Beauty in strange forms

I headed out to Lytle Texas where I usually hunt but today was not going to be a hunting day.    I wanted to scout around and see if I could get some pictures of wildlife.   Maybe some deer, coyotes, raccoons or a hog might stop by.   I left the house around 0400 and arrived about 45 minutes later.    I got set up in the blind I usually use during deer season.   My Nikon d7100 with 70-300 nikon lens along with my tripod and binoculars.   To make a long story short, no wildlife showed up.  It's like they sent a memo out warning each other to stay away from the blind because there was a human in it.  Oh well, there's always opportunities to take pictures of many other things out in the country.    

As I sat there in the dark looking at the beautiful full moon as it lit the area up I could see the trails, bushes and trees clearly.   I always stay on the trails when I'm walking the area even though I have snake boots on because you never know what you'll step on or into.    

Once the sun started to rise, I could see all that God has created.  It was humid this morning and the dew was evident on everything.

Then there's this cactus.   OUCH.  If you've never been stuck by one of these, you're lucky.   Believe me you do not want to to touch this on purpose or by accident.   I one had one of those thorns for right thru my blue jeans, and it took forever to get it out.   It almost felt like it had a backward barb on it preventing it from being pulled out.  It's beautiful nd has these red little berries on it, but DO NOT touch it.

  


Walking around a pond which is located on the property, I found these mushrooms which I believe are called Shaggy Mane.   My brother in law told me thats what they're called and they were everywhere.  

Apparently that cylindrical shaped mushroom turns into the flat one at some point.   Either way is still amazing to look at.  Until the next time, take care and stay safe.

Llano Texas and Cooper's Barbecue

Some close friends of hours usually take a once a month trip and visit a new bbq restaurant somewhere close toSan Antonio Texas.   We try to make it a 2 to 3 hour trip, eat and walk around the town and then head back to San Antonio.  On this day we decided to travel to Llano Texas which is close to 2 hours north of us with some beautiful scenery on the way and also in town.

  

Packsaddle mountain

On the way to Llano, we stopped and took some pictures of a historical marker and mountain named Pack Saddle Mountain.

It doesn't look that far from the road but it really is.

Packsaddle mountain is about 15 minutes from town .   Once we arrived in town Cooper's barbecue is not hard to find.   Take a right on hwy 71 and go through town and once you cross the bridge which is the Llano River, Cooper's is about 2 or 3 minutes on the left.  They have quite a few pits and since we arrived just as they opened only 2 were going.

 You will be able to park in front and on the side and it does get busy so get there early

They have different selections of meat which are brisquet, chicken, baby back ribs and beef ribs, sausage in different flavors and prime rib which looked awesome but was a little too rich for my wallet.

Inside seating was good and the staff was very friendly and helpful.

Alma and I ordered brisquet, beef rib and jalapeño sausage along with potato salad and cole slaw.   The brisquet was good, but very salty, and I mean very salty, it was soft and didn't require much pressure to cut.   Same with the beef rib, it was very salty but did have a good flavor and was very easy to cut, or bite into.   The jalapeño sausage had a good flavor to it and was not spicy hot but you can taste the jalapeño.  As for the smoke flavor that we were looking for, well it just didn't have that smoked flavor.  Our friends Sylvia and Jesse had the same thing but also had chicken.   They liked the chicken and said it had a good taste and wasn't't too salty.   Once we finished we walked around town and looked at the different shops and historical monuments.

Downtown is not too far of a walk or you can drive across the bridge and find a parking space and then walk around, which is what we did.

 

The town has different statues and monuments to remember soldiers from the different wars that soldiers of this great nation have fought in.   This one sits right on the corner of the courthouse.

 


Here is a picture of the courthouse which is a beautiful building.   I will have to come back on another trip so I can go inside and see what it looks like as I did with the courthouse in Lockart Texas.

Also located on the courthouse property is the Llano county memorial monument remembering soldiers from Llano county who paid the ultimate price of freedom during the Korean war and Vietnam war.

Then there is a monument for the Llano county veterans who served during World War II, and the list continues on the back.

