San Antonio, Texas

Getting out of town

Driving through San Antonio isn't for the faint of heart. Fortunately, Mike did a great job maneuvering through construction zones and congested interstates. We had stayed at the KOA on the north side previously, taking the bus into the tourist (middle) section of the city but missed riding our bikes on the River Walk. This time we headed south to the Baunig Lake RV Park which is a

Passport America campground with a PA rate of $28/night compared to the $60-70 campgrounds. We were ready for a little time away from LBJ State Park with less hilly roads to ride on.

San Antonio's River Walk runs 13 miles south of the Alamo past 4 more historic National Park Missions and an aqueduct from the 1700s.

Our bike rides took us to the five Missions of San Antonio.

After 10,000 years, the people of South Texas found their cultures, their very lives under attack. In the early 1700s Apache raided from the north, deadly diseases traveled from Mexico, and drought lingered. Survival lay in the missions. By entering a mission, they foreswore their traditional life to become Spanish, accepting a new religion and pledging to a distant and unseen king.

San Jose is known as the "Queen of the Missions", the largest of the missions and was almost fully restored. Spanish missions were not churches, but communities with the church the focus. The stone masons were hard at work with restoration as we walked our bikes through the mission.

Just north of Mission Espada is the Espada Aqueduct. The Espada Aqueduct was constructed in 1745 by Franciscans to serve Mission Espada farmlands brought water traveling in an acequia from the San Antonio River.

It’s here at the Alamo that a pivotal battle took place in 1836, where the Texans fought for their independence from Mexico. For 13 days, less than 200 Texans defended the Alamo against more than 1800 Mexican soldiers. Although the Texas rebels lost the battle and their lives (including the legendary Davy Crockett), their sacrifice fueled the rebellion and helped to win the war, carried forward by the battle cry of “Remember the Alamo!”

The downtown River Walk is a beautiful area to enjoy restaurants and strolling musicians. Our last visit was during Marti Gras and was less congested this time.

Riding to the downtown walking only section, we took to the streets to find the Mercado which has music playing and outdoor market during the weekends. It was already afternoon so we grabbed a couple of tacos to enjoy while watching the families strolling the market.

OK we had more than the tacos...

Our four days off ran out and we missed the Pearl Brewery Complex, probably due to the extra bike ride that took us through an iffy area of town with many dogs per household ready to help us get our heart rates up. 

Feeling refreshed after our four days away made us ready to return to the Hill Country for the second half of our stay. We headed a different direction out of San Antonio hoping for less construction. No such chance. The rough roads vibrated one of the trailer's windows open. Mike finally found a place to pull off so he could close it before it broke once we cleared most of the construction. 

Back in Fredericksburg

Trade Days (an antiques swap meet) are held the third weekend of each month seven miles from Fredericksburg. People love antiques here and would bring wagons and dollies to haul out their purchases.

Live music and jam sessions can be found any day of the week without a long drive. We settled in and enjoyed an afternoon of tunes and dancing in the Biergarten.

We passed on the Hemp lotion samples were being offered as we walked around the booths since we weren't feeling any pain and headed over to the fire oven pizza truck.

We continue to visit Pedernales Falls State Park to hike and mountain bike and were offered a host position next winter if we would like.  

Seeing the sites

Getting out and about

It's a good thing that we are staying in Texas longer than usual (3 months) for appointments and other things. As we continue to check off on our to do list, we have time to do a little siteseeing.

Pedernales Falls State Park

Pedernales Falls State Park is a 20 minute drive where part of the Pedernales River runs over massive slabs of limestone creating the appearance of several falls and pools of fresh clear waters. 

We ventured down to the falls and hiked around these huge limestone slabs arriving early to avoid the crowds. Most people head straight to the falls and few are seen on the trails. Many of the trails aren't too technical for mountain biking but also are great hikes on days we want to get away for a few hours.

It would be a great place to swim and tube during the warm summer months. The campground was also quite appealing.

Texas State Parks are trying to care for the land and make a better experience for visitors by limiting people entering each day and doing a good job of managing their resources. Many high capacity days require reservations or are closed once they reach capacity. They post on Facebook once the park closes.

Unfortunately, the state we loved (Colorado) was poorly managed and overtourism was allowed to flourish. Breckenridge was under managed and over built which is one reason we are forgoing skiing there for now. The skiing experience has changed dramatically with too many people on the mountain making the experience less enjoyable with increased chance of injury. Overtourism seems to be changing many outdoor experiences.

