Since the Fall and Spring were very dry, there were not a lot of wildflowers and hence I took only the two pictures shown here. Clif, as usual, took many pictures and you can view those here.

The rains finally came in force in early May. While too late to save the bluebonnets and other early bloomers that we had hoped to see in the Hill Country, the rain brought forth a profusion of Indian Blankets, Mexicans Hats, and many yellow flowers along Town Lake in downtown Austin. Here are some pictures from our walk on May 13.

Clif and Charlie left on May 17, 2006 on another ride, this time from Houston to Yosemite. I decided not to do this trip for a number of reasons. However, Jane and I did ride down to Luling to meet up with Clif and Charlie on their first day's ride. From Luling, we all headed across I-10 through San Antonio, finally stopping for lunch in Kerrville.

After lunch, we bade farewell to the intrepid riders and headed back towards Austin. The same rains that brought the many flowers to Town Lake also made for great scenery along I-10. Huge patches of yellow and red. We stopped at the Old Tunnel Wildlife Management Area to see the tunnel. Over three million Mexican freetail bats make their home here each summer. You can read more on the pictures of the placards or follow the link to the Texas Parks site.

From the Old Tunnel, we headed through the LBJ State and National Parks between Fredericksburg and Johnson City. There were beautifule stretches of flowers here also, as you can see by the pictures.