Down in the heart of Texas

Up around 7 and on the road by 8:15. This was the first day we’ve seen lots of wild animals. Do they still count as wild animal sightings if they were all behind huge fences? Lots of hunting ranches in the area north of Leakey, TX. We saw elk, emu, at least two different types of deer and, of course, lots of the recquisite Texas vultures or buzzards or whatever the heck they call them down here. The country just north of Leakey (roughly 100 miles west of Austin) was quite beautiful. This is hill country and one of our favorite parts of Texas. And, as usual, we are always quite amazed at the huge spreads, houses and elaborate gates that they all seem to have. One even had a keycard post to open the gate!

John had been wanting to stop at some of the historical markers, but most were too small or on the other side of the road with limited visibility for pulling back on the road. Fortunately, our lunch stop was right by one of the markers. You can click on the picture to read it - we thought it was pretty interesting. You never know what you'll run across when you get off the freeway!!!

It was cloudier today and we hit short rain squalls in several places. The high today was 88 degrees. The car and motorhome are in dire need of a bath, but that comes after John & I get at least one dip in the pool at Magic Valley!!

At around 3 we came upon a big line of cars and semis. After about a 20 minute wait, we discovered that, for some unknown reason, a semi full of fresh beef must have rolled. The top of the trailer was blown out and there were boxes of meat everywhere in the ditch. We surmised that someone was passing in a no-passing zone. Don't know that for sure, but we've sure seen lots of it around here.

We stopped for the night around 4:30 at a pull-off just north of Laredo. We enjoyed hot showers (before the water cooled off) and should be able to get an early start in the morning.