A Driving Texas Hill Country Loop

Friday afternoon Kim and I left for Rock springs Texas to look at a piece of ranch land. We headed down that long boring stretch of Interstate 10 to San Antonio. After a late compulsory lunch at the Oakridge Smokehouse in Schulenburg we settled in for the rest of the drive, Me at the wheel and Kim in the back asleep. (Nurses who work 12-hour shifts at night tend to want to sleep the next day.) I feel like I have driven the trip to San Antonio at least a hundred times and this one was no different.

What is that on the highway? It looks like……

In San Antonio, as we traveled along I-10 we saw the east bound traffic start to back up. As we drove past we saw the problem and then after we past, we smelled the problem. It seems that a tractor Trailer overturned and lost all their cargo on the highway. There cargo was none other than a big load of cow manure. After about 10 minutes of Cow manure jokes we turned off on highway 90 to Uvalde and the Winter Gardens area of the state. The drive passes through a combination of rolling farm land and south Texas brush country. You can tell that a lot of corn is being grown for fuel ethanol.

Upon arriving in Uvalde we stopped at the local Walmart for Gasoline. they definitely had the cheapest in the area. Uvalde is a nice sized town and while driving through, you can tell that their economy is driven by three four things, farming, Ranching, oil and Deer hunters.

After passing through Uvalde we took hwy 55 toward Camp Wood. From here the terrain turns from rolling hills to pretty rugged mountains. The road is crossed several times by the Nueces River. The water in the Nueces is gin clear with rocks to cause the most scenic rapids. I remember from when I was a kid that the water is also very very cold, even in the middle of July. After about 40 miles of seeing ranches, mountains, rivers, goats, sheep and deer you arrive at the town of Camp Wood. It is a larger town for the area. They have a couple of restaurants and even a few Bed and Breakfasts. I have always felt the highlight was a trip down river road to the deep hole in the Nueces where the water is bright blue because it is so clear, deep and cold. You can see the catfish on the bottom.

Anyway, onward to Rock Springs. At this time, it was getting to be later in the evening. The deer and turkeys were starting to come out in the open. We probably saw at least a hundred or more deer before getting to Rock Springs. We drove around town when we got there to make sure we knew where we had to be the next morning. We also looked for and restaurants in town and we found one that was open in the evening.

Naw!!!!…We don’t need no credit card. you will be in room number……

We stayed in an interesting little small town motel. We didn’t know what to expect because the day before when Kim was making the reservations, the man at the front desk did not need a credit card or anything to guarantee the room. He even told us what room we would be in. It turned out to be a fairly nice little 10 room motel with free internet service.

After finishing up with our Real Estate Agent we headed back for home through Junction where we again caught I10. We passed through a little ghost town of Telegraph, only I think even the goasts have moved out. It had a store/post office/gas station all in one building. Also from this point there seemed to be a Historical Marker every couple of miles. It seems that many years ago the Comanche Indians were not very happy about all the settlers in the area and had a tendency to scalp people.

One thing of note is that I10 currently has a speed limit of 80 MPH on about a thirty mile stretch on which we traveled. When we left, I had planned to drive no faster than 65mph to save fuel, but here I just couldn’t resist.

On the way back home, we went past the city of Kerville(home of the big folk Festival as well as other outings all through out the year.

We also went through Comfort. This is a city of Antique stores. It is an old German settlement and the townspeople have really put in a lot of effort into preserving their heratige.

The last highlight of the trip was eating in Seguin at a restaurant called the Dixie Cafe. it was really a surprise. the food was fantastic. It has inspired me to do a series of review pages on roadside restaurants. Look for more on this site later this week.

After rushing home so Kim could go back to work Saturday night, we get home and she finds out that she was put on call. Oh well, I guess we will have to get lost somewhere else next weekend. Tonight, I have to go back to Atlanta for the week.

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