Fredericksburg Trips Day Three

Old Jail

We have long been interested in the old buildings that you can find in some of the smaller town in and around the Texas Hill Country. Most of them date back to the early 1800's and all of them are on the National Register.

If they could only talk they could tell some interesting stories. Not everyone is interested in old buildings but they're a big part of our country's history and they are worth seeing.

Old Ranch House

County Court House

1800's Home

These buildings are full of old Texas history and are well worth the time to find them.

Fredericksburg Trips Day Two

We've heard a lot about Camp Verde so we decided to see what it was all about. Camp Verde was established by the U.S. Army in the 1800's to raise and train "Camels".

They sent hundreds of them to the Texas Hill Country to have them trained and then relocated to the Big Bend part of Texas to see how well they would work in that environment. It didn't work so a lot of them were turned loose and some of them were sent back to the Hill Country.

Camp Verde Store and Post Office

There has been a U.S. Post Office here since 1875 and it is still in operation to date. The Post Mistress said they serve less than 100 patrons but in spite of the actions of the U.S. Postal Service it is still operating.

This Post Office is about 17 miles from the nearest large city of Kerrville, Texas.

Fredericksburg Trips Day One

This is our first day off and we decided to get with Lee and Carma and take a picnic lunch and see some of the sights around us.

We decided to visit the Enchanted Rock about 30 miles north of Fredericksburg. We'd read some about it and it seemed like a good place to start our sight seeing.

The Enchanted Rock rises about 425 feet above the surrounding country side. It's the geologic center of Texas. From the top of the rock in any direction you can see a big variety of plants that started here in Texas and then were found all across the state.

Fredericksburg, Texas "Workamping"

We arrived at Oakwood RV Resort in Fredericksburg, Texas after about three days of straight driving. The roads and weather were good but it's nice to be able to be in a spot for several months.

This is our first attempt at "workamping" but I believe we'll enjoy it. The park is real nice and it has an Olympic size pool and a hot tub. The manager and his wife are very nice and they treat you like family. We met and really liked another "workamping" couple, Lee and Carma, they too are just like family.

We had a meeting with the manager about our duties and hours we'd be working and I don't know if we can take it or not. It sounds like "slave labor". We'll each work three days a week about five hours per day.

I'll have to drive a golf cart around the park and pick up the trash from the sites, then later that day I might have to escort new guests to their sites. They are going to send me to a school to learn how to do these hard jobs. Jerry has to plant and water a few flowers and plants around the park. She doesn't get to go to school though.

Our new friends Lee and Carma work the same number of hours but they have different jobs. We'll have plenty of time to take side trips and see some of the sights in and around the Texas Hill Country. This is some of the most beautiful country you can imagine.

Fredericksburg is a small town with population of about 9,500. It's an old German town and there are a lot of good restaurants which feature real German food. There are a lot of quaint shops and by and large their prices are not too high.

Jerry and I have grown to really like the Hill Country and I truly believe we'll really like "workamping" here and come back as often as they'll have us.

Yuma Again

The drive from Tucson to Yuma was not bad at all, the weather was nice and the roads were good. We spent the night in Gila Bend and it was nice and quiet.


The trip to Yuma is not for sight seeing this time but it's to check about getting some dental work done.

We're going to stop at the Yuma Army Proving Ground RV Park again. It's about 35 miles from here to Algadones, Mexico.

We talked to several RVers who come back here year after year about getting dental work done in Mexico. Three of those recommended the same Dentist my friend had recommended. They said the dental work had been done properly the first time and the price was very reasonable. Some had gone back for additional work over the years.

We drove to Algadones to check out the Dentist. The drive was no problem and getting into Mexico and back was no problem, all we had to show was a picture I.D.

The Dentist was very nice and professional, she carefully x-rayed the teeth to see just what needed to be done and then offered her recommendation. The office was nice and clean and seemed to have everything you'd find in a dental office in the states. The Dentist also taught dentistry at San Diego State University in California during the off season.

I agreed to have her do the work and we arranged to be back the next morning and get it done. The work was done with no pain and in a very professional manner. They make and install the plates the same day the other work is done. We came back three days later for a follow up and to have any necessary adjustments made.

Since everything seemed to be going okay, we decided to head back to Fredericksburg to begin our first attempt at "workamping".


Our next journal will be after we get back to Texas.

Tucson Again

We pulled into Tucson again to visit some friends and rest up after a long trip from Las Cruces. We are going to stay at Davis Monthan AFB again. It's s real nice RV Park and with the commissary and BX it has all we could want.

Davis Monthan RV Park

We called our friends Scott and Nur and they invited us to dinner. They drove to the base and picked us up. We went to a special place they knew where the steaks were out of this world.

The room was covered with ties hanging from the rafters and walls. Scott said if you come to this restaurant with a tie on they "cut it off" and hang it up.

We did some more sight seeing while we were here, need something to pass the time of day.

After two or three days we decided to head on to Yuma. From here it should take about two or three days, after all we're in no big hurray.

Las Cruces Again

After a short drive from El Paso we arrived in Las Cruces to visit with my cousin for a few days. It's always a pleasure to visit with him and his wife Helen. They really seem to appreciate our visits.

We stayed at Gaslight RV Park again. It's a nice park and it's also a Passport America Park and their rates for 50 amp full hook up is $14 per night.

Gaslight RV Park

We went out several times to the best Mexican restaurants I've seen, the food was great and the prices were very reasonable. We also did some more sight seeing which was fun.

Tribute to our Marines

After a couple of days we left to continue our trip to Yuma. We figure it'll take about two maybe three days to get to Yuma. Well we're not in any big rush to get anywhere. We'll probably stop off in Tucson and visit with our friend there.

