I had a great blog for April Fool’s Day, but life has been so busy and distracting. Here it is April 5 and I haven’t posted it yet.

I’ve mentioned that I’m in a hiking club. Our leaders came up with the idea of a “mystery hike" for April Fools. They sent out an e-mail telling us where and what time to meet. We were told to wear hiking boots and long pants because there were snakes and spiders. We were also told that we would be eating afterward at a restaurant which was not friendly to vegetarians.

You can imagine the conversation I had with my husband.
“I’m hiking with the club on Friday”
“Where are you going?”
“I don’t know.”
“When are you coming back?”
“After lunch.”
“Where are you having lunch?”
“I don’t know.”

There were 17 of us on this hike. Only the four drivers were given directions to our first stop - an ice house with lots of bathrooms. After our rest stop, we learned that we were hiking at Palmetto State Park. I had never been there before. It is a park along the San Marcos River. All of the nearby country is rolling ranch land with an occasional mesquite or oak tree. But along the river it is a tropical paradise with lush foliage and dwarf palmettos.

The trails were well maintained. We walked for a little more than two hours getting glimpses of the river through the trees. We have one birder in our group, and she pointed out many birds and imitated bird calls. The wildflowers were just starting to come out. It was a lovely hike – and we didn’t see a single snake.

After the hike we drove into Luling and ate at the famous City Market. Its barbeque is legendary and the line was long. The brisket was very good, but the side orders were limited: white bread, crackers, pinto beans and potato salad. I was happy with brisket and beans, but I probably wouldn't go back again. There are too many other barbeque restaurants with equally good beef that offer cole slaw, sweet potatoes, green beans and other sides.

All in all it was an April Fool’s Day I will never forget.