On The Hunt for Bluebonnets

Spring in Texas is noted for the beautiful displays of the wildflower, bluebonnets.  A member of the same family as are lupines,  they are as prevalent in the spring Texan landscape as dandelions in a highly manicured lawn in June. 

So early one morning sitting in the local Denny's eating breakfast, we looked out over the beautiful Interstate 10 scene, and noticed a mass of these blue flowers in the median between traffic lanes.  We had heard the best place to view these flowers was in a wilderness area near Fredericksburg.  So we finished our breakfast and headed north to find the rumored blue bonnet heaven.

As we did not know exactly where we were headed exactly, we stopped in downtown Fredericksburg hoping to ask one of the locals for directions.  Well, unknown to us, the town does not open until 11 AM.  So pickings were small.  But we did find these rather stiff fellows hanging around a local hotspot:

After a rather long and twisted conversation, we were finally told that our destination was the Willow City Loop about 20 minutes northeast of town.  So we thanked these "local color" and turned the truck towards the promise land.

The Willow City Loop  is billed as THE iconic Texas hill country experience.  This scenic area is a 13 mile private ranch road traversing Coal Creek through canyons and low lying areas used as open range for cattle.   Signs posted on the road remind the visitor that this is private property and it is illegal to stop along the roadway. This photo (not mine) shows the area in which we travelled:

The road through the ranch is a rustic, narrow, two-way mostly paved road.  The open range is controlled by cattle guards which look like this:

Fencing would be tied off at both the right and left and the roadway is over the grate.  Texas cattle are afraid to cross the open grate because it resembles a large barbeque grill.  Therefore they stay put and do not escape.  As an aside, these guards are not found in dairy country as cows there view the grate as a fancy foot massage.

We were hoping for scenes like these taken on the loop in 2012  (not my photos):

 

 

Our flower hunting trip was disappointing.  We were led astray.  I am sure those fellows in Fredericksburg were having a good laugh at our expense.   We saw more bluebonnets along the interstate at Denny's in Boerne.  The winter has been much to dry for these showy displays.an in this tourist destination.  The road was interesting and the non-flowered views were worth the drive. 

 

On the way back home we stopped at a large seed company and found these in their parking lot:

 

 

At least we found some!  We were made April fools.