Hill Country – Kerrville, TX

Monday, October 12th thru Monday, October 26, 2020

Monday, Oct. 12th, we packed up and left beautiful Palo Duro Canyon, which also meant driving back up to the top of the canyon on those winding, narrow roads. We left fairly early and didn’t encounter any big rigs coming down the canyon so that was nice. Only a few claw marks on my arm rest. Once again, Gary did great!

Today we passed oil derricks, wind farms, cotton fields, and other crops as we traveled 223 miles mostly on 87 South to an overnight stop at Whip-N-RV Park in Big Spring, TX. We had a quiet afternoon and night. Then hit the road again on Tuesday, Oct. 13th, to head to the Texas Hill Country where we have a month’s reservation at Old River Road RV Resort in Kerrville, TX. 

Tuesday’s drive did indeed take us thru hilly terrain with 7% grades. We headed south on Highway 87 and 83 past big ranches on both sides of the highway with elaborate entrance gates and more wind farms. It also took us past the city of San Angelo, where I was born and lived for the first four years of my life. We passed signs for Goodfellow Air Force Base where my mom used to work; Water Valley High School where my dad and Aunt Elizabeth went to school when it was just a one-room school house and now is a state-of-the-art high school; Fort McKavett where my parents once lived; and Stapp Ranch Road. Stapp is my maiden name but I do not know what, if any, connection that road has to our family. Did I mention the speed limit got up to 80 mph? Not used to that nor did we feel the need to do that speed! 

We arrived at Old River Road RV Resort in the afternoon. We have a great back-in site that overlooks a grassy field (disc golf) then behind that is a line of cypress trees and the Guadalupe River, which we can just make out from our back window. We are treated to the occasional deer scampering past our back window and a woman on horseback riding across the field. We went for a walk after dinner and saw about 10 deer grazing under a clump of trees. Sweeet and some were babies. We’ve since seen them nightly over there so it’s obviously a favorite hangout. We were also treated to a pretty sunset!

After being on the road for a month, we spent the next few days getting caught up on cleaning our tiny home, paying some bills, reaching out to family and friends who we haven’t chatted with in awhile, and the usual menu planning and grocery shopping. 

We also walked down by the river several times. Just gorgeous! The cypress trees lining the Guadalupe River are majestic and stunning! So beautiful! 

On Thursday, Oct. 15th, I did a 4+ mile bike ride in the campground. Gary biked, too, just not as long. The roads are gravel so it’s a bumpier ride and you have to pedal the whole time. But very fun to check out this campground of about 240 sites plus about 20 rental cabins. The campground covers a lot of acreage as the sites are quite spacious and there’s the river area, plus indoor/outdoor pools, basketball court and rec room. None of which we’ve actually used except for visiting the river. 

After the bike ride, we headed into downtown Kerrville to check it out. There’s a small historic downtown area. Quite pretty! We visited the Kerr Arts & Cultural Center. Lovely acrylic paintings, jewelry, and quilts on display. 

Friday, Oct. 16th, we visited the “Coming King” Sculpture Prayer Garden on 24 acres. The centerpiece is a Cor-ten steel sculpture of a cross that stands over 77 ft. tall and cost $2,000,000 to build on a 1,950 ft. hill. It towers over the area. There are a number of other fairly large sculptures as well, but one of the most moving sights was seeing all the prayer rocks left behind with messages. Private funds were used for this and it’s still “under construction” with additional areas being developed. While we were visiting there was a guitarist/singer shooting a video at the foot of the cross and then they launched a drone to get some footage. Interesting.  I wonder if they got permission first. 🙂

In the afternoon, I took a walk down to the Guadalupe River across the street from the campground. Such a pretty spot! The cypress trees are huge, and the water crosses under the road from the campground and rushes out causing a waterfall of sorts.

Saturday, Oct. 17th, and Sunday, Oct. 18th, was spent catching up with some folks via phone, doing a few long walks in the campground, playing corn hole with each other, completing my absentee ballot, a long Skype visit with Ellen & Wayne, washing the truck (Gary), grocery shopping (again!), campfire, and catching up on some blog writing. Also we cut each other’s hair. Gary initially acted like I was asking him to run into a burning building for me but he saw my reasoning and did a great job! I’m still hoping Mary Jane can continue cutting my hair when we’re back in New Hampshire, and Gary, in particular, is hoping Mary Jane can continue cutting my hair! He does not want this to be a permanent job for him. 

