Hill Country You Say?

                                       

Chris:  Nah....These are straight up mountains!  Who knew that the hill country of Texas has such incredible and stunning beauty.  We’ve been in the area between Fredericksburg and Camp Wood for a few days wrestling with rain and cold temperatures but should be through the worst of it.  This state park in Vanderpool is one of our favorites so we stayed for two nights.

            

                                     

      This is a look of terror.  It’s so scary riding down and I have my brakes on the entire time I’m descending.

                                                                                                                                   

                                            

                                        

                                     
 

This is a very, very nice library with helpful and friendly staff in the town of Leakey with a population of just a few hundred people.  I learned that not all the long time residents appreciate the influx of new residents who are moving to the area as a result of wanting to get out of big cities since covid.  Tourism drives the economy in the area with ample opportunities to hunt and fish.

 

    A list of bird sightings at the state park in Vanderpool.

                                                

What an odd sight to see.  The terrain and vegetation reminds me so much of Southern Africa.  I rode along miles and miles and miles of privately owned fenced in areas where hunters can pay big money to hunt animals that are not native to this area.  A quick internet search confirmed that wildlife has indeed been brought in from southern Africa for this purpose.  Not all the local residents appreciate the shooting of animals in captivity for sporting purposes.

                                      

                                                                                                                      

                                             

Boots on a fence!

We are staying in a little cabin in Uvalde County to wait out a thunderstorm.  The newspapers here are full of news regarding the shooting that took place in the school here.  This honey that I bought is a reminder to myself that this place also has good, hardworking people just trying to make a living and the area cannot be defined by that violent act.

I’m enjoying these big horned sheep who live next door to our cabin in the town of Camp Wood, Texas.  I wonder what their future holds.

                                    

                                   
                                    
                                             

          I think I’ll miss these scenes when we hit the desert but right now I’m ready for some flat land!