Day 36

The dog and I went to the craft fair in Gruene this morning. It's a small town next to New Braunfels. They don't have any industry there except tourists. There are a few tourist oriented shops (antiques, trinkets, t-shirts, etc.). There are also a couple of large (seating over 200) restaurant/bar establishments. They do a big business in the summer catering to the people going down the river in inner tubes. In the winter they hold once a month craft fairs.

At 10 AM there weren't a lot of people there. By noon, the place was packed. There are a couple of large public parking lots (think large grocery store) plus a big field for overflow parking. All of them were full and people were driving around looking for places to park.

I scored a few things. One was a Mother's day present. It's a pendant made from a butterfly's wing. The thing is cool. One side is iridescent blue. The other is non-descript brown. I thought they were from two different insects. However, the vendor showed me a complete butterfly. The tops of the wings are blue and the bottoms brown. So with the wings closed the butterfly blends into the background. With the wings open it puts on a colorful display.

I also got a couple of t-shirts. One has one of my favorite sayings on it: "I'm retired, go around me". I got one for the wife at her request that has a picture of an armadillo with the label "Texas speedbump". Finally, I got an antique bar mirror advertising Lone Star beer. Lone Star is one of my favorite things about Texas.

After that I went up to Cabella's to use a discount coupon that I got in the mail. I couldn't find anything that I wanted. Damn. It's bad when you can't find anything to buy at Cabella's.

This evening was the park's Thanksgiving potluck. As with all such occasions there was more food than people could eat. I was probably the youngest attendee there. There was lots of talk about children, grand children, and how Obama is driving the country to ruin.