Week 13 Back on the road again in Texas

February 15, 2023

We spent twelve weeks of full time RVing before taking a couple months to visit family in Houston but we are finally back out full timing once again. We look forward to spending the next 8 to 9 months traveling the perimeter of the United States. This week we started off enjoying the many state parks in Texas

2/15- We left New Caney Legacy campground this morning. It was sad to say good-bye to family once more but we know we will see more family as we travel. Today was just an example of that. We traveled from Houston to Pedernales State Park in near Johnson City, Texas. Frank had to work this morning before we headed out so we arrived there early afternoon. We were able to check into our campsite. State Park campsites are completely different than campgrounds. There is so much space between each site and beauty all around. The price is cheap and with a handicap pass even cheaper for us. We were to find that we averaged between $25 and $30 a night at the state parks we camped at this week. https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/pedernales-falls

Once we got everything settled we headed over to see where our son Bill works. It was fun touring his building and catching up. Then we headed out to dinner at Matt’s El Rancho Restaurant which has been in serving authentic Mexican food in Austin since 1952. We enjoyed our dinner there and I have to say their Spinach Poblanitas Enchiladas where the best enchiladas I have ever had. https://www.mattselrancho.com/

Then it was time to head back to our campground. Frank had to work several more hours while I just enjoyed the quiet of our campsite.

2/16- Woke up this morning and after Frank got done working we enjoyed a hike through the park. It was a cool morning but we bundled up and did some exploring. We found the hidden Twin Falls. We started out on what we thought was a half mile Twin Fall Nature Trail but somehow got sidetracked and also ended up on Swimming Area Trail and a big of Trammell’s Crossing Trail before finding our way back to our campsite.

Then we headed out to pick up two of our grandchildren who live in the Austin area to enjoy lunch with them. It was nice to see them and get caught up on their lives. They are now in the late teens/early adult years and it was fun to remember times from when they were little and we lived close by. Then it was back to the campsite so Frank could finish the rest of his work for the day.

2/17- We only had a short drive today to a Harvest Host Location just outside of Fredericksburg, Texas. Harvest Host is an opportunity to boondock (camp without hook-ups) on someone’s property for free. They do ask that you make a $20 donation or purchase an item from the host for at least $20. Most of the Host are Wineries and Breweries but there are many other options such as historical sites, museums, and even golf courses. Our host was Enchanted Fredericksburg Ranch where the husband was a glass blower and the wife a weaver. They had a shop of things they had made along with other local artists. We had the pleasure of a private lesson on the art of glass blowing and I found a pretty bowl in their shop to buy. https://www.enchantedfredericksburgranch.com/

Once we got settled there we headed to Enchanted Rock to explore. We weren’t up to hiking up the rock as climbing it is equivalent to climbing the stair of a 30 to 40 story building.  Instead we ended up exploring trail that took us around the rock so we could view it. https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/enchanted-rock

Then it was time to head back to our campsite for the night. Frank had some work to do before bed then we bundled up good as the temperatures was supposed to be in the upper 20’s overnight. Turns out it got even colder and by morning it was 26 degrees. Luckily our furnace keep the inside temperatures in the 60’s and under our blankets it felt even warmer.

2/18- Moved from our Harvest Host site to a campground in Fredericksburg. The sites were tight with one camper right next to another. Made us miss our state campground and Harvest Host. But we didn’t spend much time at our campground. Our son Bill and his son Liam, our daughter Sara and her husband Edwin and their children and our daughter Hana and her friend Riley all came up for the day from Austin and Houston. We were able to enjoy one last time with them all in Fredericksburg. We had a wonderful German lunch together at the Auslander. https://theauslanderfredericksburg.com/

Then we explored the Pacific War Museum. There were multiple buildings to explore such as the George H W Bush Gallery which artifacts from the war, the Admiral Nimitz Gallery which was about the life of the Admiral, the Plaza of Presidents who served in WW II, Japanese Garden Peace Garden, and The Memorial Courtyard. We got to see them all except The Pacific Combat Zone which had living history demonstrations, unfortunately by the times we got everything else done it was closed. Still that gives us something to look forward to seeing next time we head that way. https://www.pacificwarmuseum.org/

Bill and Liam headed home and Edwin and Sara and family headed to a hotel in Buda so they all could spend the next day together off-roading. Hana and Riley hung out with us and slept over in our RV before heading out the next day for Houston.

2/19- Headed just another hour down the road today to South Llano River State Park. It is a Dark Sky Park and we look forward to doing some star gazing here. https://tpwd.texas.gov/state-parks/south-llano-river. Frank has an install so we will be here for the next three nights. The campground is so quiet and peaceful even though there are a lot of people staying here for the President’s Day Weekend. We were going to go for a hike but found out that the trail is closed from 3 pm to 10 am for turkey roosting.  They had a bird blind near the trail so we sat down and did some bird watching. Then we hiked around the campground and enjoyed the beauty of the place.

After we got back to our RV we looked out the door and saw an armadillo waddling through our campsite. I am looking forward to spending the next couple days here exploring.