My beautiful Dorothy in a field of beautiful bluebonnets at Meadow View Nature Area in Ennis, Texas. Bardwell Lake is in the Background. April 12, 2022.

A Little Texas Wildflower Trip

Prologue…

As Spring 2022 continued to creep into our lovely state, I continued my efforts to get Dorothy out of the house in the wake of her courageous battle with cancer during most of 2021.  She was slowly regaining her strength and, under my intense pestering, finally agreed to take a little trip north to Ennis, Texas, home of the “Official Bluebonnet Trail of Texas”.  What really sealed the deal was our plan to stop and spend a couple of days in Waco, so Dorothy could fulfill her longstanding fantasy of visiting Magnolia Market, perhaps even rubbing elbows with Chip and Joanna Gaines in the process.  So, the loose outlines of trip began to take shape, and we decided to leave our home at the lake on Monday morning, April 11, 2022 and return home on Thursday, April 14, 2022.  In other words, a couple of days in Ennis, and a couple of days in Waco, with a little sightseeing along the way.  Alas, our trip was cut short as we had to outrun a massive cold front with grapefruit sized hail and tornadoes, which caused us to cancel the Waco portion of this little trip.  In spite of this bit of misfortune, Dorothy and I made the best of it and had a passably good time.

The Road to Ennis…

The back roads route that we planned to follow to get to Ennis (which is 25 miles south of Dallas), included a stop for lunch at a Texas Monthly Top 50 BBQ joint in Rockdale named Brett’s Backyard Bar-B-Que.  Unfortunately, I forgot to check and make sure it was open on a Monday, and it was not.  So we took pot luck at a local joint (which shall remain nameless) which served us some of the most hideous BBQ imaginable — yes, it was really that bad.  But things began to look up when I spotted a Bald Eagle along Highway 190 on the way to Hearne, just a couple of miles west of the Brazos River.  I pulled over, stealthily inched my way toward the field where the Eagle was preoccupied with its prey in the middle of a plowed field, and managed one photo before he flew to a nearby grove of Pecan trees.  I continued to stalk him, but he was on to me, and I was not able to get very close to him or get a decent picture.  But it was still a thrill for this old man to see an unexpected bird of such magnificence!

THE BALD EAGLE WAS JUST ABOUT TO TAKE FLIGHT AS I TOOK THIS PHOTO.
MY NEW FRIEND WOUND UP IN A PECAN GROVE AND, AS I SLOWLY MOVED CLOSER, HE WENT DEEPER INTO THE TREES. THIS WAS THE BEST SHOT I COULD MANAGE, SO I GUESS IT WILL HAVE TO MAKE DO!

In an effort to keep Dorothy’s nose out of a romance novel as we drove, I had done a little research on Roadside America, and came up with a few stops for us to make along our way to Ennis.  Our first stop was “Grave In the Middle of a Street” in Hearne, Texas.  Turned out to be a somewhat tainted bit of local history involving the grave of a former slave.

YOURS TRULY, AT THE SITE OF HOLLIE TATNELL'S GRAVE, IN THE MIDDLE OF A STREET IN HEARNE, TEXAS.
THE HISTORIC TEXAS CEMETERY MARKER AT HOLLIE TATNELL'S GRAVE.

Our next stop was in Calvert, Texas, where we visited the “Yellow Bicycle Man” and one of the stores across the street.

DOROTHY WITH THE YELLOW BICYCLE MAN IN CALVERT, TEXAS. WE ALSO EXPLORED THE STORE ACROSS THE STREET.

After our stop in Calvert, we continued north on Highway 14 toward Mexia, Texas.  Just outside Mexia, we came across Fort Parker State Park, which neither Dorothy or I had ever heard of.  We decided to stop and check it out and ended up taking a nice hike along the lake.  It was a welcomed break from the driving!

THIS SIGN CAUGHT MY EYE AS WE DROVE NORTH ON HIGHWAY 14 TOWARD MEXIA. I HAD NEVER HEARD OF THIS PARK BEFORE!
AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THIS MAP, THE PARK IS DOMINATED BY LAKE FORT PARKER. I NEED TO RETURN AND GO KAYAKING HERE!
DOROTHY, READY TO HIT THE BUR OAK NATURE TRAIL WHICH RUNS ALONG PART OF FORT PARKER LAKE.
DOROTHY AT THE BIRD BLIND ON THE BUR OAK TRAIL AT FORT PARKER STATE PARK. THERE WAS A LARGE ROOKERY ACROSS THE LAKE FROM THE BLIND.
DOROTHY DOING A LITTLE PHOTOGRAPHY AT THE BIRD BLIND.
A WHITE EGRET WE WATCHED ON THE EDGE OF THE LAKE AT FORT PARKER STATE PARK
IN HONOR OF OUR SIGHTING OF A BALD EAGLE EARLIER IN THE DAY, WE BOUGHT LITTLE J.D. A STUFFED EAGLE AT THE FORT PARKER STATE PARK VISITOR CENTER.