Then there is the monument remembering all the Llano county Desert Storm veterans and the list of names continues on the back.
There is also a monument for WWI veterans which is pretty cool.   Don't get me wrong, they're all awesome and it's great that Llano county remembers all of it's veterans, but the WWI statue is awesome.

Here is a closeup of the WWI statue.

There's also different antique shops around the downtown are which allowed us to walk off some of the barbecue we ate.   We will definitely have to come back and spend more time here and at a some of the other restaurants in the area.

                                                                  

Until the next trip, stay safe and have a great day.

Sam's Barbecue

On a recent trip to Robstown which is about an hour and a half south of San Antonio,  Dad, Alma and I were looking for a new barbecue restaurant to visit and we found Sam's Bbq at 15801 Northwest Blvd in Robstown Texas.   It's a small place, but like they say, big surprises come in small packages.  They have a drive thru and a small outside seating area to enjoy the nice breeze coming off the coast as you eat.    The staff is very friendly and the service was great.

Because of dads low sodium diet he ordered the barbecue chicken plate as did Alma.   I ordered the the brisket sandwich which turned out to be excellent.   The chicken had a very good smoked flavor, a little over done, and maybe that was because it was well after lunch,  but the flavor was excellent.  Dad had to travel to Kingsville Tx, a month later and he went by to get more chicken because he loved it.   He said it was just as good as the first time, and one of the guys remembered him.    

The brisket sandwich also was superb.  Whenever I am trying a new barbecue restaurant, I always order the brisket either in a plate order or just the sandwich.   I'm the type that likes to actually try the meat first with no add ons, in other words, no house sauce, onions or pickles because I want see what the brisket tastes like without any additives.   Did they dry it out with too much smoke flavor, or is it moist with an awesome smoke flavor?   I have always felt that if brisket is too dry then it's like wrestling with jerky but with a good smoked flavor, but if it's moist then it'll be a quiet table you're sitting at.  It's only after a couple of bites that I will add the pickles and onions, and that's not because it needs it or it tastes bad without it, but the smoked flavor combined with the strong onion and the ingredients in the processing of the pickle gives the sandwich a whole different dimension, and this was the case in this sandwich.   I think I only said 7 words while eating that sandwich, and they were "Wow this has an excellent smoke flavor".   So we now have another barbecue stopping place when we head south to the valley.   Until the next trip, stay safe and eat some barbecue.

Black's Barbecue

It's amazing what you can find in small towns.  Black's Barbecue has been here since 1932 and it's great.   The sign out front reads "GIANT BEEF RIBS", and believe me they are very big.  

Last month my dad, my brother and I drove to Lockhart and tried all the barbecue restaurants in town.  That's right, all 4 restaurants were visited on a one day trip.   I'd like to say we all tasted ribs and brisket from all of them but dad being 84 years old only sampled from 2 of them.    Oh they were all good, some had beef ribs and some didn't.   All had pork ribs, brisket pulled pork and different styles of sausage.

    On that trip we were only going for the ribs and the brisket.  Black's Barbecue was the last restaurant and Jim and I were tired of barbecue, but we had to try it so we could see who, out of the 4 barbecue restaurants, had the best, if that was possible.  Well it turned out to be the last one which is Black's, and although all were good, this one was the best, even after visiting 3 others and quite honestly, we were both full, and tired of eating barbecue but after that first bite of that rib and the brisket, we wanted more.    I didn't know how I was going to stuff anymore food in down my mouth, but it was very tasty, moist and with an excellent smoke flavor.

So on this trip, my wife and my sister were on this trip and we were headed to Black's Barbecue.   Luckily we got there and beat the crowd which arrived while we were eating.   We also saw the head coach of the San Antonio Spurs, Gregg Popovich there eating also.  But I was too busy getting ready to eat beef ribs and brisket to take a picture with Pop.   He seemed like a nice guy and was taking pictures with people, but I was there to eat ribs.   Quite frankly I was surprised he was there when they have a big game tonight.   Let me also mention the hospitality of the staff is exceptional.   I used to think Chic-fil-A held the market on friendliness and hospitality, but Black's is on the same level if not higher.   Eric took time out of his busy schedule to show me around and I was able to snap some pictures.