Cowboys and Wildflowers.
Hill Country is exactly as it sounds; rolling hills covered in different shades of green tree tops, the grass sprinkled with colorful wildflowers. It's truly beautiful everywhere you look. This past week I stayed in Kerrville, Texas, with a fun and outgoing woman named Raven who opened up her home to me. I was her first couch surfer and she was my first female couch surfing host. Not for lack of trying though, that's just how it seems to be working out. Since I wanted to spend a few days in a small town, I had to get creative with couch surfing and open it up to surrounding areas. I knew I wanted to explore Fredericksburg but since there were no hosts there that were available, I ended up staying in Kerrville about thirty miles south. Another small town filled with retirement centers and an older crowd, it was close enough that during the day I still went to Fredericksburg. The town is a bit larger than Kerrville, with lots of boutiques, beer gardens, and scenery to explore. At night, after making dinner, Raven introduced me to some of her friends. She's a transplant from Chicago and it was really awesome to meet another person from a big city and see how she's doing in a small town. Her friends, who happened to also be from PA, were all exceptionally wonderful as well. Thank you all for being so cool and for giving me a little piece of home in Hill Country. I thoroughly enjoyed discussing our love for the Eagles, the difference between wooder and water, or lack thereof, and why Wawa is the best place on earth. Let's be honest though, anybody from Philly would love that conversation and I'm glad I got to have it with all of you.
When you're in Hill Country, particularly Fredericksburg, there are a few places you should see. The first of which is Enchanted Rock State Park. Texas is similar to Florida in the sense that you can buy a park pass for just their State Parks, that's how many there are to choose from. This particular one I chose honestly because it looked too amazing to miss. I was right. The short, steep climb to the top of the rock is an uphill battle. The huge curve is a bit of a hike but worth it, the world looks as though it's crooked from up there. Did I mention you can also see all of hill country? Yep, that's right. Perfectly lush as far as the eye can see. Unique to Enchanted Rock are the craters at the top. Some home to cacti, others just pools of water, it's what I imagine the moon's surface looks like; swiss cheese. At least that's how I tend to draw it, anyway. The hike around the base of the rock is worth exploring if you can manage it. Everything looks so magical. Wildflowers hide in every nook and cranny, cacti flowers are in bloom left and right, a small stream trickles through the rocky path to the main loop doting a different view of the rock with each step.
Speaking of wildflowers, Wildseed Farms is a little east of Fredericksburg. It's free and truly exceptional. If you want fields of poppies, I'm talking on the level of the Wizard of Oz, this is the place to go. There are massive fields of them and Blue Bonnets next to the busy highway. The pathway is lined with foliage and colorful flowers of all kinds, old ladies sit with their easels painting the day away, and at the end is an opening to some of the poppy field. I guess people have been traipsing in and out of that section for a while, paths are already made and obvious by the run down buds. I took a little while and sat down in the flowers, their height consuming me, and admittedly tried to take a selfie. I wasn't satisfied, it was hard to get the feeling of grandeur without a co-photographer. Instead, I relaxed and collected my thoughts. It's the perfect place to lose yourself in.
Since leaving Austin, I've celebrated my three month road trip anniversary, or as I like to call it, my "road-iversary". I spent it at the Lyndon Baines Johnson National Historical Park. I seem to do that without realizing it, spend my anniversaries at National Parks/Sites. I'm ok with that though, if I can, I'd like to keep the trend going. The LBJ ranch is still a fully functioning cattle ranch. When you drive through the grounds on your way to the Texas White House you can stop anywhere and get out for a better look. Most of them aren't even fenced in. If they weren't so skittish you'd probably be able to walk right up to them. One goat actually tried to put his face through the fence to get me to pet his nose longer. What a weirdo. LBJ spent 25% of his presidency at the Ranch which is also the reason for the press renaming it the Texas White House. I can see why, I'd never want to leave. It's much larger than it lets on and overlooks the river, flanked by massive, gorgeous trees and sprawling fields to run through. Inside the house is a step back in time to the decades of yellow kitchens, tacky, yet somehow tasteful wallpaper, and of course phones everywhere. LBJ even had a phone by his seat at the dining room table, which if you've read my last post or know anything about him, you probably could have guessed. Portraits of their dogs, "His" and "Her", hang on his office walls, and a unique gift from the Secretary of Treasury sits behind his wood desk. It's a stack of one dollar bills printed from the U.S. mint with his face on them; the only ones of their kind. Family photos hang everywhere and, even today, it feels just as homey as I'm sure it did while they lived there. You can't take any photos inside the ranch but I was sure to get a shot of the swing out back overlooking the river, a small detail that every picturesque house seems to have.
