Showing posts with label Hiking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hiking. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Snapshots of Kyle, TX // Spring Break // March 2012

Day 2 of Texas road trip

The second day of our trip we traveled to a small town called Kyle, TX {about 30 minutes south of Austin}.

We had to go there:

1) How can you pass up a town with the same name as your husband?

2)The main attraction the Inn Above Onion Creek. Its a Select Registry approved Inn. And it was GORGEOUS! So worth it in everyway.

Kyle Water Tower


The Writer Katherine Anne Porter's House.
That's my mom's name so we had to visit!


We ate lunch at what sounded like a fun little place called the Motley Menagerie. It turned out being kind of sketchy. We were the only ones there, the food was straight from the package and the same James Blunt Song {Goodbye My Lover} played OVER and OVER and OVER again. The decor was a mix of frightening porcelain dolls, animal prints and modern paintings of women. It was pretty rough, we survived.. but I definitely would not recommend it. Possibly the reviews online had been tampered with? Or maybe we caught it on a bad day..? Who knows.

But then we got to the lovely Inn!

It had "hiking trails" around the property that were lovely. Having hiked in New Mexico quite a bit on that trip these felt more like walking trails to me, but were nice all the same. The grounds are BEAUTIFUL!

Lovely wildflowers made their home all over the trails.

Having fun!

Fantastic Tree!


Somebody Lost a Shoe! Poor little guy!

Bootsie the Cat.

Simon the Cat. It was about to storm.. he wasn't pleased.


Then we headed out to the Texas Pie Company! We bought pies but they went bad before we could eat them since we were in the car so much! :( But we are sure they were delicious! You can buy many sizes and various non-pie treats as well!

Cute Sign!

Fun wall art!

Kyle in Kyle! :)

This Inn served both dinner and breakfast included in your rate! It was so delicious very gourmet!

Roasted chicken, Garlic Herb Spaetzelle {german noodle}, a roll and Brussel Sprouts in Butter with Pecans. YUM!

For dessert we had almond cake that was sugared on top. It was so good that we ate most of it before we remembered to take a picture!

Very cute decor in the dining room!


The gardens!

The breakfast was also wonderful! We had strawberry topped waffles and scambled eggs! We also forgot to take a picture of this! .. probably because it was also delicious!

I hope that we are able to visit the Inn again sometime in the future. It was so relaxing and beautiful!

They also have a spa and a pool. It was too cold to swim but I was able to book a treatment at the spa at the last minute. I got a salt scrub and a mud wrap. It was really nice!

Have you ever been to Texas Hill Country?

All for now,

Alexandra

Monday, January 31, 2011

Alternative Spring Break New Mexico 2010 {& 2011?}

Last spring break Kyle and I participated in an Alternative Spring Break with the ECM. We went to Abiquiu, New Mexico and stayed on Ghost Ranch. It was absolutely beautiful and filled with history {Georgia O' Keefe did her paintings there!} In our free time we hiked trails into canyons and small caves and we climbed mesas. It was so unbelievably beautiful. When we weren't hiking or climbing things we were cleaning up the ranch {raking leaves, shoveling snow, painting cabins for the summer, cleaning the dining hall}, visiting a mosque {pulling boulders out of the ground to help build a retaining wall and eating lunch in the mosque while learning more about Islam}, Clearing Asequias {traditional agricultural ditches in the village}, and exploring the local culture, art and food {really really yummy food!} 
This year we are pretty sure we want to go back. It was an amazing travel experience and it was such a bargain! $300 for everything but meals along the way and souvenirs! 

Here are some pictures!


Beautiful Ghost Ranch

Chimney Rock

At the flat part of the mesa right across from Chimney Rock!


Everyone!

Around the Ranch
A Beautiful Mesa! 

Hiking to Box Canyon

Frozen water in Box Canyon

 It was huge! :)

Blizzard on the way back! So beautiful!

Covered in Snow!

Beautiful!

Boulder removal to build a retaining wall at the mosque

The Morada.

A Beautiful and Lucky Shot.

The most delicious lunch! 

Prickly Pear Frozen Lemonade. Delicious. 


Ready to go back! {Here's To Hoping!}

Alex