In mid-March, Amelia and I flew to San Antonio rented a car and set out to see relatives and friends in Texas and Louisiana. First stop was Fredericksburg to see Amelia's cousin, J Hailey and husband Noel. Here we are at the brew pub enjoying brews and dinner. All the while in sight of the brewing beer. We took a trip out along Willow Road, past the Old Willow Ranch to look for wildflowers.

Here's a little of what we saw

After more visiting we headed out to Hempstead to see Faye and her family, and meet Don and Becky. On Sunday we had a dinner with some of Faye's family. I got some pictures:

The next day we went out to look at the countryside and see (would you believe it!) Blue bonnets and other things.

The next day we set off for Louisiana and some different adventures. Caravaning with Don and Becky to Lake Charles, we then dropped off their car, and went on together to Breaux Bridge. The next day we headed down south to the Bayou Teche. At St. Martinville is the Evangeline Oak, made famous by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Speaking of the Bayou Teche, here it is. Here's Amelia and Becky having a brief respite. Couldn't miss the opportunity to show some flowers with the Bayou Teche in the background. Then a shot of Amelia, Becky, and Don with the Evangeline Oak. I found a place to take a little rocking chair rest on the porch.

Then it was on to New Iberia and a visit to Shadows on the Teche, an antibellum historic house (now a museum). After the tour, I took some shots of Spanish moss on the trees.

This is what passes for a lawyer's office in New Iberia. Down the street a ways is a home where James Lee Burke's grandfather lived. Just for you Dave Robicheaux fans.

The next day saw us at Avery Island visiting the Tobasco plant. On that day they were bottling Tobasco for shipment to Belgium. Becky got this shot of me, Don, and Amelia relaxing on the porch of the gift shop. On the grounds is this beautiful old Live Oak. Then it was off to Baton Rouge (but not very directly). We stopped in Franklin for lunch. Then on down to Morgan City and out through the bayous and eventually to Baton Rouge. We made one stop where Becky stomped an alligator.

Unfortunately the Baton Rouge part of the trip was poorly documented photographically by me. Fortunately Becky did a much better job of that and has "loaned" me some of hers, included below. But, we had a wonderful time with Ken and Lynn, Carl and Cassandra, Dravin, Carl's exchange student sister from Germany and her family. And others. Here's Ken and Don living it up. After dinner, Dravin, Cassandra, and Blake are relaxing. Looks like Dravin has one of the last space shuttles. Here's Barbie and Todd. Lynn and Barbie are looking mighty pleased. One day Kim came from LaPlace and met us for lunch. Kim's daughter-in-law, Emily with Isiah, and Emily's mother came by the hotel briefly. The next day Steve came and met us for breakfast before we headed back to Texas.

After dropping off Don and Becky at their car in Lake Charles, we headed on to Winnie, where we stayed with Amelia's classmate, Judy, and Buddy. Another of her classmates, Pat was also visiting and a great time was had by all. Here's Buddy and new Chocolate Lab. The birds surely did enjoy the bird bath. Here's the classmates, Amelia, Judy, and Pat. Not to be outdone, here's me, Buddy, and Kirk. After a short visit, it was time to head on to San Antonio. There we stayed with another of Amelia's classmates, Esther, and Jack. Here they are with Amelia at the Japanese Gardens in San Antonio. The flowers were nice, some just pretty, some pretty spectacular. The waterfall made a nice picture, too. After lunch it was time for a river cruise through downtown San Antonio. Here are some of the sights (and sites).