Castroville, Texas Volksmarch - Sat., Oct. 5

News here is the weather has cooled a little. Temperature at the start of the Volksmarch this morning was 76 degrees and, when I finished 2-1/2 hours later, the temp was 82. Humidity, however, has not lowered at all. I'd say it was 80% humidity.

Castroville, Texas' historical influence comes from the Alsace region of France. Historic homes have Alsation design.

Today's Volksmarch was an event sponsored by the LoneStar Walkers Volksmarch club. The start point was the Castroville Chamber of Commerce and the start/finish table and checkpoints were staffed by club volunteers.

Bob played basketball this morning, so this was a perfect activity for me to do without him. I was able to dawdle, go to Pioneer Days at the mill, and take lots of photos along the way. I'm proud of myself for doing a 10K  (6.2 mi) walk in 2-1/2 hours which included time looking at exhibits and taking over 100 photos. (When I use "we," it is a collective we including a number of Volksmarchers.)

St. Louis Catholic Church. That's me and
St. Louis in front of the church.

Original St. Louis Church, 18468

A restaurant in Castroville.

Arcadius Steinle House circa 1847.

Historical Hotel Tarde (Est. 1852)

A repurposed gas station - now an antique store.

You can buy this at the antique store.

About a mile into the walk, all walkers could get into the Pioneer Days celebration at the old grist mill for free. Bob and I had never been to the mill area before, so I had to check it out. My two favorite things were Tiny Town and the pole showing flood levels over the years.

Tiny Town had a few dioramas on display, each was meticulously put together. There is so much detail in the tiny town below which you cannot see. A 1/4" frying pan with two fried eggs in it has shaved graphite pencil lead to look like pepper on the eggs.

Tiny Town

The grist mill

Flood marker next to the two-story grist mill.

Below is the flood marker next to the grist mill to show scale on how deep the water has been over the years. A couple of pictures above, you can see how high the grist mill is above the river. Bob and I figure the highest flood waters must have been 30-40' higher than the river!

Grist mill with flood marker next to it.

The Bathhouse circa 1853

Period dress at Pioneer Days.

Volksmarchers listening to history from a volunteer.

Explaining about this pistol.

I loved walking through town and seeing all the historic houses. We then walked out to Castroville Regional Park and followed the one-mile trail around the perimeter of the park. Castroville Regional Park has an RV Park with pull through and back-in sites.

Castroville Regional Park

Long lines of cars looking for parking for soccer matches.

Soccer in the park.

Artsy drinking fountain.

Volksmarcher taking a snack break.

High-fiving after the game.

Pull-through RV site - pretty basic.

Castroville Regional Park RV sites.

Large pull-throughs.

 Out of the park now, back walking through neighborhoods...

Love the goat.

Old truck in cherry condition.

Creative mailbox.

Reppold Hus - 1875

Wild, or Britton's, petunia

Zion Lutheran Church - 1939

Toward the end of the walk, I was given permission to take a photo of the man below working in his carport doing a wood carving of a deer lying down. Real antlers are attached to its head.

Two blocks later, I was done. The Volksmarch was well attended today. After the walk it was time to go home and shower before my 1:45 p.m. hair appointment.

Saturday blog to be continued - this blog is long enough and the day is only half finished!

Stay tuned.

Texas Residents - Wed., Oct. 2

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.

-Mark Twain, author and humorist (1835-1910)

The return flight from Portland, Oregon, via Las Vegas, to San Antonio, Texas on Tuesday was on time and uneventful. {{Whew}} Bob was at the airport waiting for me with a bouquet of flowers. After unloading my baggage at the 5er, we went to Green Vegetarian Cuisine for dinner.

Bob kept the 5er in good shape while I was gone. He fixed our bathroom vent cover which was brittle and breaking from UV rays, and washed my car. All was in tip-top shape.

Today was spent doing chores: shopping at Costco and Wild Birds Unlimited, vacuuming, meeting with mobile RV repairman to try to get our refrigerator fixed and a few other small repairs done, and laundry.

Bob had a busy day at work. He's interviewing people for a bookkeeping position.

Tonight, I watched Survivor, Criminal Minds, and CSI. Tomorrow, I'll be back to work.

Friday night, we're going out with a meetup group to have dinner at Bombay Bicycle Club restaurant.

This month we are changing our state of domicile to Texas, so we'll be taking the written test for our driver's licenses, getting new insurance, and voter's registration cards. Wow, we're going to be Texans.

Travel Bug out.