We crawled into our snug little bed in Frac about midnight still humming strands of the country songs Dale Watson and Ray Benson had belted out. Bob Wills was in the air along with Waylon, Willie, and the boys. It's been a good week here in the hill country of Texas. We rode over seventy miles, soaked up some more Texas history, and just by chance found ourselves celebrating Texas Independence Day (Not really, but those camped around us are). We're one silver bullet amongst a hassle of horse trailers, chuck wagons, water trucks, honey buckets, cowboys, horses, no obvious Indians, and not too many kids. Everyone except us is readying themselves in the drizzling rain to begin the Star of Texas Ride, which has been organized and ramrodded by Bill Harrison for over thirty years. The ride lasts a week, usually begins in Fredericksburg, travels its way East, stopping here and there (It's really a traveling party), and ends up in Austin. Bill told me that in the old days, the Austin Rodeo let the group enter the arena and travel around in a parade, but the logistics of that got to be too complicated, so these people, proud independent Texans all, just go their own way. It's quite something to see, and it reminds me of organized bicycle rides I've been on. The riders will ride some distance. Today, they are just riding around the hill country near here, but tomorrow the whole group will travel to LBJ's ranch near Johnson City. Drivers will shuttle the horse trailers and all the other equipment to the new camp. They will return on a bus, and then all of them will travel together, wagon train style, to the new camp. It's much like when we rode the Tour of Colorado. We'd pack our gear on a truck in the morning. The trucks would shuttle our stuff to the new camping site, and all of us would ride gear free. The difference is that we were just touring. These Texans are reliving a history they're extremely proud to be a part of. It's pretty cool. Yesterday, we rode eleven miles to the Grape Creek Winery where we enjoyed a nice avocado salad, an especially delicious greek olive and feta pizza, and a glass of wine. We then spent the day watching the Star of Texas riders readying themselves for the ride. We listened to a bit of the afternoon pickin circle and then from 8-11:30 we rocked out with several hundred folks to the Dale and Ray show, who are traveling with a opening band called JoBo and the Possum Posse. Both bands groups made us glad we hung around a few extra days. JoBo's group wins for best lyrics: "You're pretty ugly by most people's standards, but you're all right by me." But Dale Watson came in a close second with, "I said I quit drinking, but that was a hangover ago." I'm not really a country music fan, but "when in Rome". I do love that the songs are earthy and real, and plain and straight forward, just like the people who write them. They make me smile, and help me appreciate that life is good, especially today.
Judy getting ready to mount her pony.
Her reward: a nice glass of red.
Fresh salad, hot pizza.
This good ol' boy circled the camp a few times in his wagon, with his smoker on full blast, just like his booming speakers, which were blaring country music loud and proud.
We were surrounded by horse trailers. This is the view out our side window.
The beauty of our horse is that he doesn't eat much.
This nice looking horse belongs to a guy who came from somewhere East of Austin to participate in the ride.
Bill Harrison, trail boss, with his wife Terri Anne (When I came up, Terri was doing all the work).
This pretty guy asked us if he could come down to the show with us.
This is one of about twelve wagons that will participate in the ride.
JoBo, an up and coming country star.
Dale and Ray, crooners both, were well worth staying for a few extra days.
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