The forecast for today was mostly cloudy and 60, and there were some dark clouds as we said goodbye to San Antonio.  We headed west and north into Hill Country and enjoyed making a one-hour trip to Austin into a full day’s adventure.

I’ll say this: Texas likes its historic markers.  We stopped for the first one indicated, and then made a three-mile trip through back backroads to Polly’s Church near Pipe Creek.  We enjoyed this drive through the ranches and across creeks before returning to the road to Bandera.

After a while, we decided we couldn’t stop for all the historic markers or we’d never get to Austin!  There are a lot of them, and they’re well-marked a mile ahead of time for the most part.  There’s a lot of Texas history that can be learned along the highways.

We drove through Bandera and then wound our way to Kerrville.  The “mostly cloudy” skies were bright blue and clear and it continued to warm up all day.  At Kerrville, we detoured to Hunt to see Stonehenge II, where we played a nice game of hide-and-seek.  We stopped at one of many roadside picnic areas for lunch, and then headed back through Kerrville.  There was no shortcut to Fredericksburg from Hunt, and it took a long time to go through Kerrville.  I was baffled that a town of 20,000 people would have four McDonald’s.  Kerrville was a drawn-out mess of businesses and stoplights, which bodes well for the town but not for the traveler trying to move through.

Fredericksburg was a delight, my favorite stop of the day.  By the time we got there, it was 70 degrees.  We looked at the Vereins Kirche in the beautiful Marktplatz, and debated going ice skating in the seasonal rink.  Wouldn’t it be funny for a family who’d driven from Minnesota to go ice skating in Texas?  In the end, we opted for some time on the playground instead.

We were amazed at the number of businesses in Fredericksburg, and especially the number of people in town.  Parking spaces were all full and people were bustling in and out of the shops on the main street.  With business names like “Haus,” we were reminded much of New Ulm, Minnesota, but although smaller in population, Fredericksburg seems to have a much healthier main street.

We stopped for ice cream on our way out of town, and then headed to Pedernales State Park.  There we hiked down to the falls and enjoyed the rest of the warm afternoon.

Usually my husband drives, but I took the last stretch into Austin, and by the time we got there his all-day headache had gone fully into migraine mode.  Thankfully we are at a hotel with an evening reception so the kids and I went down the hall to eat while he slept.  When we came back, I did my best to keep them at a whisper and got them into bed.  No one’s been sleeping in the car, so 7:00 bedtime has been working pretty well.  We’re up early in the morning just like at home, so the readjustment to school should go well.

I’d love to return and see the rest of Hill Country.  I had planned to drive about three times as much as we had time for, and we didn’t see the LBJ sites, or spend any time shopping in the towns along the way.  There are RV parks all around here, so maybe someday we’ll come back and stay longer.

Tomorrow’s plan is to spend some time in Austin, then head to Houston and then start for home.  So far, so good!

Related:  Notes from the Road: Texas, Day 7 Notes from the Road: Texas, Day 9

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