imagination running wild in the tame west

 

Our lodge was very dark and I quite enjoyed the slow signs of sunrise creeping into the lodge and casting light on the furnishings and cowboy interior. It was a quiet and peaceful time, today would be that kind of day.  Chrissi needed her sleep, I probably needed it too, but instead reflected on the trip so far via blogs and pictures, enjoying my Dallas photo montages.

By the time we were up we realised we had a decision to make, a big one in the circumstances, go for a run or hit the buffet breakfast before 10am and not have a run. We chose the healthy option and went for a run, knowing we had a few snacks in our lodge to go for a low maintenance day in semi luxury surrounds.

With various noises last night, shuffles in the undergrowth and a developing concern over snakes I chose asphalt for my run, taking the road to the west of the ranch, but still on the ranch; when it ran out, I briefly went off road, heard a kerfuffle in the undergrowth, turned on my heels and retraced my steps as quickly as I could in the intense heat.

That only got me so far, so then chose to go down the really steep hill towards the highway as a second out and back. The out was fine, a bit of the back was fine, especially running into the local longhorns (safely fenced in) but then had to go up that really steep hill. Turns out not many do as even at my snails pace I managed to squeeze onto the all time Strava leaderboard for that segment.

I waited for Chrissi to finish her run, she braver than I and did go a little off the beaten track; my waiting time was in the main lodge, where they have westerns on repeat and free coffee, so that was a few minutes well spent in this little cowboy haven.

Back to lodge for late and simple breaky using provisions bought from that dollar store yesterday - peanut butter sarnies was the way to go, no cutlery so smeared on with 2 fingers, don't say we are always looking for top of the range dining options!  It tasted great on the porch though.  Environment can really add to the appreciation of taste sensation, rocking on the porch in our chairs.

We then went on the worlds shortest hike, a track known as the white route which I think was just walking back and forth in a bush curly wurly style. A cactus about the height of the danger on that one, although it did seem to go on a bit, and the joy of having a watch on meant we realised it was well over the 2K it was promoted as, and for a brief moment, even with signs, we were lost (in my head at least)  And the buzzards were circling.

Clearly very tired, more time on the porch, more rocking back and forth, a phone call to the folks back home to give them a view of the valley below - offers them a change to penllegaer woods - which is pretty if you ever have chance to visit

Made use of the on site infinity pool again but as it felt cold  it was just the hot tub we made use of. I  started to read a new book and sit on a sun lounger, for a couple of hours this was the holiday within the holiday!

Timely sunset drinks on the porch, a bottle of texan wine and various crisps and just watching the world go by kind of time, appreciate this isn't making very interesting reading, hopefully some of the views make up for the lack of substantive text.

We made the second visit to the ranch steakhouse.  I realised that whilst I like steak as a one off I had no inclination to have another one and think I prefer pork anyway, so had a lovely pork steak, with sweet potatos and bourborn carrots. Tasty, and even more Texan wine!

Yes, the centre piece of the evening was wine and then music in the darkness of the lodge. No wild animals to my knowledge tonight, we can hopefully keep them at bay for another day.