Happy Trails

Without a doubt, our stay at the El Capitan was the highlight of our recent hotel adventures along Hwy. 10.  We love the historic properties, and this one opened in 1930, sitting at the gateway to Carlsbad Caverns, the Guadalupe Mountains and Big Bend National Park.

    If you're ever anywhere near Van Horn, Texas

 plan to stop in and take a peek 

or better yet, stay over

  

The accommodations were pleasant and comfortable
(room photos from their website)

The staff was friendly and helpful

  and the lobby was a treat

Through the wooden archway was another sitting area

that led to the dining room, where we had dinner.

 The food was excellent and inexpensive, and the server was sweet.

(sorry I didn't take pictures ~ I had slowed cooked pot roast)

Our table looked out onto the courtyard

Here's the courtyard the next morning

~  and my favorite photo ~

 All in all ~ it was a lovely night's lodging.

If you're interested, link to their website
for more hotel info and photos

Counting My Blessings

xo Susy

I'm goin' down the road to Vintage Inspiration Friday

and Pink Saturday

and playing with PicMonkey (:

Texas Notes

Well y'all ~ it's time for my first Note Card Party, and I have my party dress on and I'm ready to two-step.

The rules are: select four previously published pix you think would make great note cards, and link up.  I can do that!

On a recent road trip to a reunion, we enjoyed genuine Texas hospitality and BBQ on a ranch near Johnson City.  While the guys were swapping war stories, I wandered off and took pictures.

  Here are four I think are worthy of another spin around the dance floor ~

 

Having owned a gift store in the past, and purchased many a note card, I wonder how card sales are these days ~ what with the popularity of email and social media.  I have hand-written thank you cards on my desk right now, waiting to be addressed.  Sometimes an email TY is just not enough.

 
Back to Texas; our appetite was not confined to the ranch.  We stayed two nights in town, and ate dinner both times at the Silver K Cafe which boasted "rustic elegance" and "hill country cuisine".  We weren't disappointed on either count.  Their "supper" menu included honey pecan fried chicken, and smoked blackberry pork chops.  My husband is still talking about the homemade cinnamon ice cream.

[We tried not to eat our way through the trip, but there were some things too good to pass up.]


If you'd like to see some other Note Card Party presentations, hop on over to Vee's.

  Party dress not required.

Counting My Blessings,

xo Susy

Trip Report

We hit the road on a rainy California morning, heading to Texas for a reunion of Mr. D's Army unit.  Over one hundred of them had trained together at Fort Irwin, California, and shipped out from Long Beach in 1968 to Vietnam.  

 

By the time we passed Palm Springs, we had blue skies and smooth sailin'

 

Not long after they arrived in Vietnam, my husband was re-assigned to work as an artillery adviser to the Vietnamese.   He really didn't remember the others at the reunion, but some of them knew his name from  being on the other end of the radio when he called in the firing coordinates for the heavy artillery.

  Apparently those things are not easily forgotten.

  I took one look at the pictures they had in albums and started to cry.

 We were newlyweds at the time he was deployed,

 and it's still hard to think about all they went through.

The reunion was hosted by a retired Officer, at his country road ranch.

He and his beautiful and talented wife were very gracious

 and treated us all to a day of down-home food and music.  

She's an artist, and her wood-burning art can be seen here 

  (these photos are from her website)

The color is added with pencils or pastels

I was taken with the property and all the rustic elements

and wandered off and went a-shootin, while hubby reminisced

Counting My Blessings,

xo Susy

I'm joining my blogger buddies at
  Spiritual Sundays

Vintage Inspiration Friday