A scene that always made me smile when we walked outside.  This is across the road from the house.

We took our last walk yesterday evening in this nice area.  Sure do love the smell of the cedar as we walk through one section of the country road.  Last evening we saw several jack rabbits, but not much else, although Guillermo did identify a Scrub Jay.  There were plenty of thunderstorms in the area, but none right where we were.  When we got back to the house, we went out on the back deck one last time to enjoy the view with the view being enhanced this time with good displays of lightning.

Today we're packing up and getting ready to leave the lake house.  A front has come in so it's really windy outside and there are whitecaps on the lake.  We saw a black blob on the lake so got our binoculars and realized that the black blog was really a tight group of what we think were coots.  They were going up against the current on the lake, against the wind, so it was very slow going for them.  Then later we saw a grebe also seeming to swim against the wind and the current.

Our plan for the next 5 days:  Friday night and Saturday night we are staying in the same little house we stayed in for 3 months on El Verde Rd.  We leave there Sunday in the early evening for the other house that our friends just bought near the airport.  We will stay in that house Sunday, Monday and Tuesday evening and then Wednesday morning we head to the airport!

All bluster, not much rain

Storms developed earlier in the day today, so I was able to get a picture of it approaching.

The last two storms that came through, it was already dark so we didn't get to see much.  This storm came through shortly after I took this picture and once again, the wind whipped around like a hurricane.  There were actual waves and whitecaps on the lake.  The owners of this house had put up two ceiling fans this past weekend on the deck outside and the wind was whipping those ceiling fans around so hard we thought they were going to break off.  Guillermo got some cord and tied one of the blades on each fan to the ceiling and that sure helped a lot!

The storm was mostly strong wind, and just a little bit of rain.  We thought we wouldn't be able to take our usual evening walk, but we went out anyway when it looked like the bulk of the storm was to the east of us.  There was still plenty of lightning going on in the distance and since it was almost dark, we were able to see the lightning really well.  The air was nice and cool but we didn't walk as far as we usually do since it was so dark already.

I'm writing this post on a Tuesday and I forgot to write about our past weekend!  On Saturday, John and Angie came over and Connie and Bill came over shortly after them.  They were all going to spend the weekend with us again!  Saturday afternoon several of us went to the Cajun Festival near here and that was very interesting.  All of us got gumbo from different booths so that we could compare the tastes.  Cajun music was playing in the background and we sat around eating our gumbo, watching people and listening to the music.  We had fun at the festival.

On Sunday, John and Guillermo grilled chicken and vegetables out on the deck, which were delicious!  Then the guys put up the two ceiling fans.  John and Angie left in the late afternoon, and Connie and Bill left Monday morning.

Going to town

Well, it's Friday and Friday is the day we drive into San Antonio each week.  We had plenty to get taken care of - haircut, re-pin our debit cards, pay bills, etc.  Once we got some of those things out of the way, we went over to mom's house  to have lunch with her at Taco Cabana.

After Taco Cabana, we drove out to the airport to do two things.   One was to weigh our suitcases and the other was to pick up Anthony who was coming in to spend 10 days in San Antonio.  We got to the airport early to weigh our suitcases because we were afraid they were over the weight limits.  Sure enough they were.  Guillermo's suitcase was over by 3 pounds and mine was over by 7 pounds.  So, we pulled some things out and got it down to the required 50 pound limit and now we know how we need to pack those suitcases for our trip.  We finished with that and 30 minutes Anthony arrived.  We got his suitcase and then drove to the southside where we got a little something to eat at Bill Miller before dropping him and Mom off at her house.  Then it was time for us to stock up on groceries before heading back out to Medina Lake.  Today we drove back while it was still good and light.  Last week we got back kind of late (it was almost dark) and that was scary because of the deer - one almost ran into the side of our car!!!

An actual TODAY post

This evening we saw the fox again as we were headed back to the house.  It was just sitting on the side of the road ahead of us.  When we noticed it, we stopped dead in our tracks and looked at it with our binoculars.  It sat there for a while, scratching behind its ear and keeping an eye on us.  Then it got up, crossed the road and went behind some trees.  We thought that was it for the fox so we started walking again but then we saw it moving through the trees so we stopped.  The fox then slowly comes out of the trees and stands there and looks at us.  We stayed very still, looking at it with the binoculars.  Then it started walking towards us!!!  It got maybe within 40 feet of us and then turned to walk towards another stand of trees.  It didn't go into the trees but instead walked along the edge of them, always looking at us.  It acted like it was going to cross the road again but then it turned around and went into the trees.  We probably got to watch that fox for a good 6 or 7 minutes, totally unobstructed.  It was wonderful!!!!  We also saw the Vermilion Flycatcher again - always beautiful.  We have one more week left in this house.  Another place that we will really miss and look back on as a great place to have stayed for a few weeks.

