library

We spent Sunday, Valentines Day, going to visit Roswell, NM, home of the UFO Museum and Research Library! Romantic don’t you think?!? Anyway, very interesting to say the least! We, of course forgot to wear our aluminum foil hats 🙂 , I hope we’ll be okay!

Benson, Arizona

We visited Kartchner Caverns because of a tip from our good friends, Kevin and Wendy Gallagher; it should be on everyones Bucket List! It was AMAZING! Unfortunately, I was not allowed to bring anything into the caverns; that included cameras, phones, NOTHING! They are “live” caves meaning the formations are still growing ever so slowly; 1 inch every 100 to 1000 years! To see photos and read the incredible history of their discovery and introduction to the public as a state park Google “Kartchner Caves” or go to the state park website here: www.azstateparks.com and look for Kartchner caverns. There’s a video tour as well as still pictures.

We also visited an old copper mining town called Bisbee. It was fascinating! Kind of a “Hippie” and artsy town now, but the copper mining museum and the town were very interesting. They are still getting copper but now instead of mining they are leaching it from the dregs left as a by-product of their forefathers (because of more advanced technology)

We(I) chose NOT to do the claustrophobic mine tour down into the bowels of the earth where we would be most certainly be buried alive!

Pima Air Museum Tucson, Arizona

Pima_Entry We went on Sunday so unfortunately the “Boneyard” wasn’t open (Federal land) but the museum has over 3700 planes and other aircraft, so well worth the trip!

Here are some of the many planes and other memorabilia we saw there.

Our Day Trip to Tubac, Az. with Ken and Joy Turner

Some beautiful Mesquite wood furniture and a vase, some with inlaid turquoise! Stunning (and pricey!)

There was some great sculptures and moving art pieces throughout the outdoor areas too.

We went with our new good friends Ken and Joy. While the girls looked at jewelry and such, Ken and I found this refuge:-). Notice the caricature picture: Castro, Dave Letterman, Marilyn Monroe and Arnold Schwarzenegger!

After exhausting shopping we all had drinks at Tubac Jack’s, including this interestingly delicious Smoked Jalapeño Margarita!

Tucson Saguaro National Park (East)

We visited both the Tucson Saguaro National Park East and West but learned unless there are some clouds the sunsets are not “picture worthy”. Here are the pictures from the East park.