eXploring, Part 2 - Sat., Apr. 27

This post continues my Saturday post Xeriscapes and eXploring.

Saturday's drive west on U.S. 90 was all new territory for us. We passed through Hondo, D'Hanis, Sabinal, Knippa, Uvalde, and arrived in Brackettville around 3:45 p.m. Our friends Kit and Jerry live near Brackettville and we were curious about the area.

Brackettville originated as a stage stop on the "Lower Road" to California. Upon our arrival in town, we saw old buildings and checked them out. The largest and most well preserved was the Kinney County Courthouse below.

Kinney County Courthouse, Brackettville,Texas

But the best part of our exploration today, led us to Fort Clark (established in 1852) Historic District. Fort Clark was part of the U.S. Army's line of forts on the Military Road which went from San Antonio to El Paso, Texas. Click on the plaque below to read of this town's history, including the defense of frontier settlements, Seminole-Negro Indian scouts, Texas Rangers, and Confederate troops.

Empty Saddle statue

Ft. Clark guardhouse.

Blooming cacti.

Old U.S. mail wagon.

We walked part of Fort Clark, then hopped in the car and drove the rest. Many of the original buildings still stand. Information about the buildings comes from the Fort Clark Historic District Walking Tour brochure. The text and historical research of the brochure comes from William F. Haenn, LTC, Infantry, USA (Ret.) Copyright 2010 by the Kinney County Historical Commission.

Below is the Quartermaster Workshops building (1892). Inside were shops for wheelwrights, farriers (horseshoe repairers), wagon repairs, and early motor vehicle maintenance. Another use of the building by the 2nd Cavalry Division, from 1943-1944, was a four-lane bowling alley.

Quartermaster Workshops, 1892.

New Cavalry barracks (Seminole Hall), 1932

Quartermaster Storehouse, 1892. Largest building on post.

Officers' Club, Dickman Hall, 1939. See plaque below.

The spring-fed, 100x300 ft. pool was the largest on any post in the Army. Built by the WPA.

Los-Moras-Spring-fed swimming pool, 1939.

The Old Quarry Amphitheatre is still in use. The original purpose of the quarry was to provide limestone to construct stone buildings at the fort after 1880. "Glory Road" is performed here by the "Old Quarry Society."

After we finished driving past officer's quarters, former hospital and the old tennis courts, we headed toward a residential development where a number of Rvers have settled. Their property consists of a huge covered garage for their RV with room to park golf carts, additional vehicles or even provide covered space for a hot tub. Adjacent to the garage is a small home. The area looked very inviting in some places.

While driving past the homes, we saw deer and wild turkeys hanging out in this yard. There were probably ten turkeys and six deer. Wow, that was a great wildlife sighting!

Tom turkey struttin' for the ladies.

When we finished at Fort Davis, we hightailed it for home. Weather predictions called for severe thunderstorms and flooding. It was about two hours to San Antonio and we watched the thunderheads build up, not only on one side of us, but all around us. By the time we were almost in San Antonio, no more blue sky was left.

About 10:45 p.m., nature's show started. At first thunder rumbled in the distance. The thunder increased in volume until it boomed and cracked directly overhead.

I opened the rear blinds in the 5er (fifth wheel trailer) and watched the show, becoming increasingly alarmed. So much lightning streaked across the sky and for so long, it looked like daytime. As I watched, I saw a huge lightning bolt streak down across the street. I did not see where it hit. My concern grew because we have a very tall tree about one foot away from our living room slide. Luckily the lightning did not hit it! The thunderstorm raged for quite a while and torrential downpours accompanied the thunder and lightning. It was very exciting and nerve-wracking.

So ended another day. I leave you with two parting shots.

Is this the end?

Or is this?

Travel Bug out.

Xeriscapes and eXploring - Sat., Apr. 27

Last April Bob and I did a Volksmarch in Kerrville, Texas, which took us through Riverside Nature Center. The nature center had some beautifully arranged xeriscapes with cacti, mesquite, and other plants that do not require a lot of water.

Xeriscaping is basically landscaping that is dry (Greek: xeros).