Monday, Oct. 19th, we had a visit from Meigs and Paul, dear friends who lived 3 houses down from us on Gerrish Drive in Nottingham and now reside in San Marcos, TX in a 55+ community. They arrived late morning and we spent the day sitting outside and catching up with each other and having lunch. We hadn’t seen them since last March, just as Covid was starting to become a thing. All too soon it was time to say goodbye, but we will take advantage of our time in this area and visit M&P at their home later this month. 

Tuesday, Oct. 20th, we went to Walgreens and got our flu shots then visited Stonehenge II. Similar in look to the original in England, this one is 90% as wide and 60% as tall. There’s even two 13 ft Easter Island heads. Apparently this started as an “amusing” art project for two neighbors and friends. Constructed of plaster and graphite covered metal mesh, it’s a little lighter weight than the original in England. This one is located on the grounds of the Hill Country Arts Foundation so we also visited their gallery, which happened to feature a husband and wife artist couple from San Angelo. The wife focused on painting waterlilies. Apparently San Angelo has one of the best collections of waterlilies in the world. Who knew! The grounds also featured a sculpture garden, and we bought pumpkins from their fundraiser. Plus this was all located near the Guadalupe River so we got a chance to see another section of the river. A fun outing.

Wednesday, Oct. 21st, we biked 6 miles on the Kerrville River Trail. So pretty along the Guadalupe River. We saw about 8 or 9 deer and one baby deer that I managed to photograph. Two women walking said there had been about 20 deer grazing in this same area 30 minutes before. Darn! Then we came back and I did laundry. Plus we visited for a couple of hours with a husband and wife who run a company called Performance Trailer Braking. Two of their people are putting new brakes on our tiny home on Saturday. We scheduled this about a month ago. The husband and wife are here at our campground presenting at an RV rally, and the brake work on Saturday will be done right at our sight. Super handy! 

Thursday, Oct. 22nd, we drove over to Bandera, Texas and did a 2 1/2 mile hike in the Hill Country State Natural Area. The road into the natural area was beyond awful…. unpaved and bumpy. I think I lost a filling. Apparently the trails in the Natural Area are frequently used by horses. While we saw a few horse trailers parked, we didn’t actually see any horses on the trail. We met one other person hiking who was a local and told us we could see poisonous snakes on the trail, wild hogs and the occasional mountain lion. She was just a ray of sunshine. Sort of happy we didn’t run into her until towards the end of the hike. She also mentioned that if we did hear a horse and rider coming to make loud noises so that the horse new we were there. Otherwise the horses have been known to dump their riders. So maybe this wasn’t the best location for a hike I could have chosen. I don’t think I want to be responsible for someone getting dumped off a horse. We did enjoy nice views of the hills in this area. Afterwards we ate our lunch at one of the picnic tables then drove back. Bandera looked like a cute town but it was hot and we were tired so we decided to let that go for another day. Bandera is known as the “Cowboy Capital of the World.” Historic buildings and a cowboy vibe to the place. 

Saturday, Oct. 24th, we had our new brakes installed. We went from drum brakes to a hydraulic-over-electric-disc brakes for better stopping power. That was an all afternoon affair. The slides on the RV had to be brought in, and our tiny home had to get jacked up a bit so we set up camp outside with chairs, reading material, etc. The installation was done by a young couple… Preston and Alyssa. Very nice, very sweet. They drove down from Oklahoma City on Thursday. They were doing several brake jobs over the weekend. Ours was one of them. Gary watched them work and learned about the new brakes while I entertained the neighbors who came by to watch. In particular we had a husband and wife couple who came over. She was 30 years in the air force and retired, and he followed her around the world and worked when he could and was a stay-at-home dad when he couldn’t work. They were roughly our age. Kudos to them for being ahead of their time! I asked them their favorite place to live and they said Italy followed by Germany. Then I asked them their least favorite and it was Haiti. They didn’t even pause on that one. 

Once the brake installation was complete, we had to pull out and do a test drive to make sure the brakes were working properly and to set up proper “gain settings.” This is above my pay grade. Preston came with us for all of that. Then we pulled back into our site and Preston and Alyssa stuck around for an evening beverage with us. Delightful couple!

Sunday, Oct. 25th, and Monday, Oct. 26th, we did some chores and I got a 4+ mile bike ride in around the campground. 

Tuesday my cousin Dale and his wife Delilah arrive from Corpus Christi for a week’s visit. Can’t wait!!