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.