Monday, October 25 – With a high wind advisory for this afternoon, we took off from Balmorhea, TX at 7:15 a.m., hoping to avoid any problems. Everything was calm until the last hour. As we approached our destination, Bandera, TX, the wind kicked up and the gusts did toss us around a bit. Nothing scary, but I didn't want it to get any worse. Once we left I-10, the 30 miles South to Bandera were calm. We are at Skyline Ranch RV Park in Bandera, TX. We had planned on staying at Pioneer River Resort, but after reading a couple poor reviews we decided to change campgrounds. We did drive by Pioneer River and in retrospect, it would have been fine. Skyline Ranch is nicer though. We have gravel streets and pads with full-hookups.
One of the three clubhouses.
The deer roam all over the campground....that should give Bella something to checkout.
We took a walk down to the Medina River. It's a short half-mile down a trail right in front of our MH.
The river is very nice. The water is clear as glass. We even saw some kayakers floating down the river.
Of course, we saw plenty of deer, a couple donkeys, a couple Texas Longhorn Steer and lots of butterflies.
We took a short, get acquainted drive, through town. Not much there, but we'll spend an afternoon walking around and seeing the historic sites and a few of the shops. Bandera is billed as the Cowboy Capital of Texas.....not sure about that??? There are some honky tonk type bars we'll have to check out!
Tuesday, October 26 – Had a great day sightseeing.....or should I say “shopping.” We drove up to Boerne (pronounce BER-nee). A very quaint little town. In 1849, a group of German colonists from Bettina camped on the north side of Cibolo Creek, about a mile west of present-day Boerne. They called their new community Tusculum, after Cicero's home in ancient Rome. In 1852, Gustav Theissen and John James laid out the town's site and changed the name to Boerne in honor of Ludwig Börne, a German poet and publicist. Ironically, Mr. Börne never visited the town that was named after him.
We stopped first at the Visitor's Center and was assisted by a very helpful lady. She told us everything to see and gave us a great map of the downtown area. Her first recommendation and our first stop was the coffee house/bakery called Bear Moon.....yummmmmm!
From there we walked through the downtown area, stopping in ALL the little shops (well, at least 10-20). They really were very neat shops. Marsha bought some gifts for family and friends (these will have to remain a secret incase someone is reading). She just loves buying gifts for her family and friends.....jeesh! Here are some of her favorite shops.
Corner Cartel…it has just about anything anyone would want. The owner was so nice. She has the store arranged in themes. A “Not To Miss” place.
The Tall Pony – a ton of neat gift ideas at a very reasonable price. It has the original bar from the 1800’s. It is an Ice Cream Parlor
Carousel Antiques and Pickles – tons of antiques and pickles. The “Pickle Lady” had samples of her pickles. Yes, we bought a quart of the spicy pickles. They are delicious!!! No antiques were purchased.
She hit tons more stores but that is enough for now.
We did the walking tour of the city. We stayed on Hauptstrasse Street. For you non-Germans, that translates to Main Street.
Adler-Bermann Lumber (1911) – Oldest lumber-hardware store in Boerne. It has survived Wal-Mart and Home Depot.
Gotlieb Weiss Home (1877) – He was a German pioneer blacksmith with his shop in the back. The garden in the back was beautiful.
Kendall County Courthouse (1870) – The Clerk of Courts and Judge are the only ones housed in this building. Renovation of the building was just completed in July.
When we went upstairs to see the courtroom, the Clerk of Courts gave us a great history lessons on the building. She was so nice to talk with. The room is restored to the original look of the 1800s.
Marsha asked about the floor colors. The CC said that they had found a swatch of carpet and painted what the original carpet colors and pattern on the floor.
The ceiling was awesome. Ignore the resist lighting. That isn’t original:)
Dienger (Joseph) Building (1890) – was a restaurant but now is the library.
Ye Kendall Inn (1859) – was built as a home and later expanded as a hotel and stage stop. It is now a conference center, and hotel with dining room.
The back has a huge courtyard with tables and a rose garden.
This is a wonderful stop in Hill Country. Everyone was so friendly!
We did stop and get the Jeep inspected. Texas requires annual inspection. We had registered the Jeep and Motor Home on line, but are required to get inspections within ten days after returning to Texas if the inspection sticker is expired. Ours expires November 1. Paul plans on taking the MH in tomorrow for its inspection. Sure seems like a money making deal. $14.50 for each inspection. Of course the inspection station found the license plate bulb was burned-out. $1.45 for the bulb and $7.50 labor to change it. If we would have left and changed it ourselves, we would have had to pay for a second inspection.....$14.50. So Paul checked all the marker lights on the motor home this evening, before the inspection tomorrow.
Marsha took Bella for a walk and to introduce her to some of the neighbors. Bella wasn’t afraid at all. Marsha had to hold her back from going to close to her new friends.
For rest of the evening, we planned the rest of our site seeing in Hill Country.
Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you again real soon. Have a great day!
