Circle Tour from and back to Kerrville

Friday, November 11, 2016

Veterans Day.  Thank you all who have or are serving our country.  You are appreciated.

We set out today to do a circle tour from Kerrville south to Bandera with a stop at Camp Verde General Store along the way and around through Medina back to Kerrville. Just outside Kerrville we passed a ranch where they were raising antelope.  I’ve never seen so many in one place before.

Our first stop was at Camp Verde General Store established on the banks of the Verde Creek in 1857.  The original General Store was one story and was established to offer goods and services to the soldiers stationed at Fort Camp Verde to the west.  The original building was swept away in a flood in 1900.  By the time the Fort was decommissioned, the Store had become an important part of the community by serving the growing number of ranchers in the area.   Today it is a lovely two story building with an extensive General Store with high end merchandise and a restaurant which overlooks the Verde Creek flowing nearby. 

I found the sign on the building with the camel intriguing and had to do some research to understand the signifigence

Following is what I found out.  In 1854 the then Secretary of State Jefferson Davis petitioned Congress to appropriate funds for the Army to experiment with using camels to supply transport and for other military purposes.  In 1856, the first camels arrived at Fort Camp Verde and the US Camel Corps was established there.  The camels passed the ability test of carrying heavier loads and traveling further distances than horses and mules.  However, the camels did not get along with the horses and mules and horses and mules would often bolt when they smelled the camels.  The soldiers also found the camels difficult to ride and they too did not like the smell.  When the fort was decommissioned the camels were sent in various directions including to circuses and some to the Arizona desert.

By continuing along this two lane highway through the farm country of the area with rolling hills (thus the name Hill Country) you arrive at the community of Bandera which is known as the “Cowboy Capital of the World”.  Supposedly during the 1930’s ranchers took in dudes to help with the work around the ranch and thus many dude ranches came into existence in the area where “easterners” could and continue to learn about the “cowboy lifestyle” with horseback riding, chuck wagon meals and trail rides while enjoying the area.   Kind of like the movie “City Slickers” with Billy Crystal and Jack Palance. (What a funny movie.) Bandera is also known as being the staging area for the last great cattle drive of the late 1800's.

For us the community of Bandera was not as interesting as other places we have visited, but we did find some old buildings including this old courthouse built in 1881,

mural, antique stores

and a restaurant called “OST (stands for Old Spanish Trail) where we had a bite to eat. 

The restaurant is housed in an old building on main street and has these unique seats and bar where you can eat rather than at regular tables

 as well as the John Wayne Room where there were hundreds of pictures of John Wayne from movie posters to pictures of John and other stars with him.  Funky!

I also read that Bandera is considered a destination for motorcyclists though I have to say we saw none while visiting today. 

Returning to our car, we head north back to Kerrville again on a two lane highway which passes through more farm and ranch land.  A lovely drive and relaxing as the highway is not heavily traveled.  It would have been hard to take a picture to really pinpoint what the area was like, thus its absence.   However, I did take a couple of shots of butterflies flying around these purple flowers in the garden at Camp Verde General Store.  Hope you can see them.

Stay tuned for our trip to America's Stonehenge.

Comfort, the town of German Freethinkers

Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016

A short drive south of Kerrville is the small Hill Country community of Comfort located between San Antonio and Fredericksburg and best known for all its antique shops, quaint buildings, old homes and interesting restaurants.   Nearly the entire downtown is on the National Register of Historic Places.  Ron and I have visited here before and always enjoy driving around the narrow streets among the old buildings.  One of the things you notice here in Texas, especially in this part of the state, is that so many of the buildings and homes are built from limestone which is found everywhere.   

Comfort was founded in 1854 by Ernst Algelt who was a young “freethinking” German who came to Texas to found a community.  He and his family lived in Comfort for about ten years then moved to San Antonio where he established the city’s first suburb and named the first street “King William” for the German King Wilhelm. Beautiful old homes can still be found in this area of San Antonio.

