Kerrville River Trail 10k Volksmarch and A Long Drive - Saturday, July 25, 2020

Once again, Susan Medlin and I did a Texas summer Volksmarch. The start time was 6:30 a.m. in Kerrville, Texas. I was up at 3:30 a.m. to pick up Susan at 5:30 a.m. (She's 1/2 hour from our house.) This is another of those 1-1/2 hour drives into the Texas Hill Country where the temperatures are a few degrees cooler. 

The drive to Kerrville was uneventful and we started walking at 7:10 a.m., after signing in. This is a Kerrville walk I have never done before and it's beautiful.

We drove to the Kerrville River Trailhead start point. The whole 10k was on a wide, paved trail. The temperature was 73 degrees. 

Meanwhile, Bob. and Susan's husband, Darren, did an approximately 2-1/2 hour bike ride on the Leon Creek Greenway bike trail starting at the Ingram Transit Center, part of the Howard Peak Greenway Trail system. They had a great time and talked and talked about the books they like to read (and other topics, I'm sure).

The Kerrville River Trail was mostly in the shade along a river which was nice in the heat of summer. Huge Cypress trees lined the banks and we saw a turtle, geese, and ducks.

Our walk started here.

A cool tree framing the path.

Reflections and a vehicle bridge.

Susan Medlin on the pedestrian bridge.

Tranquility Island. 

Cypress tree.

The trail followed the river past downtown Kerrville and we crossed under two bridges along the way. People were kayaking on the river, walking, bike riding, and jogging on the trail. 

Map of our walk.

There was some sunshine along the way.

The Wood Roses are nearing the
end of their blooming period.

Stately Cypress trees along the Kerrville River.

A very peaceful walk. 

We finished our 10k walk at 9:00 a.m. and both of us were very hungry. Our original plan was to have lunch at Taco Casa, right next to our start point, and then eat Wonder Woman Cookie Collision Blizzards at the Dairy Queen next door to Taco Casa. The only problem...they didn't open until 10:00 a.m. By the time we drove 1-1/2 hours back toward Susan's house, the Dairy Queen there was open. We had lunch and Blizzards. I took Susan home and then drove back to our place.

Bob and I had intended to leave for Gig Harbor, Washington, early Sunday morning. The 5th wheel was out of storage and on a site across from our place. We had started loading the 5th wheel on Friday with what we needed for two months. However, you may have heard of Hurricane Hanna coming in on the Gulf Coast of Texas south of San Antonio. 

When Bob returned home from getting his truck washed, we talked it over and decided to leave this afternoon instead of tomorrow morning. We weren't sure how bad San Antonio was going to get hit or if it would get hit at all. Some said we could get 70-80 mph winds with heavy rain. We didn't want to take any chances and moved up when we would leave; we hoped by 2:00 p.m.

There was still a lot to move into our 5th wheel and we ended up leaving at 4:00 p.m. Our destination for today was Lubbock, Texas, 6-1/2 hours away. We headed north pretty quickly on U.S. 87 through Fredericksburg, Big Spring, San Angelo, and Lamesa. While it was still light, we saw multiple thunderheads building up to the south and west. We received only a few sprinkles. The sunset was dramatic. 

Finally, at midnight (eight hours later), we arrived at The Retreat RV Park in Lubbock, Texas. We did our best to be quiet backing our 35' 5th wheel into a long, narrow concrete site with 2"-4" drop-offs on either side. The 5th wheel tires on the driver side dropped off a couple of times and rubbed along the cement. We were dead tired. 

Our cat, Sunnie, was screaming at us when we came in. He was hungry, thirsty, and wanting some loving. And, yes, we did stop to feed him, give him water, and give him his insulin during the drive. As soon as the 5th wheel was in place, we put out the slides and went to sleep! 

This was a very long day for me from 3:30 a.m. to midnight. Bob had slept in longer this morning so he had a bit more energy left in his tank.

Tomorrow, we are off to Albuquerque, New Mexico. That will be a six-hour driving day as well.