I have returned from the first leg of a photo tour in search of Texas Bluebonnets and other wildflowers during the 2010 spring bloom season. Photos have been uploaded to the Gallery for viewing.

 Day One - April 15, 2010

I left my hometown of Amarillo, Texas around 1am in a pouring rain with the intentions of discovering and capturing images of Texas Bluebonnets in early morning light somewhere between Abilene and Stephenville. I had taken a look at the weather forecast before I left and knew there would be little chance of seeing a sunrise, but when it comes to photography, you just never really know for sure what the weather will be like until you get there. The forecast also indicated this was going to be a large weather pattern which had the potential to last a week or longer.

I had participated in an exhibition of art during the month of March in Stephenville so this trip would also include picking up any of my note cards and framed photographs which had not sold during the exhibition. By the way, March is officially "Texas History Month" in my home state and the Cross Timbers Fine Arts Council exhibition theme was "Texas Our Texas".

If you are interested in jumping ahead and viewing all the Bluebonnet images in the photo Gallery, each day has it's own album listed on this Gallery page.

I am adding to this story and including photos as I find bits of time so please bear with me and come back if you need to. You will be able to click on any of the images below to view it and other photographs at or near the same location and time. 948 photos are a lot to wade through so I will bring you some of the highlights here.

I got off eastbound I-20 and headed south on Hwy. 6 for a couple of hours of slower driving on country lanes on the way to Stephenville. I had already spotted Bluebonnets around Sweetwater and Abilene and I didn't have to go very far on this road to find a place where I could stop and take the first photos at a promising looking patch.

 There were lots of other wildflowers in the same area but they weren't all Texas Bluebonnets!

 You can tell the skies are completely overcast in the image above. Clouds will continue to dominate through most of this whole trip. Not very pretty conditions for landscapes, but the diffused light can be beneficial when trying to capture close-ups of flowers. I still need to look up information on the plants below.

 I had no problem identifying the plant below, Indian Paintbrush is one of my favorite wildflowers.

The rest of the drive into Stephenville revealed some interesting looking communities, historic markers and structures but no sightings of wildflowers any more amazing than I have discovered so far. Most of the wildflowers were growing in patches here and there. One thing I did notice though was the lack of cell phone service in the area. I tried calling ahead into Stephenville to let the folks at CTFAC know I was just about to arrive but simply could not get any calls to go through.

The next three hours were spent in Stephenville having lunch and wrapping up the remaining business and artwork from the "Texas Our Texas" art exhibition. (I also had to pick up about 10 six-packs of Dublin Dr. Pepper) The next photos I want to show you were captured along Hwy. 281 south of Stephenville once I got back on the road in my little car, now stuffed to the gills, and my tour was just getting started!

I was spotting patches of Bluebonets all along both sides of US 281 but this route is heavily traveled. By the time I had spotted an interesting looking patch I was already well past it with half a dozen vehicles backed up behind me. The was one location near Hamilton on the east side of the highway that caught my eye and I had to make the effort to pull over and take a few pics of this old timber cabin.

The location was at a tourist trap called the Dutchman's Hidden Valley Country Store. Click on the above photo to see the old leaning wooden water tank beside a windmill and the bison statue in front of the store. I made sure to pick up a business card from the store because I thought it would be a good location to carry my photo note cards too.

 The skies kept getting darker the further I travel south toward Burnet. I was beginning to notice the patches of Bluebonnets were getting larger and more numerous along the way. The plants seemed to be getting taller too. I decided to look for a place to spend the night in Marble Falls so I could get a good look at Johnson City in the morning.