After I left Kerrville, I headed for Bandera, the cowboy captial of the world. With a title like that, I obviously was not going to skip it. Unfortunately, the fact that it's Easter weekend didn't help my housing situation, but no matter, I found a place in the few blocks downtown where the action happens and headed that way Friday morning. In reality, I should have planned ahead and grabbed a place on a dude ranch. In my defense though, I highly doubt they would have had room, even if I had planned a week in advance. Weekends are the best time to be here, just fyi. Sometimes there are rodeos, the bars open up for live music, and the honky tonks are jumping. It's the perfect place to break in my new boots. The water tower stands proudly above one of the nicest towns I've been to. Seriously, everyone here is exceptionally friendly and most people aren't even from here. I've met more people that call this town home originally from other places, than those who are born and raised here. On Saturdays, there are jam sessions all over the place. I stumbled upon a few mustached men with guitars and a wagon in front of the courthouse and struck up a conversation. One of the men with a red bandana tied around his neck still tells a story from fifteen years ago. Two women were walking from New York to San Francisco and stopped in Bandera, it was on their bucket list, and bought a pack mule from him. There were a few snags along the way, but a year later they made it to San Francisco, mule by their side. O.S.T. has excellent breakfast by the way, if you're every passing through. Their bar seats, little fun fact, are also horse saddles. 11th Street Saloon is also a spot worth noting. It's bigger than you'd think and wide open, perfect for the weather here, and regularly has live music out back. For a small fee you can go back and two step to your hearts content with any cowboy you find. Since I've started this trip, and mostly since I've been in Texas, all I've wanted to do is ride a horse. I use to do it when I was younger and even though it was one of my pricier decisions, I decided to treat myself. I smiled when Ron told me the horse I was riding was named Traveler, how fitting. Big, brown, and handsome, he was an excellent horse. The moment I got on him everything I remembered about riding came rushing back. We flew through open fields and sauntered about for two hours in the sun, the hills creating a perfect backdrop. I forgot how much I enjoyed that. Hopefully somebody soon I'll be able to ride again.
I spent my last night here chasing a sunset over the ridges along route 337. Have you ever done that before? If you haven't, you should. It's the best way to be with your thoughts, think about anything and everything without interruption, and get the perfect, if not physical, mental photo. 337 is a winding two lane highway that runs from Bandera to Leakey. I drove it there and back, stopping every so often to gaze over the horizon and out past the hilltops. It reminded me a lot of the views from the Blue Ridge Parkway, the way the mountains never seem to stop no matter how far you looked. Gosh, that seems like so long ago. I guess technically it was though, it's been more than two months since then. The main difference between the two are the huge cliffs that border the sides of the road. Not all of it, but some of the ride feels like you're going through a rocky tunnel. I would have never known about this had it not been for the guys from Utopia that I met at the Chicken Coop in Bandera Friday night. I was lucky enough to get to the bar right when they did. The rest of the night was spent over beer, great conversation, and lots of laughs. This week through Hill Country is probably the most I've laughed in a while, so many people have put a smile on my face, I love it.
In case you can't tell by now, I've done a lot of thinking this week. Three months on the road will do that to you. I've finally gotten the hang of traveling solo, meeting people, and taking every chance that comes my way. I'm sure I've said that before but since I'm about halfway through my trip I can now say it with a lot more confidence. I've learned to be cautiously optimistic in everything I do, a quality I already possessed so that's worked out nicely. I've also learned not to worry so much, that everything will work out in the end no matter what.
Since I'm at my unofficial halfway point, here's some fun facts of my trip so far:
Miles: 10,671
States: 18
Couch Surfing Hosts: 16
State Parks: 11
National Parks: 9
National Forests: 4
Cities/Towns: Too many to count
So much more to explore, adventure is out there!
- G.
The Photo:
Sunset over Hill Country.
Vanderpool, Texas.
4/15/17.
