Texas Heart, German Soul

Friday, July 6th, 2018

A few weeks ago, we decided to take advantage of one of the last free weekends Tony had before band camp starts, and go see an area of Texas we've never been to. One fairly close to us, but never convenient before, when we lived east of Dallas. 

We booked reservations at The Vinyards of Fredricksburg RV Park, formerly known as Quiet Creek. We had the rig ready to go the night before, and Tony finished up the last minute things prior to me getting home. We decided to eat before we left, so he had dinner ready when I walked in. I left work at 5 and we were on the road by 5:45!

We stopped in Brownwood for a quick rest stop, and then continued on. Showers were predicted all along our travel route, but we managed to dodge them. They seemed to be moving east to west and quicker than we were moving North to South. We drove through a few areas that had lots of rain recently, and that made the temperatures much more bearable. 

Brief stop

Storms nearby

Storm ahead!

We drove through some brief showers, but nothing too bad. The terrain was hilly, and interesting to look at. Not a lot of civilization along the route from Brady to Mason to Fredericksburg along Hwy 87, but we did see deer along the highway! at least 4 different places I saw a deer. Luckily they were busy eating, not deciding to run!

We arrived at the RV park about 8:45, and found our site fairly easily. As we were setting up, it began to rain lightly, so we did the best we could and went inside.

Our site 71

After we had the inside set up, we collapsed and surfed our phones, because we knew we'd be heading to bed soon. We collaborated on plans for the next too days, and then hit the hay!

Saturday, July 7th, 2018

Today, we got up and had breakfast, and then after getting a little bit of a late start, decided to do some driving around town. We explored (in the truck) down Main Street, where the historic district is located. Then we decided to find Opa's Smoked Meats, as we really liked their sausage and it had been recommended to eat there in their deli.  

We found Opa's and went inside. We were surprised that it really was more like a deli counter, not a restaurant, but you could order sandwiches and such, so we did and took it to eat in the truck. It was good food! Just not what we were expecting.

After Opa's we decided to find some parking and walk up and down Main Street for a while. I took my umbrella, because a little storm was threatening... I am glad, we had to park a block away, and it started raining on us!

We ducked into a store and shopped a bit while the little shower dumped for about 10 minutes. The really good thing is that the cloudcover really helped keep the temperatures down until later in the afternoon, perfect for walking around outside!

Rain helped cool things off!

We stopped in numerous shops and wineries, oooh-ing and ahhh-ing over this and that. We didn't sample any wines, but we did sample some salsas and other dips and sauces at Rustlin' Robs Texas Gourmet Foods! We found quite a few we would like if we were not watching our carbs and sugars! We also enjoyed looking in the Amish Furniture & Market,  and Der Kuchen Laden, in a former hospital building, full of everything related to the kitchen; small, cozy rooms packed floor to ceiling with everything from cookie cutters to small appliances. We even saw some Polish pottery, that my Mom would love!

Polish pottery, my mom's favorite

About 2:45pm, we were getting tired, the crowds were getting too much, and the heat and humidity was rising, so we headed back to the rig for a bit. 

From the office, you can see the many sites here, and the vineyard they are starting!

After taking it easy for a little while, we opted to hit the road up to Llano, Tx to go to Cooper's BBQ. They are ranked one of the top in the State, and our favorite! So we headed up TX16 to get some. It was a beautiful Hill Country drive.

We were hoping they had some of their delicious Prime Rib, but they didn't. So we opted for the Ribeye, instead. WOW! It was great! We decided to pick up some of their meat rub, so maybe we can bring some of Cooper's home with us.

Tony's ribeye

We had a great meal, then headed back to Fredericksburg. We ended up going to WalMart for something, and doing a little more exploring, before heading home again, where we collapsed. A fun day, but still lots that we can see and do here!

Sunday, July 8th, 2018

Today we had grand plans to go and see some more things around town, but we were too slow getting started and check out was 11am here, so we ended up taking our time getting ready to go and pulled out about 11:15.

We headed down the road, and enjoyed the easy drive. We planned to stop somewhere in Brady for lunch, but could not find a good place to stop with the rig. 

Instead, we stopped in Brownwood for a quick meal at the Taco Laredo, and pulled in at our home RV Park about 2:30pm.

We really enjoyed Fredericksburg, and have already planned another trip over Labor Day!