Back to Yuma

We left Fredericksburg heading to Yuma to check out the possibility of good inexpensive dental work.

The roads and weather in west Texas were both great. I firmly believe Texas has the best roads we've traveled on during all of our trips. The Interstate system, the State roads and even the Farm to Market roads are truly great.

We stopped at the Balmorhea RV Park about mid way from Fredericksburg to El Paso. The park is real nice and quiet. It's a Passport America park and their rate for a full hook up 50 amp site which also includes cable TV is $10 per night. The sites are 100 feet long and very level. You have a good Texas sunset to enjoy.

Sites at Balmorhea RV Park

West Texas Sunset

After a restful night's sleep we continued our trip to Yuma. Our next stop will be at Flying J Truck Stop in Anthony, Texas. We like to fill up and have dinner at the Flying J's, they are really RV friendly at the fuel sites and by and large the food in the restaurant is very good.

We gave this thirsty diesel a good long drink and then we went to the restaurant to fill ourselves up and spend the night.

We're now on the road again and plans are to stop in Las Cruces again to visit with my cousin for a couple of days before we get to Yuma. This will be a welcome break in our long journey.

Gone Again 4 Fredericksburg, Texas

We made the long trip from San Antonio to Fredericksburg, about 60 miles and the country side was great.


We checked into Oakwood RV Resort for maybe a week or two to see some of the sights in the famous Hill Country of Texas. The sites are not too bad but they could sure use some work. The manager and his wife, Dave and Lynn are super folks and go out of their way to make you feel welcome. They treat you like family. The park has an Olympic size pool with a hot tub which is nice.


We took a trip to Lukenbach, Texas to see what all the excitement was about this place. You know this is where "Willy, Waylan and the boys" are from.We were excited about seeing this place, I'll let you make up your mind if you're excited.

Lukenbach Post Office

Inside Post Office

Lukenbach Dance Hall

We need some dental work done and one of our friends highly recommended a Dentist in Algadones, Mexico. We decided to go there and check it out.

Before we left for Yuma, the manager Dave offered us a "workamper" position for August to November and then after the New year till May. We'll work 20 hours per week and get free full hook up site and laundry. We accepted.

Gone Again 3 San Antonio, Texas

Entrance to Ft Sam Houston RV Park

We arrived at Ft. Sam Houston RV Park to spend a week or so visiting with my brothers and niece here. The site we had was great, it was on a long concrete pad with a covered patio, 50 amp service and cable TV. The next site was at least 60 feet away, wow.

We toured many places in and around San Antonio and had a wonderful time visiting with my two brothers. I hadn't seen them in about 25 years and it was just like meeting them for the frst time. My brother that lives in San Antonio took us all over the town showing us the sights.

River boat tour of San Antonio River

We went to the Alamo and I must say I was highly disappointed. They had all kinds of booths selling all sorts of souvenirs, most of them made in China or Japan. They would not allow pictures to be taken inside the Alamo.

After about a week of visiting and seeing the sights, we decided to go to Fredericksburg, TX and see the sights there.

Gone Again 2 Gulfport, MS

After getting some items taken care of we finally hit the road and pointed this big diesel west. We don't plan to be back here till sometime about mid October.


We drove to Gulfport, MS to visit some relatives there. We stayed at the SeaBee's FAMCAMP. It was a real nice park and the SeaBee's built if themselves. You know what they say about the SeaBee's: "Rome wasn't built in a day, it took the SeaBee's a weekend to build it". Ha Ha.

SeaBee's FAMCAMP

After spending several days visiting with family and having some very very good dinners at the casino, we left for Houston, TX to have some service work done at the Cummins Service shop.

We arrived at the Cummins shop about mid afternoon and they would not be able to start the work until the next morning. They plugged us into a 50 amp service site and it was free. The next morning they started on the work and finished about mid afternoon. They said we could leave or we could spend the night again, free. Hey, we stayed.

Gone Again

After getting our surgery done and getting over everything, we finally got on the road to go to the Great North American RV Rally in Louisville in June.

We stopped off in Glasgow, KY to see Jerry's aunt. It's always a pleasure to see her. We stayed in Singing Hills RV Park which is owned by Ocsar of the famous Lonzo and Oscar comedy and singing group of the Grand Old Opry. It's a nice and quiet park.

We visited and had lunch and dinner with Jerry's aunt several times and she really enjoyed seeing us. We spent a couple of days there and then had to make our way to Louisville for the Rally.

We arrived at the Rally site at the Louisville Fair Grounds and had to drive around the grounds a couple of times before we got to our site. We were parked on pavement with 30 amp service. They had a lot of rain before we got there and some of the RVs they parked on the grassy sites were sinking into the wet ground. They parked a 45 foot Prevost in one of the sites and it began to sink up to the bottom of the coach...not good.

The main buildings were just across the street from us so we didn't have far to go to see the new RVs on display. They provided a shuttle from the site to the auditorium where the shows were to be held. As in the past, the seminars and entertainment was GREAT. The Oak Ridge Boys were the last group to appear and they were absolutely GREAT. They were the only group to get 5 standing ovations and 3 call backs. Most of the music they played was patriotic and they paid homage to the veterans in the audience. They asked all the veterans and active duty military to please stand up. When they did they got a big applause but there was a small group of RVers that booed them. The Oak Ridge Boys said they would not continue their show until that group of rude RVers were removed. The security personnel escorted them from the building. That brought another round of applause for the Oak Ridge Boys.

There were about 5,000 rigs in the Rally and it was nice in spite of the rainy weather.

We left and went back to Meridian to get some business taken care of before we really hit the road this summer.