We had no reason to get up early today since we are only going 76 miles north to our next destination in Fredericksburg. Bob had an ARC meeting to attend by phone at 9:30, so he suggested we get breakfast from the campground Patio Cafe. He had a breakfast burrito and I had the French toast and bacon. Bob picked them up and brought them back to the bus for us to enjoy. At 9:30 their time (8:30 our time), he participated in the meeting while I did my preparations in the bus to get ready to leave. The meeting was over at 10:00 our time and we wanted to be gone by 11:30. We finished up what we had to do and were on the road as planned. We took the Interstate through downtown and traffic wasn’t too bad at this time of day.
The news has been reporting about the agricultural fires all over Mexico and New Mexico and with the winds coming from the south lately, the smoke has been creating some very hazy skies for us. Today you could really see it in the air.
Once we left the outskirts of town, we entered into what the Texans call “Hill Country”.
Going north on Highway 87 it became hillier. The elevation is about 1600′ and we could see more hills off in the distance.
There were larger homes and fenced-in ranches scattered throughout the hillsides. On one downward descent from a hill, we reached a speed of 70 mph!! We threw our hands up in the air. Wheeee! On the upward slope, we slowed down to a crawl and Fred Flintstone could have pedaled faster in his Fredmobile up the hill. Oh well, we take it when we can get it. The highway took us right through downtown Fredericksburg on Main St.
There was so much to look at and so many cool places to come back and see. There is a lot of German influence in the architecture and the types of businesses located here.
Fredericksburg, TX is the epicenter of Texas wine country. There are 50 wineries in this county alone. This area is also popular for peaches when they are in-season, which is right now. We’ll have to find us some peach pie.
I was snapping pictures left and right as we drove through town. We plan to spend some time walking around downtown while we are here. We found our campground about 2 1/2 miles out of town and arrived at The Vineyards of Fredericksburg RV Park at 1:00.
It’s a large sprawling campground with lots of sites nicely spaced apart and an open grassy area in the middle.
They were using self-check-in, so we stopped at the office to pickup our paperwork and proceeded to site 107.
It has a nice area of grass at each site and ours even has a tree.
We pulled in and got set up in no time. The campground is not full, so it makes it nice and peaceful. They also have 5 “glamping wagons” for rent.
Bob and I made a run to Walmart to stock up on some items since some of the upcoming campgrounds we are going to are pretty remote and might not be convenient to finding groceries. Upon returning to the campground, Auggie and I sat outside in the shade under the awning. The temp was a pleasant 81 degrees, no humidity, and a cool, steady breeze blowing. It was still hazy, but there is a slight possibility of rain in the next few days which might clear out some of the smoky haze. Tomorrow we’re expecting the windshield repair guy to come out to do the fix, but we don’t know what time he will be here. He’s calling in the morning to let us know. Auggie is going to get a much needed bath and a trim while we wait for the repair to get done. Bob did some research on areas to go off-roading nearby. We are really looking forward to that. Around 5:00, the blue sky finally broke through the clouds and the sun popped out. Better late than never. We had delicious burgers on the grill for dinner and took a walk up to the “glamping wagons” to look inside and give Auggie a chance to run around in the dog park. The wagons are set up for really comfortable camping on the inside. There is a queen or king-sized bed, two bunk beds, a table and chairs, and a coffeemaker. The bathrooms are located outside. There is also a fire-pit for each wagon and chairs for sitting outside by the fire. Not bad, if you’re looking for a different experience!
The sun was going down when we headed back to the bus for a little TV and some relaxation. Only one other RV came in after us tonight. We are looking forward to our longer stay here.