Finishing up with the hill country and more

It has been quite a while since my last post and I have been busy. I have relocated to a place closer to San Antonio and have explored more in this area while also rechecking my previous spots for any additional signs of Big Foot. 

I know I have mentioned this before, but I think I should restate this again as I know that some have asked. I thought I had covered in my FAQs and in previous posts but I don't mind repeating myself again as I have a tendency towards being vague sometimes. I am hunting for an elusive prey which for the lack of a better name, we call Big Foot or Sasquatch. The difference in my exploration is that I am not searching for the woodland variety but rather the more wily creature that can be found only in coffee shops, cafes, breweries, distilleries, wineries, museums, etc. Unlike other typical cryptozoological creatures that I sometimes hunt, my Big Foot may not necessarily be wild looking. For example, the creature may not be fur covered which adds a level of complexity to the search. In fact, it is not determined what gender this more sophisticated Big Foot may be. Finding a seven foot tall fur covered creature in a brewery would be easy, but what if that was not how this branch of the family tree looks? To paraphrase a famous quite, I do this not because it is easy, but rather because it is hard. It is a challenge that I have taken on, truly a quest for the unknown and potentially unknowable. The monster hunting hounds have agreed to take on this challenge as they tired of the life of leisure that had lived and demanded more activity. In fact even now, Ozzy is deep in thought as he is curled up on the recliner in a blanket. I can tell he is ready to pounce at a moment's notice and chase down the creature. I may never find the creature I seek, but I shall not give up my hunt. 

I have continued to check out the local offerings including a few hikes. Unfortunately as it has been a month of activity, I have kind of lost track of where all I have been. I will try to piece this together but the life of a adventurer and explorer is quite exhausting so I may miss something. Basically look on a map of Texas and the area we have been exploring includes New Braunfels, Spring Branch, Dripping Springs, Marble Falls, Fredericksburg, Blanco, Stonewall, Boerne, and San Marcos. There are other places too but that should give you the vibe. I have enjoyed my stay here in the hill country and I will return next winter for a few months as there is much to do in the area and many opportunities to catch the creature. 

In sticking with the recent theme, I will do a photo dump and try to share what each one is. If I repeat a location, it is likely due to me being there multiple times. 

Alstadt Brewing. Just sitting on the patio and enjoying the day.

Finally got the ingredients to make a proper old fashioned (no soda or brandy in sight). I cheat on the orange peel and use orange bitters instead. Luxardo cherries are required.

Natural Bridge Cavern. Obviously more impressive in person.

Just another shot of the Natural Bridge Cavern. Well worth a visit and close to San Antonio. Do the river walk after ward like we did and just enjoy the fresh air.  

Lucy looking silly. I tried to get both of them to pose, but Ozzy was on the lookout for Big Foot and couldn't let his guard down. What a beast.

Last picture you will see of that truck. Just love the blue skies.

Guadalupe Brewing Company. Nice place, live music, just sat outside and relaxed.

Sitting outside at Five Stones Brewery. 

Enjoying a cold beverage at Five Stones. It was a lovely day and there was plenty of room to spread out. 

Texas Cannon Brewing. I like this place better than Real Ale.Both are in Blanco and both have good beer, but Texas Cannon has a bar to sit at which I feel is a requirement for a proper establishment. 

At Texas Cannon with S&S.

At Muck and Fuss. Beer was good, food was good. People were friendly, Really, no complaints.

Tusculum from Boerne, I had a to go beverage. B & L gave me a jacket for my beer so it can stay cold while I do not need to. What a thoughtful son. 

Another visit to Andalusia. If one can become a regular while on the road, S&S and I are regulars here. 