New Braunfels, TX

The bike riding is pretty limited in Fredericksburg due to the traffic. We have found a couple of low traffic routes with good climbs to keep our legs from getting too soft. But I found a route on River Road in New Braunfels outside of San Antonio that I wanted to ride running along the Guadalupe River.

It is a beautiful ride over rolling hills even in the winter. It has to be even more beautiful in the spring with the wild flowers or the fall with the trees changing. As we pedaled along the river there was a constant flow of other cyclists and those on motorcycles passing by. But not too fast.

I bet it is a crazy place along the river in the summer with all of the tubing rentals, vacation homes, restaurants and bars that we passed on the way to Canyon Lake.

Maybe we will get to do it all again before we leave Stonewall.

Gruene, TX

The historic town of Gruene, pronounced “Green”, is located right outside of New Braunfels and 25 miles north of San Antonio. The town is known for the great history and is home to Gruene hall (the oldest dance hall in Texas). Several famous country singers and legends have performed at Gruene Hall. Some of these singers include Willie Nelson, George Strait, and Lyle Lovett.

We stopped into Gruene Hall to listen to the local musicians from Austin and do a little dancing. They have free music almost daily and ticketed performers on Saturdays. We are finding the music here amazing.

Before heading out of town, we stopped at the outdoor Gruene Grove for BBQ and more music. We could have spent much more time in this great area but our drive home was calling after a day of cycling and dancing. Yes, we did change our bike clothes before heading to the bar. This is Texas after all.

Christmas in Hill Country

Christmas

50 years of LBJ State Park

This was the 50th anniversary and tree lighting celebrating Christmas at LBJ's Parks and quite an event. with 800 people attending.

One of our jobs was collecting cedar branches for the top of the manger for the live nativity scene. We thought it looked rather nice.

After the tree lighting ceremony, there were decorated trolley rides with a tour of LBJ's childhood Junction School lead by the National Park rangers.

My job that evening was to hand out brochures and let people know what was going on. When I told President Johnson's daughter about the trolley ride and directed her to the table to get a ticket, she declined and said she was here for the presentation. The superintendent quickly intervened and lead her away. Oops.

This was an extra shift to help out so once we got tired, we went home.

Sauer Beckman (Living History) Farm

After the tree lighting, the trail was lit up leading to the farm. 500 people lined up to tour the decorated home and get the volunteer made cookies. They are still offering us leftover cookies every time we have lunch at the farm.

 Daniel was hard at work doing his blacksmithing. 

The best part of the evening was sneaking down the path and sitting around the fire listening to the harmonica playing cowboy under the twinkling stars.

A stop along the path to the farm.

One of our daily walks.

Luckenbach, TX

Luckenbach is only 5 miles from Fredericksburg and has music everyday.

We enjoyed the fire and some very good music and stories on a cool morning.

We made the drive to Boerne (Bernie) for a visit to Quest labs for a blood draw. I asked the phlebotomist for a recommendation for breakfast since I had been fasting and it was 9:30 am. She suggested Bear Moon Bakery and their peach turnovers. Who am I to argue with a turnover in peach country? Why stop with a peach turnover? We added a Kuglehopf (a sweet yeast bread with raisin from Austria and Germany) when the lady in front of us in line to order said she always took one home after breakfast. Good thing we are 40 minutes away or this would become a problem for us. They were both amazing. Who knew Brussel sprout hashbrowns could be so good?

I have to go back in 6 weeks for another blood draw. Looks like a return trip to Bear Moon may be in order.

Guadalupe River State Park

The Guadalupe River State Park is near Boerne and our next stop. It has 4 miles of riverfront where you can swim, fish, tube and canoe. While on land, you can camp, hike, ride mountain bikes.

We were having a cold snap and the park was pretty empty. But the hiking trails were nice and easy through the woods and along the river. This is a place we could spend a little more time someday.

Floating the river on a warm summer day would be a real treat.

One more armadillo. Now to find an opossum.

We have had questions about what is involved in the volunteer positions here. 

The visitor center has set hours 10-2pm. On the farm they lead tours, take care of some of the animals, cook or clean along side the rangers.

 So far, we are pleased with our job as maintenance volunteers 3 days a week 7-11am, well maybe 730-10am unofficially some days. This is a day use park and the work for us varies each day. We get our daily walking in and get to visit the other volunteers on our rounds.