2010 Annual Road Trip With Dad: Day One

Every year my Dad takes off work and we both hit the road with our cameras and our favorite music in tow. (If I don't bring music there's a chance I'll have to listen to talk radio for two days straight...And that my Friends, would be our last road trip...lol..)


Day One
This year Dad and I decided to head towards Blue Bell Country where the wildflowers (especially the Indian Paintbrushes and Bluebonnets were the most prominent).

Two or three hours into the trip we ended up stopping at a little restaurant called Bever's Kitchen that we just happened to see as we drove by. We ended up sitting next to a sweet couple and ended up chatting with the Womack's for the next hour and they generously provided us with a map telling us the best route to go for wildflowers. Here is a picture Pat Womack took of Dad and I.

(Picture by Pat Womack)


What you can't see is that we are sitting smack in front of a GIANT case of pies.

Pies behind the glass.
Pies in front of the glass.
Pies on top of the glass.
Pies beside the glass.

It was a lactose intolerant person's worst nightmare. So naturally I decided to not only order pie, but to get it before my meal. ;-)

After our yummy meal at Bever's Kitchen we headed out and about another two hours into the trip we realized there was NO WAY we were going to get all the way to where we wanted and still have time to shoot and get home at a decent hour.

So what did we do?

We pulled over on the side of the Highway and took pictures there.

Yes we sure did.

I was as happy as a lark. In fact, it was my idea. Dad kept expecting us to get in trouble with the law but I just grinned at him, assuring him, "Hey, I'm cute, we'll be fine!" It's amazing what we women can get away with, just because we're girls. Guys I know it's not fair, but can you really blame us for trying?

Dad just shook his head at my declaration and smiled (probably praying that we wouldn't get a female cop). So while I crawled around in the grass alongside of the interstate shooting wildflowers, thoroughly enjoying myself, he stayed in the truck and kept a wary eye on the rear view mirror.

And the crazy thing is, he actually enjoyed it. He loves that I love to take pictures and because of that, he loves just watching me take pictures (just like my Mom does), even if he's not shooting alongside me. Can you get anymore selfless!

Dad, you are AMAZING!

Love you!

-

P.S. Since I tend to get a little "Photoshop happy" I banned myself from being able to edit any of the Road Trip images in Photoshop (minus combining a few of the images into one large image). Any color or tone adjustments were done right inside of Adobe Bridge.

This was almost an "Albino Bluebonnet". Making up names here because I don't know what to call it. Neither Dad nor I had ever seen one before. It was almost white, with just touches of blue. Who knew?....


If anyone knows what flower this is (or any of the others- minus the paintbrushes and bluebonnets) let me know! This particular one was one of my favorites for some reason as evidenced by the many shots of it. Couldn't resist including them all... =)












This was the most perfect Indian Paintbrush I've ever seen. Couldn't resist taking a shot of it with my new rainboots. ;-)


Here is a closer shot of it.










These remind me of being a little kid. We called them "Buttercups" growing up. =)


This "little" guy was perched on a piece of grass behind me. Was fascinated by him and took at least a dozen pictures of him all the while hoping there wasn't such a thing as a "jumping caterpillar." ;-)








Dad's favorite flower from the whole trip. This thing was HUGE. Almost as large as someone's hand.




I asked Dad to pull over so I could get a shot of this. This plant brings me back to first grade. We had our own little restaurant in the field behind our elementary school. This was one of the items we served. You simply run your fingers up the stalk and all the little "seeds" come loose.


Here are the seeds.... =)