Another storm!

Yesterday was Wednesday and on Wednesdays we drive to the nearest store to buy the newspaper.  The newspapers on Monday and Tuesday are so thin, they don't make the drive worth it.  It is 3 miles to the nearest grocery store.

Last night we went out for our usual evening walk.  To the north, we could see the sky was dark, and there was the occasional flash of lightning and thunder but it looked like it was very far away and actually, as we walked, it seemed the storm was kind of dying down.  We walked farther today than usual, because we found a little road that had a cable across it.  There was no sign saying do not enter, or private property, so we crossed over the cable and walked around.  The dirt road led us to a hill that Guillermo wanted to go up, so I said I'd go up halfway with him and wait for him to come back from the top.  From the spot where I waited, the view was just gorgeous.  Of course, if the lake had been full, the view would have been a LOT better, but even so, the view was still beautiful.  It was nice to see the storms in the distance, since they seemed so far away.

On our walk back, it was starting to get dark and it also seemed that the lightning was getting brighter and the thunder was getting louder.  Back at the house, we sat out on the deck to watch the light show and after a while we went back in because it looked like the storms were going to stay in the distance.  We weren't in the house more than 4 minutes or so when I heard what sounded like rain so I opened the sliding glass door to see and it wasn't raining but the wind was REALLY whipping around.  We were so surprised!  So, we brought in everything; the bird feeders, the padding for the chairs, etc.  We sat out there a little while with the nice cool wind but after a while, it did start raining and we were getting a little wet.  It ended up that it rained a lot with lots of intense lightning.  The storm must have lasted 2 hours!  And here we thought the storms were going away!

Nice storm last night

When we took our walk last night, we could see the sky was dark in the distance and there were huge thunderheads.  So, it looked pretty certain that we were going to be getting some storms later.  The air was real heavy, very still and hot while we walked so it was pretty uncomfortable.

When we got back to the house, the storm was a lot closer so we decided to sit out on the deck to watch the lightning.  That was so nice, to be able to see so much of the storm in the distance.  We hadn't been sitting there long when what they call the outflow boundary hit.  All of a sudden it got really windy!  The wind was very strong so we decided to bring in all the bird feeders and put away anything that could blow away.  Then we sat down again and waited for the rain, knowing we wouldn't be able to stay out there once the rain hit since the wind was blowing so hard on us.  When there was lightning, we could see the rain was already hitting the lake quite close so we knew we'd have to go inside soon.

Once we were inside, the wind was whipping the rain so hard!  The rain was coming down sideways through the covered deck.  We estimate that the wind was blowing and gusting to between 50 and 60 miles an hour.  It was WILD!!!  There was plenty of lightning, but we hardly heard any thunder so we figured the center of the storm was further away.

Today the weather is a lot more pleasant.  Guillermo spent most of the morning and afternoon out on the deck with his laptop and binoculars.  He was so excited to spot an Osprey flying over the lake!  And not only flying.  He witnessed the osprey dive into the lake and catch a fish!  I came outside right after that happened, so I got to see the osprey sitting on a branch in the lake, eating the fish.  Today marks one week that we have been here by ourselves and we have 10 more days left here.

For some reason, there were tons of mayflies on the boat dock down the hill next door and that must have attracted the birds because there were a LOT of Swallows flying around today.  We also saw LOTS of turtles in the lake, especially around that dock.  But the most exciting sighting we had today was a Bald Eagle!  We were sitting on the back deck with my Aunt Diane and Uncle Serg and it was Aunt Diane who saw the bird flying, saying, "What bird is that?"  We were all amazed to realize that it was an eagle!  It was flying across to the other side of the lake.  We also had some rain today, so maybe with the change in weather, the wildlife is starting to move around more.

Another successful walk

We left earlier this evening for our walk than we had been leaving the last few days.  The weather had turned nice and cloudy so it made the walk very pleasant.  We were so excited to see some jack rabbits again.  We looked at one through binoculars and saw that he was up on his hind legs, looking at us.  He sure looked cute.  Then as we were walking back, we saw the fox again!!  He was in a long driveway and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw us.  We stood there for a few seconds looking at each other and then he ran into the woods. We did catch a glimpse of him a little later running across the street we were walking on.  So that was exciting and we were so happy to have seen both of those animals again.  We also heard a different owl, but we're not sure which one it is.  And of course, we saw LOTS of deer.