What and who were German Freethinkers (Freidenker)?   They were Germans who immigrated to the Texas Hill Country between 1845 and 1861.  For the most part, they were German intellectuals who advocated reason and democracy over religious and political authority.  Many of them had participated in the 1848 German revolution and sought freedom in America.  Many Texas communities were developed by these “freethinkers” with about half of them in Comfort.

I thought the following information about "freethinkers" was worth printing in the blog.  “Freethinkers valued their new found freedoms of speech, assembly and religion. Their settlements, where a knowledge of Latin was considered essential for a cultured intellectual society, became known as "Latin Colonies." They strongly supported secular education and generally did not adhere to any formal religious doctrines. They applied themselves to the crafts of physical labor and divided their time between farming and intellectual pursuits.

Freethinkers advocated universal equal rights, and their moral values were dominated by their respect for life. They actively supported such social issues as the abolition of slavery and the rejection of secession. Their loyalty to the Union during the Civil War cost many their freedoms and their lives. Following the war, many Freethinkers relocated to nearby urban areas, while others returned to Germany.”

Ron, of course, stopped at several antique stores in Comfort for me to get my “antique fix” for the day.  I so enjoy just poking around in these places and often find some little trinket to bring home to our RV. 

To some extent, I find the buildings in each of these communities very much alike but they are still unique and interesting.  

Faust Hotel

Notice the sign says "Meet Market"

An Old building being renovated

Kerrville, TX

Saturday – Wednesday, November 5 -9, 2016

Our present location of Kerrville, TX is located along the Guadalupe River and was founded in 1856.  The city is best known for its many beautiful parks and is the home of the “Texas Official Arts and Crafts Fair.”  The community has become a retirees haven and is well known for its art galleries, shopping, dining, live theater and antiquing. 

This morning, Saturday, we went to the campground weekly breakfast where we met several other couples staying here.  They have a nice selection for breakfast and you order what you want.  Cooking is done by volunteers staying at the park and includes omelets, eggs with hash browns, toast or biscuit, pancakes and waffles along with juice and coffee.  We enjoyed our meal and getting acquainted. 

Weather here in Kerrville has not been too conducive to taking pictures but we did venture out today in spite of the overcast and drizzle.  We met one couple parked next to us who have been very helpful in telling us about things to see and other activities going on in the community.  They mentioned the weekly market and swap meet.  This was your usual flea market held inside a building at the Event Center.  Lots of handmade placemats, potholders, jewelry and the usual assortment of junk.  Always fun to see what might be different or local to the area. 

Going back into town, we stopped at the Kerr Arts and Cultural Center located in the historic downtown district.  Here we took in the Annual Texas Furniture Makers Show which is a juried exhibit of beautiful tables, chairs, cabinets and other items featuring the best furniture makers in Texas.  Unfortunately, we forgot our camera and phone today so did not get any pictures.  The workmanship was absolutely spectacular and the items so beautiful.  Many of the artists were available to answer questions about their work.  In a back room was an Antique Woodworking Tool Display with items dating back to the 1600’s with items handmade by craftsmen or the woodworkers themselves.  Interesting items many of which had carved decorations on them.

Walking around this area of town afterwards, we stopped in a couple of shops and took some pictures of the old buildings below.  One of my favorite stores in this area from our previous visits to Kerrville is the Sunrise Antique Shop located in the Fawcett Furniture Building in use as such until the mid 1970,’s when the building was restored and became an antique shop.  Several years ago I found a rather large metal rooster for my kitchen which unfortunately is too large for our RV so had to be placed in storage. 

The Arcadia Theater was built in 1926 and initially featured live performances.  Jimmy Rogers performed here and a local organist played the piano during the silent movie era.  The theater closed in 1988.

The Schreiner Store was built in 1879 and is one of the Hill country's most important landmarks as it was the building where cowboys bought their provisions for the Cattle Drives north and supplies were purchased for ranches in the area.  Profits from the store paved roads, built public buildings and helped found Schreiner University.

