Dallas Blooms 2023

 Dallas Blooms is one of my favorite times of year.  The colors and plantings are just beautiful and heartily looked forward to viewing.  The problem this year is that it has been so very wet and cold.  Even today, the sun is in hiding, but we'll still have a nice walk.

Tulips and daffodils and hyacinth, oh my.

LDU Coffee

 New coffee shops are always fun.  Today we are going to LDU Coffee and take some time to learn the story behind it.  In their own words:  Mark and Adam Lowes are "two hairy Australian men who happen to be brothers, and also happen to enjoy making and drinking coffee together.  With only the best American machinery, a little European flair and a healthy Australian disrespect for trend and tradition, they created an original recipe and style.  Their coffee was different to anything else they had tasted before and they got so excited about it they opened a little store in downtown Perth that became an almost instant phenomenon.  They play the music they loved, served the coffee they loved and spent every minute working on making their customers feel special during their time in the store.

After successfully testing their recipe on countless Australians for nearly a decade, the brother began to wonder if there was a bigger challenge awaiting them.   Through a remarkable series of events, Mark and Adam found themselves in Texas reveling in local music, eating tacos and brisket, and drinking the most incredible beer they had ever tasted.  The only thing they couldn't find was strong coffee.  So, the new challenge was upon them.  They believed their unique coffee style and service could contribute something to the might of Texas food and drink culture."

They have 3 store in the metroplex and we are fortunate to live by one of them.  The boys both live in Dallas and today we are lucky enough to get some visit time with Mark.  As a result we now know just where to go for the "coffee scene" when we make our journey to Australia and New Zealand in a couple of years.  Woot, woot.  Oh, they won't tell anyone what LDU stands for, but I'm going with Land Down Under as my guess.

Member Morning at the Dallas Zoo

 It's been a bit since we were able to attend a Member Morning at the zoo.  I'm thrilled to be out walking a bit and enjoying the springy weather.  Postings on Facebook have shared that there is a new Colobus Monkey in the habitat and we are fortunate to see it scampering about.  It's the little white bit to the left of the adults.

Texas Vacation 2022 - Day Seven - Winters TX to Home

 Winter's TX.  The name appears apt today.  It is DANG cold out.  We missed out on the deep freeze that hit North Texas while we were enjoying the wonders of Big Bend National Park.  Now, we are just cold.

Texas Vacation - Day Six - Alpine, TX to Winters, TX

 The car is pointed north once again and as we come over the hill towards Alpine, Mister stops and we just enjoy the view.  The Alpine/Marfa/Fort Davis area is very doable.  I like it.

Texas Vacation - Day Five - Big Bend National Park - Part 5 - Tree Zone/Chisos Area

 As we entered the park several days ago, the visitor center had information about black bears in the park and today I commented to Mister that I just didn't see how it could be.  The terrain just hasn't been what bears like in my mind.  Well, all of that just changed as we entered The Tree Zone.  In the Chisos Basin the world of trees begins and we enter a woodland of junipers, oaks, and Mexican pinons.  Higher up, there are forests of tall Amazon pines and Douglas fir.  See -- this is why we need to come back and spend time here and on the east side next year.  It's just so beautiful to end our day.

Texas Vacation - Day Five - Big Bend National Park - Part 4 - Lower Burro Mesa Pouroff Hike/Sotol Vista

 Short hike number 4 for today.  We are at Lower Burro Mesa Pouroff.  It is 1 mile roundtrip with 120 feet in elevation gain, the most overall gain of the day.  This is supposedly an easy walk that leads through a gravel creek bed (yay - those are such fun) to a narrow box canyon where water has carved a deep channel into Burro Mesa.  This 100' pouroff attests to the power of water that floods this canyon during summer rains.  Burro Mesa also shows Big Bend's volcanic past with its yellow and orange bands across the bluffs.  They are ash-flow tuffs (there is that word again), which show the layered beds created as they were deposited.