The Mathis Crew: Family Vacation 2009

This is a really late post..cause we went on Vacation June 18-June 21. But u know being pregnant slows things down..including blogging! Anyways, Tobin, Sarah, me, and my parents all headed down to the Hill Country...or South Texas. (not sure what you think of when you hear Hill Country..but I it is branded in my brain "BIG DEER"..compliments of my husband..) First stop was Fredricksburg. What a cool place! There were so many shops and FOOD..oh my goodness the food was amazing. Our hotel had a pool so that is where we spent most of the time the first day. Friday morning we went to breakfast in town and my parents took us to a field that is known to have many deer. Well when we got there the deer had all left except 3 or so..but one Doe had a fawn with her. This thing was so little and cute..in fact at one point a guys was jogging by and that fawn took off after him. Running right beside him..it was pretty funny. We also went to their Trades Days (which is a smaller version on Canton, but still fun) and then headed out for our 2 hour trip to South Texas..well Barksdale, Texas to be exact. Whats in Barksdale? A high fence ranch that Tobin has hunted at every year for the past 4 years. He and my step dad were going on a Ram Hunt. I have heard about this place..even seen pictures but nothing compared to the actual visual. It is SOOOO beautiful down there. So here are some pictures (well alot) of our little vacation! This may take a while..:)

Heading out from Krum, Texas! She was so excited..

We stopped at this Coffee Shop in Hico, Texas for pie (at 10:00 am). When I tell u these pies where good..I mean it!

The picture doesn't do justice..the meringue was at least 6 inches high on each pie!

This is the pie menu..I have never seen so many choices of pies!

My two favorite people! Now..I promise I did give birth to her!!

We had just gotten back from swimming and heading to dinner!

This was a German Steakhouse we ate at. It was in the parking lot next to our hotel. It was probably the best food I have had. The inside was decorated like a German Pub (with animals all over the walls). It was great!

This was a panoramic view of a park/small botanical gardens we went to. It was COVERED with butterflies.

This is on our drive to Barksdale. It was a beautiful drive. I tried to get a picture of how steep the drop was off the side of the mountain, but i couldn't get a good one. Let me just say this..you fall off the road, and your done! And the roads all twist and turn (just like the Max Stalling song). You can not even see what is coming when you take a curve. I was a nervous wreck!

This is a view from the road that takes us to Ranch!

This is from the front gate of the Ranch. Which let me tell you..from the gate to the actual hunting camp is about 2 miles..on the bumpiest rocks you will ever experience. You actually drive through little rock bottom rivers (which they are in a drought so they were bone dry) but it is rough. Thompson (the owner) said if they get alot of rain he is stuck in his house for days sometimes cause he cant get out. You can not live in Barksdale unless you have a 4 x 4.

This is what we came for! This is Tobin's 3rd Ram from this Ranch and my step dads first. My step dad is having his mounted..cause he was beautiful. Tobin's was ugly so we just kept his horns. Sarah was SO upset because Tobin did not bring her BB gun so she could shoot a Ram. Her gun was at the front gate, and no one was driving back down there unless we left! Alot of guys had shot something so there were Rams everywhere..and it did not bother her one bit. Such a little hunter!

Ok, I'm not sure you can get the full magnitude of this. But..we were standing at the Hunting Camp..two miles from the bottom of the mountain..and I had to zoom in all I could to get a good shot of this. This is a road (yes a road) that is literally straight up that Thompson will take some of the hunters on to hunt at the TOP of that mountain. Tobin had told me about this but when I saw it I totally get why Thompson says a prayer each time they go up it. It was CRAZY!