After spending a couple of hours at Fort Parker State Park, we headed on up to Ennis, Texas for the Bluebonnet Trails.  I had printed out a map, and we set out to explore the South Trail as soon as we hit town.  We saw some pretty fields of Bluebonnets, but there was a lot of driving on narrow country lanes, many of which were not marked.  

MONDAY EVENING (APRIL11, 2022) WE EXPLORED THE SOUTH TRAIL, MARKED IN BLUE ON THIS MAP.
THIS WAS ONE OF THE FIRST FIELDS OF BLUEBONNETS THAT WE ENCOUNTERED ON THE SOUTH TRAIL. THANK YOU MR. HOLY!!
THIS WAS AN IMPRESSIVE FIELD OF BLUEBONNETS, STRECTCHING AS FAR AS THE EYE COULD SEE. THIS PHOTO DOES NOT DO IT JUSTICE!
MY LOVELY WIFE, NOW CANCER FREE, LOOKED RADIANT THAT EVENING!

We Decide To Head Home Early…

After spending a couple of hours exploring the South Trail of the Ennis Wildflower Trails, we headed to our hotel, checked in and had a Wendy’s salad for supper.  Our plan was to spend two nights in Ennis, then drive to Waco and spend a couple of nights there.  I have a habit of listening to the radio at night before I go to sleep, and often long into the night.  That night, I heard a report that a dangerous front (grapefruit sized hail and 75 mph winds) was headed our way, and expected to hit the Ennis area around noon the next day.  So, early the next morning, we made the decision to cut our trip short and try to outrun the storm.  While I was loading our car, I struck up a conversation with a lady who was part of a tour bus group that had spent three days exploring the trails around Ennis.  She recommended the Meadow View Nature Area out by the lake, saying it had some of the prettiest fields of Bluebonnets they had seen on their trip.  So, Dorothy and I headed out to Meadow View, and, sure enough, there were some pretty Bluebonnets to be seen at that beautiful lakeside location.  

THE SKIES WERE ALREADY LOOKING A LITTLE FOREBODING AS WE ARRIVED AT NATURE VIEW NATURE AREA ON TUESDAY MORNING.
A LITTLE CLOSER VIEW OF SOME BLUEBONNETS AT MEADOW VIEW.
MY PHOTOS DON'T REALLY DO THE BLUEBONNET FIELDS JUSTICE!
YOURS TRULY, ENJOYING THE BLUEBONNETS AT MEADOW VIEW NATURE AREA ON BARDWELL LAKE IN ENNIS, TEXAS. APRIL 12, 2022.

Before we high-tailed it out of town, we stopped by the Welcome Center in downtown Ennis.  It is a very nice place, and the locals obviously put a lot of money and effort into their Bluebonnet Trails and attracting folks to come spend time and money in Ennis.  If we had more time, the folks at the Welcome Center could have directed us to the best locations to see out on the trails.  As we drove out of town, we saw some beautiful fields of Bluebonnets along the roads headed west and south. 

THE IMPRESSIVE AND SPACIOUS WILDFLOWER TRAILS WELCOME CENTER IN DOWNTOWN ENNIS, TEXAS.
THIS IS MY FAVORITE PICTURE FROM THIS LITTLE TRIP....HARD TO BEAT THE TEXAS FLAG WAVING PROUDLY IN A FIELD OF BLUEBONNETS!

We made one final stop as we raced home, trying to beat the oncoming storm.  We stopped at Miller’s Smokehouse in Temple (a Texas Monthly Top 50 BBQ Joint) and had some pretty good Bar-B-Que (look here to see our review).  I am happy to report that we made it home safe and sound with nary a single hail dent on our car!

DOROTHY AT MILLER'S SMOKEHOUSE IN TEMPLE, TEXAS, ON OUR WAY HOME FROM THE ENNIS WILDFLOWER TRAILS.