A little 'venture

Even though we've only been back from the DR for a couple of weeks, by this weekend, Andy & I were already ready for another adventure. This mostly has to do with the fact that I was cooped up in the apartment for most of that time because I brought a mysterious illness back with me from the DR. Robin thinks I had Dengue Fever (courtesy of the Caribbean mosquitoes), but I didn't get officially tested. Whatever it was, it did me in for about ten days! It was pretty slow recovery, but I was back to full health by this weekend and ready to explore!

Last fall, we visited a friend's family ranch out in Utopia, and on the way there, we passed through quaint little Boerne. (Pronounced Burn-ee) Ever since then, I've wanted to go back and visit! When my mom and dad were here back in January, we suggested that they go on a little day trip there. They loved it. So this Saturday, Andy and I decided it was our turn to check it out. 

Andy googled "things to do in Boerne" and a link for "The Cave Without a Name" popped up. Andy & I have had a little fascination with caves since listening to Blind  Descent on tape during our return road trip from Yosemite a couple of summers ago. After a pretty leisurely morning at home, we finally packed up, and headed South to see what we could find in a nameless cave and the town nearby. 

Our guide told us that the cave was discovered in the 1920's when a goat fell down this hole in the ground. People went down to retrieve its body and found there was a lot more to this hole than you can detect from the surface. 

Stairs lead you down to the main rooms of the cave. 

The top part is the stalactite. Water carries minerals and as it drops the mineral deposits harden to form the stalactite. Of course, some of the water drops to the ground and deposits minerals there, so stalactites are coupled with stalagmites, which is the formation you see here at the bottom. Eventually, the two will meet and oddly-shaped formations result. 

They call this one "Modern Art." I think it looks like an alien. 

The guide called these formations along the wall "Texas-sized bacon." 

And these were "White Grapes" 

I was glad to get back to the sunlight. I could never be a caver. Too claustrophobic for that. But I didn't mind these giant geodes and fossils on the property. I took a couple of pics and then I was ready to head on to town. 

We hadn't had lunch, so once we got to Boerne, we stopped in at Soda Pop's for a snack. Andy liked this old car packed outside. The whole experience was a blast from the  past. 

Even though fries were only 18 cents, we opted for fried pickles as a snack before we headed off to some of the stores. 

The only drawback to visiting small towns in Texas, is that stores tend to close early. By about 5:30 everybody had closed up shop. So Andy & I took a walk along the river trail before dinner.

"Benchtree"

I stopped taking pictures after our walk, but our adventure continued into the evening. We stopped in at a "wine boutique" and sat on the patio for about an hour and a half. We met some local shop owners, who shared our love for Cocker Spaniels (theirs was with them on the patio) and we chatted away with them as the sun went down. They gave us a little insight into life in Boerne, and also recommended that we eat at Cypress Grill, which we did and it was absolutely delicious. We left Boerne around 9 PM, very full, pretty tired, and I might say, a little bit enchanted. :)