The Hill Country of Texas, and Lee's Boyhood Memories

Our next stop after Las Cruces was the Middle of Nowhere, western Texas (aka Fort Stockton).  We chose the time to catch up on a few things, and let Barney and Beanie have a day of rest.  "Catch-up" includes house cleaning, laundry, paying bills, looking for windshield wipers, and other such chores.

Our next stop after the Middle of Nowhere was Kerrville, in the Hill Country just west of Austin.  When we traveled through here two years ago, the roadsides were green and lush, with wildflowers in full bloom.  This time, it was brown.  When we visited a nature center in Kerrville, we were told there were two reasons for this: 1) it was an extra-cold winter this year and spring had not yet arrived; and 2) the area was in its third year of drought.

I mentioned Lee's childhood memories.  The Hill Country is less humid than coastal Texas, and Lee remembers his family coming here when he was a boy to escape the discomfort of Houston summers.  His school scheduled field trips to the area each year because of the rich history here, especially in regards to the Texan war of independence from Mexico.  His family often drove here in the spring to see the plethora of Texas bluebonnets (a species of lupin).  And it was on a lake in the Hill Country that Lee sailed in his first regatta when visiting a local family.  His Boy Scout Troop came here for summer camp, and he has fond memories of being stranded on a limestone cliff with mules for company while the troop leaders had to figure out where they were and how to get off the cliff.  He has many good memories of the region.     
                                                          
The Guadalupe River runs through Kerrville and is lovely.  There are cypress trees here, which I didn't expect.  I equate cypress trees with the deep southeast.

In this particular spot there were many domestic but feral ducks and geese, including one I had never seen, the Egyptian goose:

The most exciting find on this walk, in my mind, was the porcupine sleeping in the crotch of a tree.  I have never seen one in the wild.  They are nocturnal, so not often seen during the day.  This one was sound asleep, totally out of it:

The slider turtles were visible too, all sunning on logs on one of the warmest days of spring so far.  Now those are happy turtles!

Speaking of wild animals, I learned that this part of Texas is loaded with exotic game animals from all over the world - from Africa, Asia, Australia, and Europe.  Most were imported in the last 100 years, primarily for the purpose of hunting.  There are all kinds of antelope, deer, wildebeests, sheep and goats.  Even zebras.  I have mixed feelings about this.  Frequently when foreign species are imported, they replace the existing species because they have no natural predators.  But in this case, man is the  (very effective) predator, and many of these animals are now endangered in their own countries.  The Pere David Deer is actually extinct in its native China.  We didn't see any of these animals while in the area, but I did see one dead axis deer, from India, on the side of the road. 

While in Kerrville, we stopped at a local restaurant that served Texan food.  I ordered chicken fried steak, which, believe it or not, I have never eaten.  It was good, but loaded with cholesterol which I normally avoid.  But as they say, when in Rome, etc.  The veggies were cooked to perfection.  I enjoyed it, by the way.  We had a peach cobbler for desert.

The hill country, geologically, sits on limestone.  I really loved the buildings, homes and stone fences here, made of the local limestone rock.  The light color is very pleasing to the eye, I think:

We visited the town of Fredericksburg one day, not too far from Kerrville.  We found the Pacific War Museum (WWII), which turned out to be one of the finest museums on the war of the Pacific that I have ever seen.  The exhibits are attractive, extremely informative and loaded with information, and interactive.  Who would have thought??  It turns out Admiral Nimitz was from Fredericksburg, and that seems to be the primary connection.

Fredericksburg in itself is interesting in that Germans settled the area way back when.  The architecture is an interesting mixture of western and German design elements.  In the photo below is a typical western facade, with intricate German detailing.  Very odd, I thought, and certainly unique.

Here is the west side of the main street.  It is a very lively place, with quaint shops and several restaurants.

Next, Corpus Christi.