About That Austin Stone (January 1 - 7)

Dear Family and Friends,

Happy New Year from Kerrville, Texas! Roger and I trust all of you had a great holiday season and are off to a wonderful start in 2012. The beginning of a new year holds such promise for me. Hopefully this will be a great year for the Radcliffs.

We spent New Year's Eve in Fredericksburg, at the home of a country western singer whom we truly enjoy. We were thrilled to be included in Thomas Riley's small dinner for his friends and family. After a delicious meal, he entertained us, accompanied by his friend, Kenny Grimes. What talent! This was the first time in many years that we stayed up past the ball dropping in New York.

It is official, Roger has ended his employment with Merrill Lynch. Though he has been on the road for awhile, his true retirement started January 1st.

You may be wondering about the title of this blog. Austin Stone is the whitish stone quarried around the city of Austin and in the hill country of Texas. On our travels in the area, we have seen it everywhere. It is used in office buildings, churches, homes, fences and entrance gates. It has iron in it that sometimes seeps through causing a reddish tone to appear on the rock. On our bike rides this week, we were able to capture a few pictures of the stone  as well as the hill country where we are riding.

Roger checking the route.

Hill Country

An example of a home made of Austin Stone. Notice the red from the iron content in the wall.

Yes, we are about to climb that hill. You can see Roger in the distance.

This entrance to a ranch is decorated with hoops of barbed wire.

Austin Stone entrance with the Texas flag flying proudly.

This area has lots of goat farms. Could someone please tell me why all of the flocks have donkeys with them? I am thinking that the donkeys discourage the coyotes.

Roger loading up the bikes for a return drive to Buckhorn Lake Resort.

Bear's new best buddy, Belle, playing in the park.

We have had a great week recovering from the holidays. Bear loves the long walks and playing in the resorts parks with his new friends. We realize that we had better get busy with sightseeing as our time in Kerrville is going much too quickly. Until next week, thank you for reading the blog.