Masonic Lodge building came about in 1890 and was the home of the Lodge until 1927.  Other tenants of the building were the U.S. Post Office and the C.C. Butt Grocery (now HEB).

The Schreiner Mansion located on Earl Garrett Street was built in 1879 and has had several additions.  Expert masons and stone carvers were brought from Germany to do the intricate design work on the exterior of the home.  Today the house is open to the public and serves as an education center for Schreiner University.  We hope to tour this building before we leave.

Guthrie Building was built in 1887 for Robert Guthrie who published the Kerrville Eye newspaper.  The building was restored in 1981.

Sunday we spent getting ready for a visit with our friends Trish and Bob who stopped in the campground overnight on their way to NM and A.  We met Trish and Bob in Albuquerque when we first began our full timing and our paths have crossed several times over the last two years.  We had a great afternoon and evening together catching up and exchanging ideas about campgrounds, maintenance on the RV, etc.  We look forward to seeing them again in Yuma during the winter.  Glad you two could stop by.

Since the weather has been so rainy, we have not ventured out to do any further sightseeing this week but rather stayed in.  Ron has been doing his photography classes, reading and playing Spider while I have had a chance to get started on my winter quilting projects.  

Off to Kerrville, TX

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

I am healing well from my fall though I do still have to wear a cervical collar full time for at least two more weeks.  I hope that is all since I feel like I am in a straight jacket.   Will see the spinal surgeon on Nov. 18 to learn my fate.  No surgery necessary, just healing. 

I had my nose repaired in a closed nasal reduction procedure in mid October that set the bones straight with a splint up the nostril (gross) as well as packing.  Both have been removed and I have seen the plastic surgeon on this with the result that all packing is nowgone but there is still a bit of swelling that will continue for a while yet.  No further visits to the doc required.  

We have left the Kyle, TX area where my daughter lives after spending a month not doing much other than recovering from my fall and visiting with the family, attending a football game where our granddaughter, Kaylee played in the marching band, a regional marching band competition in which Kaylee’s school participated but unfortunately did not make the finals and a mid school band concert involving our grandson, Garrett who plays percussion instruments.  Fun to watch the kids play.  They have grown up so much.   We also spent some time looking at housing in the area as this may be where we will eventually buy another sticks and brick house when we are ready to either hang up the keys to the RV or travel less.  Our visit to the south of Texas to explore more of the state will have to wait for another year. 

Today we arrived in Kerrville at the Buckhorn RV Resort where we will spend the month of November.  We elected to stay in the Executive Area which is farther from I-10 and all adults.  You also park facing the river rather than backing in so you have a nice view out the front.  As you will see by the picture of the RV below, we have a large site and patio area with a table and chairs.  Looking forward to using this if the rain clears up this next week.  Hope to get acquainted with some other RVillage people while here as there are quite a few here at present.  Below are pictures of our campsite here at Buckhorn.  What a lovely place.

Windmill as you enter Resort with Rally Center in the background

Bridge across the river

View out our front window looking toward casita area

Our site

Notice the fancy Prevost next to us.  Pretty classy.

 We really like this area and will do some town exploring and hopefully will have some interesting pictures and places we have visited to share with our readers.  Stay tuned for the continuation of the Ballard Adventures.

An Encounter with the Pavement

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

The Ballard adventures have so far not been what we were expecting to do once we left San Angelo.

After arriving at our campground near Kyle, Texas (Oct. 2) where my daughter lives, I had a hard encounter with the pavement.  While trying to help Ron get the RV set up in our space, I apparently lost my footing in a sloped grass area next to the RV and landed face first on the concrete and gravel roadway.  The bottom line is we made a quick trip to the closest ER where I was treated for abrasions to my forehead, a hole in the bridge of my nose and the area between my nostrils requiring stitches, CT and Xrays of my head, neck, right arm, and right knee.  It was determined that I had a nondisplaced fracture of the C1 with a chip requiring me to be transported to the closest trauma hospital which happens to be in downtown Austin.  A first for me making a trip in an Ambulance to a hospital.  After two days of observation in the hospital, I returned to the RV with a cervical collar and a built in Halloween mask consisting of swelling of the forehead, two black eyes,  a bruise next to my mouth as well as my right hand in a brace to allow the sprain to heal.  Great hospital with great caregivers all of whom awoke me at all hours of the day and night to check my vitals and condition.

