Day 57: Fredericksburg to Hunt: Where the Deer and the Antelopes Play

March 2, 2014

At dawn it was pleasantly mild, so there was no reluctance involved in getting out of the sleeping bag.We took the tent down and packed it away nice and dry, and sat down to cook some oatmeal and answer some Guestbook messages. That's when a few fine sprinkles of rain began. It sent us into the bath house to carry on, but when we were ready to leave on the bikes we still did not have on any rain gear.

At the Lady Bird Johnson campground - open space and good bath house. Much like in Europe.

The weather forecast did not seem to make a big thing of rain or cold for during the day, or at least we didn't much notice it. What had grabbed our attention was the 24 F forecast for tonight. So we were a little surprised to watch the bike computer thermometer start to plunge around mid-morning. This gave me a good activity, singing out the latest low number up ahead to Dodie. The thing went down to 4 C from about 12 or 14. At the same time rain began, and for a brief time was sleet. All of this, though, was within normal Grampies operating parameters.

From 4 C the temperature bounced back to 6 C and I declared the cold event to be over. It responded by then dropping consistently, to pretty much 0 C by the time we were done for the day. We expect it will be -4 C before the night is over.

When you don't have full information, it's tricky to fool with the route set out for you by the routing experts. However, so many times we have seen where they like to take you to something felt to be quiet or scenic, at the expense of actually getting somewhere. So today we looked at hwy 16, the main line from Fredericksburg to Kerrville and realized there was nothing wrong with it. In fact it has a 12 foot shoulder and reasonable traffic, and is 10 km shorter and no doubt flatter than the way set out by ACA. Our gamble on 16 paid off and gave us a big boost.

Kerrville though only a little white circle on our AAA map actually boasts several km of retail services, including four McDonalds, Walmart, Home Depot, etc. etc. We used one of the McDonalds for some calm planning about our future route. From here on, services will be thinning out, and careful planning will be becoming more important.

We actually had a planning failure, though, by not taking on a lot of supplies while we could. Beyond Kerrville there is basically nothing for a very long time!

Through the day, small groups of both deer and antelope flashed through the adjoining fields.. Only this one bothered to pose for a photo.

A ranch entry These ranches are part of the Texas mythology - actually they are a omnipresent reality.

The Padernales River. This one and the Guadaloupe are the major ones in this area

These Winnebagos are as big as city busses The photo only shows a few of the lined up behemoths

Who would you choose for Precinct 1 judge. Tommy Rodriguez might deliver Mexican frontier justice...

Or then there is trendy Jane, for Justice

We could also select slinky Mitzi French.....

Drive in Kolache! Too bad it was closed on Sunday.

A lot of buildings and fences are made from the very attractive local stone

The route out from Ingram leads past Hunt, following he Guadaloupe River. The river is very beautiful, with a greenish tint modest width, and flat, accessible banks.

All along the river are artsy/rustic houses, often made from local stone and with metal roofs. The area is renowned for summer camps, retreats, and conference centres. Two forks of the river meet at Hunt, and our way continued up the south fork. The highway crosses the river at several points, using low bridges. Each crossing is named, and has some sort of history or building associated with it. For example, at Mystic Crossing is a camp for girls. During WWII it was used by US Army Air Corps for R&R (Not with the girls!), and then returned to summer camp status. Some famous campers include Mary Martin (Peter Pan) who was here in 1928, and much later, the daughters of US president LBJ.

Although this is not an area of really jumbo ranches, there are still some, featuring their elaborate and exclusive front gates. The smaller, rustic camps also are gated, and now we see a further extension of the private property no trespassing mania - the entire river frontage, though level, open, and visible, is posted no trespassing. There are almost no county parks, picnic sites, or other public facilities. Ok, we did see one boat launch and three picnic tables on the river today.

a typical house here, made with local stone

We passed some other sites that clearly warranted a photo, but we only learned their stories later. For example, Crider's Rodeo and Dance, where we snapped some riders practicing on horses with a herd of cattle, has been there since 1925. There is also a cypress dance floor here for western dancing and apparently the place is legendary throughout Texas.

Another sight was Boot Hill, a km long area in which fence posts on either side of the road are hung with pairs of cowboy boots. Many are very fancy and some look pretty new. So far, we have not uncovered who started this, or why, or who owns the fence.

The spot we found to wait out the freezing temperatures tonight is also well known.It is at Marymeade and River Inn Crossing, and is mostly a series of former dormitories used by employees at the 1968 Hemisfair at San Antonio. They are actually very nice, and its great having a kitchen, with L shaped counter and all appliances. The people here are very sweet and took care to see we were nicely accommodated. Good place!

All the units face the river, which in the high season makes a great swimming spot. We got the off season rate, and clearly will not be doing any swimming. Now at 8 p.m. or so the thermometer is just at freezing. Even if it goes no lower, we are glad to be inside!

Today is actually March 2, the Texas independence anniversay. This joke historical plaque is coincidentally about this day.

This mini map shows all the places mentioned in todays blog

The view from our studio at River Crossing

Cigarette Bonus

Until now our roadside trash research has focussed on beer cans. But now we announce a miny extension to cigarette packets. The reason this caught our attention is that 90% of them here are Marlboro. Marlboro is the brand that advertised itself as the cowboy's cigarette. And sure enough, all the cowboys are buying them. At least, all the littering cowboys. The other main brand is Camel. Not sure how those are advertised.

Today's ride: 68 km (42 miles)
Total: 3,374 km (2,095 miles)

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