As I mentioned, that picture of the white truck was the last one I would post as I have upgraded my vehicle. I have decided to go to the bigger sized truck for a variety of reason, but mostly due to safety. I was at least 20% to 30% over the payload capacity of the old truck while being under the towing capacity. This meant I had sufficient power, but lacked control when confronted with winds or rough roads. Since I have many miles to go before I am through, I thought I should probably do something about this as there was just no further improvements possible on the old F150. I have been searching for quite a while as the used heavy duty truck market has been quite wild for the last few years. The new ones have all been spec'd with the high end bells and whistles that I neither need nor want. That left me in a dilemma. Thankfully I did a search on new (2022 model year) Ram 2500s and found several that would meet my needs without breaking the bank. Basically they were a few thousand more than the used ones with 50,000 miles. One I found in Wisconsin and they would deliver it up to 150 miles. Easy peasy. I would drive the old truck up to C's house in De Pere and get the new one delivered there. Unfortunately the weather failed to cooperate. I left in the middle of an ice storm in Texas. The roads were sub-optimal for sure. I got to Wisconsin in time for -10F weather (not the wind chill, just the raw temp). Really the best of both places in winter. The good news is I was able to see C&D, and B&L along with Amy's parents, D&S. I have missed the kids and everyone, but I have certainly not missed the weather. It was a pleasant 20 hour drive back to Texas so I was able to break in the new rig.

New truck. The camera angle makes it look big, Don't worry, it is big. That's about a 30 inch step up to get inside. I picked up some running boards that I will have to install. I already have installed the bed rug and the tonneau cover. 

C&D. D had reserve duty that weekend so it was a quick dinner out before his hair cut.

B&L and C out for dinner at Le Reve. It was awesome to see them and to be able to enjoy a nice meal together. I have not seen them since September. I have plans to address this next year.

I am in this area for less than one week and then I head towards the coast for a month. I am scouting areas that will work for future visits to Texas as I do like wintering down here. It has been mostly pleasant weather wise and there are plenty of places to hunt for the elusive Big Foot. Post Texas, I will be heading to Arizona for a RV rally and then back east and then north. I have reservations mostly covered through Labor Day and I have general plans for autumn. I am still trying to find a decent place in SE Wisconsin as my preferred location is not currently taking reservations. I will then be up in NE Wisconsin for C's graduation from St Norbert College. I hope to be able to see my friends and visit some old familiar haunts (thinking of you Runaway) while in town. When it is closer I will let people know, but I should be in SE Wisconsin the last week in April and the first week in May and then in NE Wisconsin the following week. I then will head off to Kentucky for the summer as I have a volunteer gig lined up near Mammoth Cave. 

The life of an adventurer and explorer is never dull. I am excited to move on and check out the area near Corpus Christi which is nationally ranked. As always, onto the next adventure.

Thor

braxwood.com

Continued search in the Hill Country

I have been extremely busy hunting Big Foot in the Hill Country of Texas. I have actual photographic proof that I am on the right trail, but more on that later.

As you may recall from the last installment, I am travelling with S&S. They have been here before and know many great places to explore. Again I will be posting mostly photos and not in chronological order as I have been hitting a lot of breweries and distilleries and the days sort of blend. I have also failed to take pictures once again at many breweries. That will likely force me to go again so I can satisfy the need to visually document everything. The burden of a modern explorer never ends.

This was on the trail of Enchanted Rock State Natural Area. The picture doesn't do the place justice. In fact, not sure if this was even the best picture for me to include here. I managed to slip on some rocks and cut up my leg and arm a bit. The good news is that I was in shorts as skin heals but jeans would have been torn. More good news is that the hole my leg and arm went in did not have any rattlesnakes as it was prime territory for that. And one final stroke of good news, S stopped me from rolling off the side of the cliff. Yep, really a positive experience all in all.

Pecan Street Brewing upstairs. The place was packed and we had to go to the loft space to drink. Leather couches and no crowds. We suffered through the burden.

Andalusia Whiskey. They make the best old fashioned using their smoked whiskey. At $7 it was a steal and little did we know but the prices were going up January 1st. At $9 it is still an excellent drink, but not quite the bargain it was. Thankfully we had more than one.

 Save The World Brewing in Marble Falls. Excellent beers and a cool place. They recently switched owners so they are expanding their brew selection as it appears to have focused solely on Belgium styles previously. 

 

Bear King Brewing also in Marble Falls. Excellent place to hang out. We enjoyed the sunny day and we were able to walk to the next brewery from here so it was quite convenient. More on that other place later as that was where I found evidence of my prey. 

