One of the very first things we saw was this critter – a Roadrunner. He showed up the very first day we were at camp and made appearances every so often using a path between two campsites. Dan snapped this cool shot of him with a bug in his beak.
I spied this damselfly the very first morning on the “trail” down to the river. I had decided to explore the area behind our campsite and shoot things. This became a routine of mine every morning while at Garner. I would grab my camera after breakfast and go exploring.
I wouldn’t have known this little critter existed if it hadn’t moved. I am not sure what this is. It is either a moth or it is a part of the family of skippers (a group of butterflies). I do know that he/she is one tired (worn out) little thing.
Flame Acanthus
I think most people do not realize that wildflowers that grow throughout the year – it’s not just springtime when the popular bluebonnets, paintbrushes, and others bloom here in Texas. In case you don’t know it, I love wildflowers of all kinds.
I accidentally flushed the Eastern Cottontail out from hiding. He was behind the Prickly Pear. He scared me half to death. But, once I realized he was a harmless thing, I quickly tried to get pictures of the critter.
Tropical Sage
Common Wild Petunia
Meadow Pink
These are some of the wildflowers I spied on the very first morning while exploring. Pretty cool, huh?
And then, we’d settle down back at camp and watched the birds. We had set up a platform feeder along with a bell feeder to attract them. I had also spread bird feed on the ground to attract the ground feeders. The first bird to show up was the Cardinal. Dan snapped the one on the ground.
We went riding somewhere (I forget where) when we spied this Roadrunner with a lizard in his beak. I got out of the truck to try to snap a picture. It’s not a very good picture; but, it captured what we saw. It was a pretty darn big lizard.
Sticker Burrs-- the bane of our existence. These things kept catching on the shoelaces of my sneakers. I decided to forgo the sneakers in favor of sandals. I rarely had a problem with sticker burrs after I tossed my sneaks. I was more comfortable in sandals anyway.
I spied this Funnel Spider’s web at the base of a tree near our tent. I shifted to point the camera inside to see if anyone was home…
Holy Hannah! A Funnel Spider is home. I have to admit that it scared me when I first saw it through the lens - it looked so close! By the way, I am loving my macro lens. I still have a lot to learn about depth of field, lighting and more…
A Hackleberry Emperor landed on a tree nearby and I immediately got up to snap a picture of it. Surprisingly, it was very cooperative. I stalked it until I managed to get the second picture which pleased me to no end.
A view of the Frio river near our campsite. We always ate lunch and then we would go down to the river to cool off as it was blazing hot during the late mornings and afternoons.
Camping at Garner: Day 3 & 4
We went to Garner State Park for the day. We went on a Sunday in hopes to avoid the crowds. Many people do leave on Sunday afternoon because the checkout time is 2pm for campers.
It was a gorgeous day – not too hot; but, still a little too cool to go swimming. At least, it was too cool for us. There were still people swimming and tubing the river though. I think if it hadn’t been for the cool breeze, I might have braved the river water to go swimming. Next time for sure.
We arrived early in the day and searched for a good picnic spot along the river. We didn’t want to be in old Garner as it’s usually crowded. So, we went looking in the New Garner area.
This is the place we picnicked – isn’t it pretty? We parked ourselves here and watched the people (and a dog) for a couple of hours and had our lunches. It was so peaceful and quiet. After we finished with our picnic, we decided to head to Old Garner to explore.
The Dam. Usually, it’s a trickle. But, with all the rains the hill country recently, it is flowing. According to Garner’s facebook page, it hasn’t been like this for several years. I’m not surprised because of the droughts we’ve had in the area.
{photo by Lee Ann}
I noticed this tree further up along the river (from the Dam). It was fascinating because one can see the long root exposed. By the way, I’m disappointed with the “progress” going on. The land across from Garner was bought out several years ago and turned into an RV/campground site. They totally leveled the land and practically destroyed the bank of the river. I wish Garner had bought the land – I think the park may have treated the land (and river) with a little more respect. At least, my heart wants to believe that. I wonder if I'm the only one who feels this way...
Yes, there are Geese in Garner. Usually, they are on the other side of the bank way above the dam. (We had walked quite a ways). Humans on both sides of the river are crowding them out though. It used to be they were practically free on the other side; but, with the recent influx of the visitors due to new campers on the other side of the river, I think they have to find new spots to roost and/or live. Sad.
The Pavilion. In the beginning there was Garner State Park and then there was the dance. This has been around since the early 1940s and is practically famous just for the nightly dances. I never was really interested. But, tons of youth and adults alike went just to dance and to meet new people. It’s ritual thing that’s been going on for eons.
The Pavilion has recently been shored up because it was being cut out from underneath by the river especially during floods. They had to try to save it – it’s practically an icon of Garner.
I believe that the Friends of Garner ultimately ended up saving The Pavilion because the park did not have enough funds. Whoever was responsible for the repairs managed to succeed. The Pavilion is awesome now. The steps leading to below have been somewhat restored and are open once again. It’s absolutely gorgeous in spite of the alterations they had to do to the river itself in order to repair the Pavilion. Hopefully, this historic icon will survive in the years to come.
Scenic Overlook. It used to be you could see the river snake down below. But, the trees have grown up astronomically. So, you can barely see the river itself…
Washed out bridge area. The first one is above is upstream view. The last one is downstream (toward the dam). 
I wish I could snap pictures of fast moving critters like these. I love this picture. We went to the old Ranger station located in Old Garner. That is where the feeders are located, along with some barn swallows nesting underneath the roof of the porch.
After this, we decided to focus on the wildflowers blooming in Garner. The following are near where the old Ranger station is located.