The long and short is that I will be having surgery here in Austin tomorrow for my broken nose and will continue to wear a cervical collar until the neurosurgeon says I can go without it.  No surgery required for the C1 issue at least that's what the dr. said in the hospital.  Will see if that is still true when I see him again on Friday.  However, wearing a collar is like being in a straight jacket.  I also have to sleep on my back at 30% level.  No laying flat.   The nose surgery will be non invasive and just require them to straighten out one side and move the septum for better breathing.  They tell me I will have my nostrils packed for five days requiring mouth breathing through that time.  I can hardly wait for this. 

What an experience!  When we arrived here we had only expected to stay in this area for a week or so before traveling south to see more of the state.  We now know that we will be staying at this campground until the end of the month when we will be going to Kerrville, TX for a month.

Stay tuned for further developments.

A Visit to San Angelo, TX

Thursday – Friday, September 29 & 30, 2016

We arrived in San Angelo and are staying at a really nice state park with large pecan trees to shade our RV.  Nice and quiet as it is away from the main highway and there are only four other RV’s in the park. 

San Angelo is about 200 miles south of Lubbock and still in the West Texas area.  Population is almost 100,000 so it is not a small town.  It is the home of Fort Concho and Goodfellow Air Force Base.  The town was founded in 1867 when the United State built Fort Concho, one of many forts built to protect the frontier.  Settler Bartholomew J. DeWitt founded the village outside the fort at the junction of the North and South Concho Rivesr.  The town was named after DeWitt’s wife, Carolina Angela.  The name was changed to San Angelo in 1883 at the insistence of the U.S. Postal Service.  The town was a trade center for farmers and settlers and the lawless cow town was filled with bars, brothels and gambling casinos. The Santa Fe Railroad arrived in 1888 and the Kansas City, Mexico and Orient Railway in 1909.

A visit to the Visitor Center provides us with lots of literature and suggestions from the attendant on various things to see.  We drive around the old part of the city getting our bearings for our next day venture to various attractions.  Outside and long the river is the beautiful statue.

On Friday we drive in to San Angelo and begin our visit on Concho Street where we hope to visit Miss Hattie’s Bordello and Museum but tour times do not jive with our plans.  (Miss Hattie moved to San Angelo in the late 1800’s married to a Mr. Hatton who apparently had a real taste for alcohol which did not set well with Miss Hattie who proceed to divorce him.  She got the upstairs and he the downstairs with Miss Hattie opening a bordello in her half in 1902).  Wonder how long Mr. Hatton lived downstairs or if he frequented the upstairs?  Guess we will never know.

Across the street is Eggemeyers General Store which has an interesting shop filled with all manner of merchandise including candles, toys, cards, things Texas, kitchen utensils, jams and jellys, beers and wines and homemade root beer.  I could have spent hours in the store but we move on across the street to an interesting antique store and on up the street taking in some of the old buildings dating to the mid to late 1800’s. 

We also plan to take in the Railway Museum but as in many towns, the Museum is only open on Saturday’s.  The museum houses memorabilia and artifacts including a permanent model train  layout depicting San Angelo in 1928. 

Moving down the road, we stop at Fort Concho where seventeen buildings on the fort grounds have been restored and five have been reconstructed.  A short video gives us an overview of the fort and its early as well as present living history demonstrations.  Buildings are for the most part made of native limestone so common in construction here in Texas.  The original property included at least 40 buildings and 1600 acres.  The fort opened in 1867 and closed in June 1888, its role in the settlement of Texas frontier over.  Buildings open to us are the Enlisted Men’s Barracks, Living History Stables, Mess Hall and Kitchen, Headquarters, the Hospital, School/Chapel and Officers Quarters.  Each building gives us information about the room and is nicely furnished to depict what it had been used for. 

