Destination Texas – Kerrville

Sept. 26 – Oct. 27, 2022

Heading South

We left Durango on Sept. 26 and headed south out of Colorado (against Bill’s protest) into New Mexico and then east along I-40. This multi-day trek was a divergence from our original plan due to the blown tire and resulting RV body damage in July. At that time we had called Rolling Retreats (a DRV dealer and repair shop) in Elk City, Oklahoma and scheduled the repair for Sept. 29 – 30. Bill checked with them several times in the interim weeks to ensure that they would be ready for us. During one of those calls, they mentioned taking the RV to a body shop but never gave us further details. He called again as we were leaving Durango and they asked if we had been in contact with the body shop – wait, what???? It turned out that the body shop did not know we were coming and had no availability on their schedule anytime soon. So now what do we do? We debated about canning this detour and going to Albuquerque as originally planned but Bill had a couple of other issues that Rolling Retreats could do. Consequently our detour continued.

We stopped for the night in Moriarty, NM at Happy Trails RV Campground – no frills but comfortable and just off the interstate. The next day we continued on to Amarillo where we spent the night at the Oasis RV Resort. The following morning we had a short drive to Elk City.

About 10 minutes outside of Elk City, Rolling Retreats called and said they could take us right then if we were close. 10 minutes later, Bill expertly backed the RV into their repair facility.

The issues were resolved in about 3 hours during which time Bill, Dawn (our dog), and I sat in their waiting room. Afterward, we set up the RV for the night in the lot at their old repair facility. The next day we headed out for 2 nights in Abilene at the Whistle Stop RV Resort – new RV park with a Pickleball court. Stopping here for 2 nights put us back on our original schedule.

A 3 hour drive south from Abilene brought us to our final “destination” – Kerrville, located in the Hill Country of Texas.

Buckhorn Lake Resort

Buckhorn Lake Resort is a popular RV resort just off of I-10. The resort is big-rig friendly with nice sites and great amenities. This year, we discovered that they had added two new dedicated Pickleball courts and a basketball area. Needless to say, we frequented the PB courts every Monday, Wednesday, Friday (and the occasional Saturday or Sunday) that we could.

Wine Country

With all of that Pickleball, we didn’t have a lot of time for other activities. We did, however, make a few trips into nearby Fredericksburg to visit our favorite winery (Augusta Vin), restaurant (Pasta Bella) and investigate some new locations.

Augusta Vin

We spent a beautiful Friday afternoon sitting on the patio at Augusta Vin, enjoying live music as we worked our way through a charcuterie plate, chocolate truffles, and a glass or two of red wine. What more could anyone want?

Pasta Bella

Later in our stay, we returned to Augusta Vin for a pre-dinner drink prior to dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant in the area. Pasta Bella is a locally owned restaurant in Fredericksburg where everything is fresh and homemade. It’s a small place and they don’t take reservations so you either need to be there when the door opens at 5:30 pm or time your arrival just as the folks in that first seating leave.

Southern Sky Music Cafe

For a change of pace we decided to visit the Southern Sky Music Cafe in nearby Ingram one Wednesday night. Each week on Wednesday they have live music (actually a local music competition) plus a pizza and bottle of wine special.

The CLUB at Baron’s Creekside

Continuing with our exploration of new places, we made reservations at The CLUB for one Friday evening. Live music that evening was a singer/keyboardist and a flutist specializing in Brazilian-style music. Dinner consisted of a couple of paninis with a nice bottle of Riesling. A gorgeous Hill Country sunset capped off the evening.

Cafe on the Ridge

Prior to leaving the area, we did find time to make a trip out to Cafe at the Ridge for an early dinner one evening. This is a great farm-to-table restaurant and bakery in a beautiful garden setting. I was amazed at the number of butterflies on the surrounding flowers.

Time to Head Home

Our summer trip has flown by just like those butterflies. Now it’s time to head for our home in Ft. Myers, Florida. The trek from Kerrville to Ft. Myers included an overnight in Beaumont, TX followed by a 2 night stop in Robertsdale, Alabama. Unfortunately the time in Robertsdale was anything but restful as we discovered we had a roof leak that Bill had to diagnose. Then we were under a tornado watch for 9 hours with 3 separate tornado warnings. Luckily the tornadoes stayed south or west of us. The final overnight stop was in Chiefland, FL. about 4 hours north of Ft. Myers.

We arrived home in the early afternoon on Monday, Oct.31. Although Hurricane Ian caused so much destruction to Sanibel/Captiva and Ft. Myers Beach, our resort came through with minor damage. We are very thankful that our lot escaped unscathed. It’s great to travel but it’s always nice to come home.

We’ll see you again next year! Take care!