And, then we went back to New Garner, which is where the following are located…
That is me way back in the field, hunting butterflies to shoot…
I’m surprised at how well a few came out because these buggers were really moving their wings fast! By the way, I believe that these are known as Pipevine Swallowtails.
{My pictures were taken with a Kodak EasyShare DX4530. Dan’s pictures were taken with a Cannon Rebel EOS with a 70-200 2.8L lens. All pictures within this blog have been resized which sometimes doesn’t do the pictures justice.}
I had a good time at the Poteet Strawberry Festival. This festival has been around for years – since 1948. Dan loves going to these types of events for the photographic opportunities. I love going for the “entertainment”, people watching, and the vendors/booths – in other words, the stuff for sale! As a result, I didn’t take very many pictures.
One of the first things I saw upon entering the gates was this silly thing:
“Rowdy Rooster’s Roadster”
Do you see it? Do you see the critter inside the car? Here’s a close up shot:
This… This thing, or critter, if you will, Is LOUD. The car would stop and he’d put on the loudspeaker and just yak away at people. It made me smile and I just had to snap a picture.
We first explored the booths and vendors that had tons of stuff you don’t need in life on sale. And then, I got hungry. So, we went to see what they had for eats. You pay for food (and rides) with coupons. A coupon is fifty cents.
We went with these guys for two reasons. One, it was sponsored by the Boy Scouts. I have nephews that are Eagle Scouts and I’m mighty proud of them. The second reason is because they were cheap, or rather, the cheapest. A hot dog was four coupons, which equals two dollars. We each got a hot dog and split a bottle of coke, which was also four coupons (or two dollars).
We took our food to the fiddler contest stage and waited for it to start. It was scheduled to start at Noon; but, they were delayed. That was alright. I enjoyed people watching. There was this guy who was an “official” photographer that just made me laugh inside. He was wearing a fisherman’s hat and vest. He just didn’t strike me as a professional; but, whatever. The contest eventually got started...
The contest started out with the youngest kids and worked the way up to the older kids. Let me tell you, some of those kids are pretty darn good!
We took off in the middle of the contest (during a break between age brackets) and decided to go somewhere else. We went to the strawberry eating contest.
Actually, I wandered nearby exploring while Dan watched and took pictures. It was just too many people and crowded. But, Dan got a good spot on one of the top bleachers. He was standing (because everyone else was standing). I didn’t feel safe doing that. I visualize myself stepping right off backwards breaking my crown or something, which is why I went exploring nearby. Whenever I do this, I always keep close where Dan could keep an eye on me and vice versa.
I’m so glad Dan took pictures because isn’t this priceless? Take a look at the kid second from the left. And,…
Oh my goodness! Precious!
Dan got frustrated with some people up front who were also taking pictures. They were standing blocking the view of the participants. So, he decided to leave before he got too frustrated.
We ended up going to "The Raptor Project" area as we both love birds. I love all kinds of birds; but, Dan seems to be fascinated with the raptors – the hawks, falcons, and eagles. It was rather an unusual and awesome set up. These birds were set on pedestals underneath an awning off an 18-wheeler trailer. The people were only about 4 feet away from the birds and separated by a booth full of displays and items for sale. I don’t think I’ve ever been that close to a bird of prey without any cage wire. They were tied to their pedestals; so, they couldn’t get away nor attack observers.
Dan took quite a few pictures and I had a hard time deciding which ones to use here. I decided to just go with my favorites…
Gold Eagle
American Kestrel (female)
Great Horned Owl
Aplomado Falcon
Prairie (or Peregrine) Falcon
Everyone should know this one -- Bald Eagle
And, this is… Wait a minute! This is no Raptor! Dan is taking pictures of girls again? – A wannabe flower child biker chick? And, an old one at that? Hmmppfffhhh!
I was standing in the stands located in front of the Raptor area looking over at the Carnival – at all the rides and the people when Dan snapped this picture of me glancing over at him. Here are a couple of pictures I snapped:
We then left Raptor Project area and went to the pig races.
(picture snapped by me)
We arrived early to get a good spot for Dan to take pictures. It was HOT by this time around. Dan actually got a little sunburned from waiting for the event to start. But of course, it turned brown within a day or two. Fortunately, I remembered to put on some very strong suntan lotion on my face that morning. So, I didn’t get burned. Well, I mostly didn’t get burned. My nose turned slightly pink.
Let me tell you, the pig races were so darn cute! They started out with small pigs and gradually got bigger. The last race, they kept saying they were bringing out the “Big Boys”. And, out comes the cutest baby pigs. I thought it was hilarious. And those babies – too cute!
After the pig races, we wandered around for a bit and I spied some belly dancers. I have always admired their ability to do what they can do. Let me tell you, I tried learning how and it isn’t easy! We stopped to watch some of their dancing for a bit.
There was one lady that looked liked she could be someone’s Grandma. I wanted to shout and cheer out “Go Grandma! Go!” But, I restrained myself. She had a lot of self confidence and she definitely could dance.
There were several ladies covered up. I whispered to Dan that if I could dress modestly like they did, I might, just might learn how to belly dance and do it in public. Ha! Like, I would ever do that. Unlike that Grandma I mentioned, I don’t think I have that kind of self confidence in myself.
There were times when the belly dancers danced in the audiences and even pulled audience members in to dance with them. I love this picture! Take a look at that little girl’s face. Priceless! She’s looking at the belly dancer thinking “What the heck are you doing?” or something like that.
We then decided we had our fill and seen all that we wanted to see at the festival. So, we purchased a small basket of strawberries and headed home. We were at the Festival for approximately five hours.
Poteet’s Water Tower is a Strawberry!