Back to Andalusia for another old fashioned in the library. It was the most relaxing way to enjoy a cocktail - wearing shorts in late December, sitting next to books, on a leather chair. To be fair, I have been there many times with S&S and without them. I don't normally post multiple visit photos, but I really like the atmosphere here.

Photo of some vagrant on New Year's Eve. We went out to Old 290 Brewery after having dinner together. It was a beautiful night and band was excellent and played all sorts of music.

More of Old 290. Note the fire pit. One thing most Texans can agree upon is that they love Texas. I can see why as it is a lovely state and has such nice people. This would have been Amy and my 29th anniversary. Normally I am not in a festive mood on this date anymore, but I had a really nice time and actually enjoyed myself. I am sure Amy would have approved. 

Luckenbach, Texas. A couple of guys were playing and invited people up on stage to perform. It was awesome and despite my normal disdain of county music, I had a great time sipping on Shiner Bocks and enjoying the sun and fun. 

Pedernales River. I decided to go on a hike alone and enjoyed these views. I didn't see anyone on the trail so I do recommend midweek if you are looking for a peaceful hike.

Tusculum Brewing in Boerne. The place had only a few tables and no bar seating. They made up for the lack of pleasant ambience with excellent brews.

S and I did a 5.5 mile hike in Pedernales State Park. We took the route that went up so we had great views of the surrounding area. Glad I brought water on this hike unlike other times and I even wore my hiking boots to avoid another tumble. I can learn.

Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood. The brisket was superior to all other brisket I have had. Totally worth going to and I shall return.

We hung out for a while at Lone Man Mountain Brewing. This is co-located with a winery which is quite popular in the area. They had tons of patio space and it was a pleasant 82 degree day with a light breeze and low humidity. Hunting for Big Foot is hard work and sometimes one needs to take a break. I know it seems like we take a lot of breaks, but to be fair, I am only showing a fraction of them.

View from Driftwood Estates winery. I enjoyed a really nice Malbec and the beautiful views. Once again the picture doesn't do it justice but I included it anyway so you get a sense of the place. I could take pictures of the buildings I suppose or vineyard, but you get the drift. 

You may have noticed I have not mentioned Big Foot much. I have been keeping a keen eye out this entire time but I have not seen the elusive creature, but I am getting closer. While in Marble Falls, one of the breweries had a mural on their wall next to their patio.. Double Horn Brewing had the evidence to prove that I am on the right trail. 

Mural on the wall, look closely at the "N", you will see a familiar figure.

Zoomed in so it is easier to see. Note the image of Big Foot with the arm raised up in the peace sign. Now compare to image I have on my site - braxwood.com. I can think of no better proof than this.

As I have once again proven that my search for Big Foot should be at breweries and I have been on the right track all along despite any naysayers, I will redouble my efforts. Big Foot has been at these establishments so it is a matter of time when our paths cross. I will need to increase the frequency of my searching and thankfully I have another month in the Hill Country albeit a bit further south. There are many breweries in that area and I will do my best to hit them all. It is a tedious effort but I am willing to make the sacrifice for science. 

I have cleaned up the beard a bit in order to throw off anyone tracking me. I had gone untrimmed for a full year and I managed to get the beard to be over 8 inches. Not sure what I or you can do with that information but I have been asked for dumber stuff when I worked so I thought I would share.

Until next time, 

Thor

braxwood.com

Texas Hill Country and Christmas

I have been super busy hunting for Big Foot the last few weeks. It turns out the hill country west of Austin and north of San Antonio is prime Big Foot territory as it is home to many breweries, distilleries, wineries, and meaderies. That doesn't even factor in the shear number of smoked meat establishments and Big Foot could be anywhere. This will take a lot of investigation and I have been doing my best.

Instead of the normal format, this post I will include mostly pictures and sprinkle in commentary where appropriate. With all of this investigating, it is tough to remember where I have been. To compound this issue, I have been traveling with S&S so I am not always able to rely upon my credit card receipts as a tickler system.

