Two Leos' Wanderings: February 2014

With the arrival of the new year, it seems like a good time to update the Wanderings. We are now in out winter camp on the Guadalupe River in New Braunfels, Texas. We pulled in just after Thanksgiving. December and January have been kind of strange as Texas, along with the rest of the country, has experienced unseasonably cold weather. I normally expect a few weeks of winter weather in late January and February. But this season, we have been getting freezing weather about every three or four days since mid-December. Then it warms into the 70s for a day or two, before dropping again. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. We're still enjoying a lot of outdoor time.

During December, we spend several days holed up inside and in Austin at Kim's home. We were gone from base camp enough some of our neighbors though we had moved out. For the first ten days of the month we seldom ventured out of our trailer as I let the flu run its course and stayed in from freezing weather. Then, as Christmas approached, we headed to Austin for the holiday season.

Our favorite spot at Casa las Aguas

We spent January back and forth between Austin and the Guad. On cold days, I've been catching up on movies that are out in theaters. When we are traveling we seldom are close to cities that have large theaters, so winter is movie time.

It is also a good time to catch some live performances. In mid-January I enjoyed seeing Daily and Vincent perform at the One World Theater in Austin.

Daily and Vincent

D&V is one of my favorite bluegrass bands. I listen to them almost every day on SiriusXP radio.
This was the first time I have seen them in person. They put on a show that had the audience foot stompin' and woopin' for two hours. I hope to catch them again in the future.

Later in the month, I got another treat. At the Bruntex Theater on New Braunfels I attended a performance by The Oak Ridge Boy. The Oaks are starting their 41st year together and are as high energy as ever.

The Oak Ridge Boys

They opening the show with Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight and closed with Elvira.
In between they did an hour and a half of nothing but Oak Ridge Boys hits. Once again it was a night of foot stompin' and whoopin' Texans enjoying a great show.

As the winter months roll on here in the hill country, I plan to catch several other performers. Between Austin, San Antonio and New Braunfels, there are many opportunities. Next week I'll be seeing Gordon Lightfoot at the Majestic Theater in San Antonio. I list that as one of those "can't miss that" situations.

Meanwhile, back down on the river, the fish are biting. Weather permitting, I will be "standing in the water waving a stick" several time a week till May. The Guadalupe River Chapter of Trout Unlimited has supplemented the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife trout stocking program with three stockings of larger trout this year, so the river is full of fish. On Monday of this week I joined one of my neighbors, Jim Haines, for a brisk wade.

Fortunately, there was little wind, so we didn't have to deal with below freezing wind chill. I had a good day fishing, hooking ten trout and landing seven of them. Jim, on the other hand, couldn't seem to buy a strike. At one point, it got so bad he said he was going to tell the other guys in the campground not to take me fishing, since I hog all the fish!

"Here Fishie Fishie!!!"

But just after noon, Jim's luck turned and he hooked into one that did a run about fifty yards upstream before he could turn it. After a lively fight he landed the fish and found he had the catch of the day in his net.