Tomorrow we go into town to get some things done, get our mail, have lunch with friends, dinner with Mom and Linda and then pick up groceries for the coming week.  There's supposed to be rain this weekend, but we'll believe that when we see it.

Our new place for a while

So, here are some pictures of the view we get from the lake house we're staying at.  Not bad at all....

So, this is what's been going on lately.

On Friday, the 9th, we checked out of our hotel and went to HEB where we spent PLENTY of money buying enough groceries to last us a whole week out at the lake house.  Of course the day was SO hot but fortunately we had our ice chest filled with ice from the hotel where we could put some of our cold stuff.  From HEB, we drove out to Helotes and dropped by our friends house to get the keys and directions to the lake house.  That went fairly quickly and soon we were on our way.  It's a good long drive even from Helotes to get to this house.  The directions were good and we found the house quickly, unloaded a few things and the groceries from the car and then got to work cleaning up the place a little bit.

We were pleasantly surprised to see that the level of the water in the lake was still very decent behind their house, but in other areas, the lake has totally dried up.

On the 10th, John and Angie came out, along with the owners of the house who came a little later, so we had company all weekend. It was a lot of fun having everyone here.  John and Angie left on in the late afternoon on Sunday.  Sunday evening, Guillermo and I took a long walk up the road around here and we saw a fox, a jack rabbit, several deer and plenty of the usual birds of the area.  So, that was a good walk!

The owners left in the late morning on Monday  so we are now again by ourselves here.  We cleaned up the place again and took everything else out of our car so that we can have everything in a place to easily see what needs to go with us to Europe, what goes to storage and what can just be stored in the car.

Last night was our last night in the Helotes house.  The owners came back around 6:30pm, we all had dinner together and then we took their dog on a walk to get the mail and do one last walk in that great neighborhood.  Boy will we miss those walks.  We couldn't have asked for a better place to get in some exercise.  Very steep streets winding in and around the homes so not only did we have a beautiful and interesting place to walk around, it was also VERY good exercise.  I was actually getting to the point where I didn't need to stop and catch my breath as much as when we first began.  Too BAD we won't be in a place again where we got such good exercise.
So, this morning we got up, had breakfast, washed our sheets and made up our bed and then we said our goodbyes and took off.  We were sad, for sure, but the good thing is, we are going to be staying in those same people's lake house for the next three weeks!  That house is about as nice as this last one, so it will be good.  The ONLY thing about the lake house is that it is far from "civilization" so there'll be no running real quick to the store or anything like that.  The lake house is about 45 minutes from the nearest store.  So, we're excited about being able to stay there and we'll just have to plan the next three weeks very carefully.  Here's hoping we get some rain while we're there because we understand that the lake level is really really low.

We decided to stay in a hotel this night, to give our friends time to return back to their house from their trip without us being there.  Then tomorrow afternoon, we'll meet them out at their house to get the keys to the lake house.

This coming weekend, they will be coming out to the lake house too, along with John and Angie, so we'll all have dinner together Saturday night, everyone will spend the night and then I guess the house will be ours after the weekend.  That should be nice!

Guillermo and I had lunch today with Mom at Cappy's  - Bruce Bowen (Spurs) had lunch at the table right next to ours!  Then we picked our mail, left a box in Mom's storage shed and headed to our hotel, which is close to Leon Valley.

5 more days after today to be in this nice house in Helotes.  Well, we try to make the most of the time we have left here.  We go out on the porch whenever we can.  We go out there every night to admire the city lights in one direction, and then look in the opposite direction to see how dark the skies and land looks with so few lights.  We try to eat most of our meals here to take advantage of having such a nice kitchen and place to eat.  Little things like that.  It will be hard leaving next Thursday.

We had John and Angie over for dinner on Wednesday evening.  John brought steaks and we grilled those and some vegetables.  We had a fun evening, and John and Angie even ended up spending the night!  In the morning, we went to breakfast at Jims and then they went back home and we headed over to Sergio's house to pick up our Nissan truck.  So, we have our truck back now!!!

Today we drove around looking for a new suitcase and finally found a good deal.  A green TravelPro suitcase - a close-out so the price was excellent.

We also tried to get a registration sticker for our car, since the current one will expire while we are gone.  But they said it's too early, and MAYBE they'd let us do it in October.  Looks like those last few days before we leave for Europe are going to be really busy.

Still no rain around here and still hot, but certainly not as hot as the past week.  Where it was 110, 107 and 105 degrees all last week, now it just gets to 100.  Those few degrees sure are noticeable!  They are predicting 102 for tomorrow and hopefully that will be the last of those kind of temperatures.  Supposedly, starting Monday, the highs will be in the mid-90s!!!  That will feel cool for sure!