IN SEARCH OF BLUE BONNETS

Relaxing at the Woodlands Market Square

Over the weekend, Les and I went out of town for a few days. It was the first time in a very long time and can I tell you, I hope it won't be so long again.  We used to make a practice of going at least twice a year; now it has gotten to be maybe once every couple years.  We had a GREAT time.  Most of that is due, at least in part, to my husband's dedication to shopping...NO REALLY, he loves it. Old Town Spring, Michael's Arts and Crafts, Kirkland's Home, The Woodlands Market Square and yes, even Best Buy, all that was on Saturday.

Field of Blue Bonnets

On Sunday, we decided we had been to all the shopping places we couldn't find at home so we thought about going "In Search of the Blue Bonnets." What a perfect choice.  The day was beautiful and we had nothing pressing to do, so we started driving West on 290 (can you believe Les passed up the Prime Outlet Mall?)  After driving for quite a while we noticed about 10-15 cars lined up on the side of the highway. Afraid there had been an accident, we pulled into the left lane and slowed down.

People are Wild

  Lo-and-behold there were tons of people climbing fences, crawling through barbed wire and pulling kids after them.  They had found the Blue Bonnets.  I'm not from Texas, but I thought I had heard somewhere that it was against the law to deface the state flower...and that was some defacing. Babies were lying on blankets, moms were sitting on the ground, I even saw a dog go through.  We didn't feel that was the place for us to try to get our pics.  Les doesn't climb fences well and I don't climb them at all, so on we went. A few miles down the highway, another line of cars and wild people heading for the wild flowers. One group is naturally wild but I had to wonder about the others as well.  It was quickly becoming obvious we were not going to get close enough to get pictures of the beauty of nature, so we decided to ride a little further and go to Brenham, home of Blue Bell Ice Cream.  

Blue Bell

I think this is where the search became a little confused in our minds.  Was it Blue Bonnets or Blue Bell??  Maybe since we got closer to the ice cream factory than the flower patches, surely that was a sign.  But wait... the factory was closed.  Oh my, now what should we do?  Eat lunch at Casa Ole, of course, and continue on our journey.

Off the Beaten Path

We must have driven in a 30 mile crooked circle, seeing some beautiful ranches, woodlands and yes, we found our Blue Bonnets.  
They were smaller patches, but no people to trample them.  Les got some pretty pictures, although it was so bright the blue wasn't as true as I expected.  Also a lady told us at lunch we had probably come a weekend or two too soon.  But for us, our day had been a complete success, our search produced both Blue Bell and Blue Bonnets.

Texas Blue Bonnets

This was one the most relaxing days we've spent in a long time.  If you are all tied up in day-to-day crazies, I recommend taking time to Search For The Blue Bonnets and enjoy the journey on the way.