Sickly sweet and dolefully true, Stumpy walked off with all the peaches in Fredericksburg, clearly dominant in a two game sweep. Like a wet dog (It was drizzling), I then readied Frac for the four hour trip to Victoria. Thankfully, we were once again granted traveling mercies and arrived safely at Victoria's Riverside Park. The park is Texas immense: there are nature trails, paddling trails, a golf course, a baseball stadium, a toddler playground with five big toys for runts to ramble on, and of course, there are eighteen first come first serve RV sites. It's not really scenic, but it is cheap ($12/night), and since we're here just for the night, it's perfect. We spent a wonderfully sticky (Eighty degrees plus humidity) hour or so touring the historic homes in old downtown Victoria. Most of the homes are plantation style with gloriously huge pillars holding up wrap around porches. What's even more amazing are the very old live oak trees with their tendril like arms reaching the ground. One mansion has a tree that takes up its entire back lot. As we walked, we noticed debris in the street left from the approximately four inches of rain that pummeled the area sometime before we arrived. The news is flashing a flood warning for the area, but so far the rains seems to has subsided (At least for now). In the RV area of the park, we're protected by a deep wash that has some water in it, but also has a capacity to hold much more. I'd hate to think enough water would flow from the heavens to fill that gorge quickly. Not to worry (But I will keep a watchful eye). After our walk, we drove around Victoria for a little while. Like most Texas towns, the city has a central square, and in Victoria's case, the square houses the official offices (Police, courts, banks, etc.) In some other Texas towns we've seen, the squares house shops and restaurants, but not so in Victoria's case. We're eager to get to the Galveston area tomorrow, even though another deluge of rain is forecasted. Judy has finished Isaac's Storm about the hurricane that hit Galveston on September 9, 1900, and I'm almost finished. It will be interesting to compare the history of the area with what it is today. Even in our rain coats life is good, especially today.
We had to skirt the north end of San Antonio to reach Victoria. Thirty miles away, suburbia started.
Of course we had to stop in Smiley, Texas for BBQ.
The pit (You can barely see it, but smoke was billowing like an Indian signal: It said, STOP AND EAT COWBOY. YANKEES WELCOME, TOO).
The special.
The humor.
The lunch.
We left with a sheen covering our smiling faces.
Home Sweet Victoria.
The gazebo in Victoria's town square.
Frankly, Scarlet...
Sweet azaleas, Stumpy.
Incredible spider like trees.
This live oak took up the whole yard.
Art shot of the day (That's a grasshopper on top there) .
My favorite house.
Quintessential Texas.
I l liked this house, too!
I love Texas pride. You won't see many Washington State flags flying side by side with Old Glory.
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