Texas, Fredericksburg - Thursday, October 10, 2013 - Texas Hill Country

We saw part of the Texas Hill Country a couple of years ago when we attended a rally in Kerrville and found it was a beautiful area to ride through.  Today we decided to take a “scenic” route described in one of our travel books.  We left San Antonio on I-10 then took route 46 west and then hit route 16 into Kerrville and on to Fredericksburg.  There is a 35 mile stretch of route 16 that has signs that warn of sharp curves and steep grades – they aren’t kidding!!  I experienced my first “hairpin” curve today and then repeated it several times as we went up and down what they call a hill (mountain in my book).  A couple of the curves we went into blind, those are kind of scary.  Greg handled them very well but I just know I was helping by putting on my backseat driver brakes.

The next camera we buy we need to make sure it has a setting for taking pictures while we are in motion.  We saw some beautiful hills, ranches and wide open spaces today that would have been nice to share.

Fredericksburg was settled in the 1880’s and has a strong German heritage.  Many of the stores on Main Street still have evidence of the original buildings even through the inhabitants have changed to mostly upscale shops and boutique clothing stores.  This is a shot looking down Main Street – busy place.

 

 

This former bank is now a real estate office.

 

The former hospital is a kitchen wares store.

 

Our favorite was Rustlin’ Rob’s Texas Gourmet Foods.  There were at least 20 alcoves like this in the store featuring different kinds of dips, sauces, seasonings, oils and vinegars.  What was surprising was that each product had a sample out for you to taste.

 

This is what we picked out to bring home.  I hesitated to buy the Mexican Vanilla since it was kind of pricey and I really didn’t need that big of a bottle, but it smells so good, I decided I had to have it.  I’m sure we will enjoy some tasty baked goods.

I tried jalapeño peanut butter, it tasted just like regular peanut butter until I had already swallowed it and then the jalapeno kicked in!  A small bite was rather good but I don’t know what I would have done with a whole jar – wonder what it would do to peanut butter cookies?

We had trouble all day with the security system locking the bike every time we stopped and turned off the bike.  Greg could get it started by overriding the system with a PIN number but it was a hassle.  When we got home we found out the key fob just needed a new battery.

It was a really nice ride, but we are both tired this evening.  It’s been a while since we have ridden that far.