I bring this up because today we Volksmarched in Castroville, then drove out to Brackettville, Texas. Along the way, we saw many areas of xeriscaping and south Texas brush country.

Let's start in Castroville. The town is rife with history.

Our 10K (6.2 mile) walk started at Sammy's Restaurant and headed to the outskirts of town, down to Medina Creek, through Castroville Regional Park, past a large, old cemetery and through the historic part of town. Wildflowers, trees and cacti bloomed in red, purple, white and yellow along the way.

Castroville is an Alsatian town with roots in the Alsace region of France at the border with Germany. Many buildings reflect the architectural style brought over from Europe.

Castroville's early residents were mostly farmers. Our walk took 2-1/2 hours because of all the historic markers and photo ops.

Here are photos from our Castroville walk. The temperature was 76 degrees with 90% humidity.

Alsation Steinbach House Park, Castroville, Texas

Mexican hat wildflowers (Ratibida columnifera)

Walking in a neighborhood.

Red yucca (Hesperaloe parviflora) blooming in someone's yard.

Medina River, Castroville, Texas.

Red sage.

Palo verde tree (Cercidium microphyllum)

The "Walking Trail" was a part of our Volksmarch.

Scissor-tailed flycatcher in Castroville Regional Park.

Castroville Regional Park

Castroville Regional Park has an RV campground with two park hosts. It's not a very big park and looks quite crowded. Bob  and I had thought about moving there at one time. It's outside the city and has a large pool. Before we saw it, we thought as a regional park the RV sites would be large. However, after seeing the sites, we don't think we'll be staying here. Rigs were packed in like sardines.

These look like overflow sites.

The main RV park in the trees. Very close quarters.

Little-leaf sage (Salvia microphylla "Hot Lips")

An interesting piece of Castroville history: Since 1847 the community has celebrated St. Louis Day (a Catholic observance of the feast of St. Louis) on the Sunday closest to August 25. Through the years a picnic became traditional on the church grounds following high mass. An evening dance ended the day-long celebration.

After the 1920s, the picnic and dance were held at Wernette's Garden, now known as Koenig Park. A dance pavilion was built in the park in 1953.

A 

St. Louis Catholic Church

Susan and St. Louis statue

Purple orchid tree (Bauhinia variegata)

Beautiful wagon planter display in a yard.

Mexican Flame Vine (Senecio Confusus) with a skipper (?)

Bob in front of the original St. Louis Church (1846). In 1868 Sisters of Divine Providence opened their first permanent school in Texas in this building.

In the Dubuis House below, the two original rooms were erected in 1947 by Claude Dubuis from Lyons, France.  Father Dubuis, the first priest in Castro's colony, was captured not once, but twice, by Comanches in 1847. He escaped unharmed both times and went on to become a bishop of Texas. This house is the first example of Alsatian architecture in Castroville.

The Dubuis House

The building below is now City Hall, but it wasn't in the beginning. It started out as the Medina County Seat Courthouse. When the county seat was moved to Hondo, this building was converted to a school and now City Hall. Its walls are made of 18" thick native limestone.

First Courthouse of Medina County.

Geyer-Rihn House - it looks so inviting.

Fields of wildflowers still in blom.

Poppies

 Koenig Park where the St. Louis Day celebration is held.

This year is the 131st annual St. Louis Day Celebration.
This festival has a long history in Castroville!

Freeze frame. "If I don't move, they can't see me."

Double click on the historic marker below to read about how Castroville started.

Medina River

We stopped in at Haby's Bakery for snacks.

The mural on Haby's Bakery (below) was done in February 2000 by Patrice Hoff, professor of visual arts at college Jean XXIII in Mulhouse, France. The wall is a tribute to Alsatian-Texan history. The mural includes a portrait of Henri Castro (founder of Castroville), the St. Louis Catholic Church, the town of Eguisheim, France and outlines of Texas and Alsace.

Mural on the side of Haby's Bakery.

At the end of our walk, we stopped for lunch at Sammy's Restaurant.

Fortified, we headed west on U.S. 90 to Uvalde and Brackettville. See part 2 of today's post for more.

Welcome to Spacerguy, who dropped in from a parallel universe, and One Texan's Travel's [sic].