Enlisted Men's Quarters

Mess Hall and Kitchen

Headquarters

Court Martial Room

Hospital

School/Chapel

One of the Officers Quarters homes includes a Museum of Telephony.  What a collection of old phones and phone equipment. 

We get a good workout walking the Fort grounds and our tummies are saying it is time for something to eat.  I find a restaurant called Twisted Root Burger Co. with an old truck on the roof.  Below are pictures from outside and inside.  On the menu is The Verde Burger which includes Hatch Green Chili, Pepper Jack Cheese, and Guacamole.  Really yummy and a taste from home.    Our table top is shot gun shells under glass.  We found out this restaurant had been seen on  Food Network ‘s Diners, Drive-ins & Dives.

One unique thing we kept seeing around town were the painted sheep statues which were painted by local artists.  The sheep represent the history of San Angelo and the wood industry.

We finish the day taking a few pictures of some of the murals around town 

and walking on the curving Celebration Bridge across the Concho River 

where we find this mermaid statue and pavers purchased by local citizens bearing a message.  The Mermaid is a bronze sculpture which depicts a fresh water mermaid with outstretched hands holding up a mussel containing a Concho Pearl.  These unique pearls are found only in the local rivers and lakes in this area.  

A beautiful park covered in pecan trees and picnic tables and benches line one side of the river here with the Museum of Fine Art and an outdoor amphitheater on the other. 

A wonderful sunny and warm day in this interesting old city. 

Signing off until the next venture.

Back on the Road

It has been almost a month since we arrived in Albuquerque for our doctor appointments.  Everything went well for the two of us.  Good reports from all doctors and Kathy's mammogram as well.  Whew!  We are so thankful.  Had to find a new dentist as ours retired, but new dentist is great and we look forward to establishing a relationship with him.  Had our cleanings and Ron had a couple of fillings, but in April we will have to see about several crowns.  UGH!  and so expensive.  Oh, well, will enjoy the winter travels and worry about the crowns later.

We left Albuquerque today for Lubbock, Texas where we are staying at an Elks Lodge where we have stayed before.  Very active lodge and nice RV facility with full hookups.  Will move on tomorrow headed to the Austin area for a week plus visit with Kathy's daughter Laurie and family and then a couple of weeks elsewhere though we have not decided where as yet.

We have reservations in Kerrville for the month of November and look forward to our time there and exploring other nearby communities as possible sites for a future sticks and brick home in Texas.  No hurry for that as we are still enjoying our travels too much to settle down.

Signing off until we arrive in San Angelo tomorrow and explore that area.

Traveling to Albuquerque

Saturday and Sunday, August 27 -28, 2016

We arrived in Loveland, CO today where we are staying at an RV Park just east of Estes Park where we have stayed before.  This Park suffered a major flood from the Big Thompson River three years ago.   The River runs right next to the campground and it appears the Park to still be recovering from the effects.  We were disappointed in the upkeep of the Park and had hoped that it would be in better shape by this time. 

Our visit to Loveland was in conjunction with seeing my old college friend, Judy Partain who lives in Ft. Collins.  I spent Sunday with Judy and she and I had a chance to do a bit of shopping and gabbing in the old town area of Ft. Collins.  Great shops and a cute restaurant for our lunch.  Ron elected to go back to the RV after lunch.  Wonder why he did not want to shop and gab? 

We also had a chance to see my daughter’s old childhood friend, Tracy and her new husband, Mike who also live in the area.  Thank you Mike and Tracy for a wonderful dinner and conversation.  

Tuesday, August 29, 2016

After an overnight in Raton, we have arrived here in Albuquerque for the month of September.  There will probably be very little in the way of blogs during the month while we attend to doctor appointments and catching up with friends; however, if something interesting arises I will be sure to keep you posted. 

Our intent is to leave here around October 1 for Texas where we will spend October and November with a bit of sightseeing, etc. along the way. 

Signing off for now.