First off, let's start with the natural beauty of the area. We took a hike to Pedernales State Park. For some reason they insert an extra "r" before the "d" but who am I to judge. The people of Burlington pronounce "Bohners Lake" as "Boners Lake" and Brett Favre has the "r" moved before the "v". Frankly it is less painful than pronouncing the city Blanco as "Blank-o". Don't get me started on Amarillo, but I digress.

Cool feature

River runs through the park but you can hike all over it (other than the other side)

If the water starts rising, you have to get the hell out of there as flash floods occur and are quite deadly,

We also did a cave tour. The name of the cave was "Cave Without A Name". Yep, that is the name. Turns out it was a beautiful cave with tons of features and is still an active cave (wet and growing). I was really impressed as I enjoy a good cave/cavern and this was feature filled.

I took lots of pictures but you can't really appreciate a cave from pictures so here is a sample

S&S along with an unidentified man

Finally we also toured the Alamo at night. If you have not been to the Alamo, it is a small fort (frankly no different in size from most castle/forts I saw in Ireland and Scotland) but San Antonio has developed the area around it to be an entertainment district along with the river walk. We were able to purchase beer and walk around and drink our beer as we strolled along the river. Truly a beautiful area and really good beer from a brewery that we later visited (Alstadt).

Tree that is hundreds of years old but lit up and actually lovely

Now onto the Big Foot hunting. Surprisingly Big Foot was not at any of these places when we were there but signs point to possible visitations. Let's look at the venues I have toured so far (to be fair some may be missing - like for sure some are missing. I get caught up in hunting and I forget to take pictures. The bourbon also seems to not be helping my photo taking. I could do a better job but it turns out I likely won't). I will be forced to go back to some of these destinations to ensure you can enjoy the space vicariously. Oh and to look for Big Foot.

Pecan Street Brewery

Fiesta Winery

Free Roam Brewing

Texas Mead Works

Alstadt Brewery

Outdoor art at Garrison Brothers Distillery

Garrison Brothers Distillery

I know some have doubted my expertise as a Big Foot expert, but C was kind enough to get the diploma from Bigfoot University framed so I can prove that I have a Doctorate of Sasquatch. I will not require you to refer to me as Dr. Braxwood but I would not object.

Official Diploma, Feel free to zoom in if you do not believe

I had a wonderful Christmas this year and despite the frigid temperatures, none of my water lines in the RV froze. I was able to maintain a constant temperature in the trailer and only went through one 30lb propane tank in the 4 cold days (Thursday through Sunday). As we now move back to seasonal temperatures here in Johnson City (70 by Thursday) I reflect on how fortunate I have been this past year. I am truly blessed to be on this adventure hunting the creature and not having to suffer the indignities of another meeting to talk about something on a topic I couldn't care less. This sabbatical thing has worked wonders for me. I am recharged and ready to go and yet I also know that I will never work a corporate job again.  

Merry Christmas everyone and Happy New Year. I will not post again until 2023 so see you in the future. For those that do not know, Amy and I were married on New Year's Eve and this is our 29th anniversary. I am looking forward to whatever the new year brings and I hope it brings y'all peace and happiness.

Thor

braxwood.com

FAQ

Route

Louisiana and into Texas

Our adventure takes us into Louisiana and Texas. I wanted to avoid the popular touristy places in Louisiana as I suspected that Big Foot might not want to hang around crowds. I successfully avoided tourists and interesting places to visit. Perhaps too successfully. I was in the Lake Charles area and near a city named Sulphur. That should provided the vibe. It also rained for 5 of the 7 days I was in Louisiana including a nice storm that didn't cause any tornados where I was thankfully.

I was in a state park that had just reopened up this year after suffering extensive hurricane damage. The upside of that was that every site was paved and level with full hook ups. In addition, the bath house was clean and modern and there was even laundry facilities which is unheard of in a state park. I even ran into a guy that I had seen at the county park in Mississippi. He was from eastern Oregon and was traveling around the south to avoid the winter. 

The park had swamp areas and a river that ran through it so there were a lot of opportunities to go for a walk. During these walks the dogs had a lot of opportunity to sniff out for Big Foot but were unable to find the creature in the park. We also failed to spot an alligator despite plenty of signs warning us.

