Catching Up

Busy days and bad internet have kept me from updating you faithful readers for a while, but I'll try to catch you up to date.

It’s been a (happily) uneventful 5 or 6 days as we’ve continued to explore the Hill Country. We spent a couple of nights in a nice private RV park outside Kerrville and another couple of nights in Inks Lake State Park near Lake LBJ and Lake Buchanan. We then pointed Chuck’s nose north and east. Eventually we'll work our way to Red Bay and home. We are dragging our heels a bit though, we only drove 68 miles yesterday and are here on the north side of Austin, near Lake Travis, for 2 nights.

These lakes in this area are interesting. They’re the result of dams across major rivers and in some cases are huge. Yet, the effects of the drought are visible in low waterlines and sand bars sticking up in the middle of some lakes. Even on the smaller rivers, dams and spillways are frequent and one property may be on the shores of a luxuriant lake, yet a quarter mile downstream the neighbor is facing a dry creek bed and between them is a dam. Who controls the water and the history of all this keeps us wondering. Some research may be in order when time and good internet access are more available.

Marble Falls, TX

Our favorite town so far is probably Comfort, TX, which is down the road from Welfare, TX. There has to be a story there we haven't discovered yet. Comfort is really small and really historic and its downtown very well preserved. There’s good food there and a nice vibe. We managed to eat two meals in one day there, we liked it so well.

Original gas station, now authentic Italian wood-oven pizza place - lunch in Comfort.

The Plaid Goat-dinner in Comfort. Note the neat fountain in the stock tank.

There’s a memorial in town to the 65 German immigrants who chose to be “True to the Union” during the civil war and were killed or driven out of town only to drown trying to cross the Rio Grande River. Years later their families reburied them all together at the site of this memorial which is in German. The 36-star American flag flies permanently at half-staff here. Yes, I feel my people here.

"Treue Der Union" memorial in Comfort

1850's building restoration-downtown Comfort

West of Kerrville there are some dramatic hills, plateaus and gorges. Also, it seems, a major industry is exotic game ranches where gazelles and antelope native to Africa and other places are raised and hunted. I find it a bit disturbing….so called “canned hunts”, but it makes for interesting viewing through the 12’ fences.

So yes, thoughts turn to home, but in the meantime, enjoy the Robin’s photos of the Hill Country.