Ozzy pees in the face of danger.

Lucy was tired this day as it was 80 degrees outside. Being a vagabond is tough!

I decided to diversify my searches and went to a rum distillery in the area. Naturally I forgot to take any photos but to make up for that I did buy a lot of rum. Bayou Rum is made from local sugarcane for an authentic taste. They had several flavors of rum and I decided a sampling was in order. The satsuma rum was rather interesting and the person said it went well with lemonade. The coffee rum was also good and would go nicely in a cup of coffee and would also have made our morning meetings so much better. After spending time touring the facility and having a few samples, I realized that Big Foot was not there so I went and had a cajun meal. I couldn't quite understand the lady so I ended up ordering a pork chop which was huge. The seasoning was fantastic. The green beans were unfortunate. Much like the mushy green beans I have detested all my life these were a shade of green that only comes from excessive cooking, canning, cooking, and being exposed to too much water and air. The boudin balls were also interesting and reminded me a bit of haggis, without the oats. I suppose a truck stop was not the best place to sample the cuisine but I thought since it was very popular and the locals all loved it there must be something to it. 

My next stop was back to a brewery. There was one within 45 miles of the campground so that was the one I went to. The beer at Crying Eagle was very good along with the shrimp tacos. A Christmas party was ending as I got there so the place was full of children and a faux santa walking about. It was nice to see people enjoying themselves and it reminded me of the Runaway in Burlington where there would be family friendly events to keep the children entertained while the parents could actually have a decent beer. The only drawback of the place was that there was no seating at the bar. That meant that I was forced to sit alone off to the side but it did let me keep an eye out for Big Foot. Alas, no sightings this day.

I found the split second where there were no people waiting in line. 

After this the storms rolled in and I was forced to hunker down in my trailer. The paved sites came in handy as the grounds started filling up. I suppose the flood warnings for the river that ran through the park were accurate as it was quite wet. The lightning and thunder were prolific but what really was disconcerting were the winds. The trailer shook quite a bit but I was thankful to have a place with solid walls to protect me. 

You can see the tree damage from the hurricane and the water starting to fill up the ground. It was far worse in other places but the rain was coming down pretty hard so I went back inside.

The sky was a touch dark for 10 am but not much could be done. Unfortunately this was the direction I had to drive that day.

I was unable to locate Big Foot in Louisiana but I think that it would be worthwhile to revisit the state. Perhaps trying an area that had more to offer would make sense. One could argue that this was all my fault as I do very little planning or research when picking a place but that would be useless to argue as I don't care.

I made it safely to Texas and stayed at a Harvest Host. In case you forgot, these are businesses that allow you to park in their lot. While not required it is expected that you visit their business and buy something. In the end, a campground would be cheaper as one has a tendency to enjoy oneself when one doesn't need to drive. Brazos Valley Brewing was a great place with great beer. I tried several of their offerings from a hazy IPA, to a coffee ale and a stout.  The food truck outside had some good options and their brussels sprouts were excellent. I was able to sit at the bar which I love but there was another Harvest Host guest that came in and so I talked to a lovely couple from Minnesota for a few hours. It is always nice to meet people on the road and they were no exception. After a fun night just hanging out, I bought several cans to go and the dogs and I settled in for a noisy night's sleep. 

Plenty of brews on tap

#DrinkTexas doesn't have the same feel as #Drink Wisconsinbly but I appreciate the sentiment

Some road wary traveler I found in the bar.

I have now settled into my location for the next month in the hill country west of Austin. There are plenty of strange creatures around here so I will be extra diligent in my search for Big Foot. I am also meeting up with S&S who we last saw in the Dakotas. I have joined a few more online groups with the intention of meeting more people on the road. The nomadic life on the road can get a bit lonely and while Ozzy and Lucy are fantastic company they lack a certain humanness that one does need. I will continue to hit breweries, restaurants, distilleries, but I may need to widen my search criteria in my hunt for Big Foot.

As always, 

Thor

braxwood.com