Bandera & Gruene

 January 16, 2021

Bandera's title, "Cowboy Capital of the World" originated when it became 

a staging area for the last great cattle drives of the late 1800s.  

Our first stop was the visitor center with this boot sculpture out front.

The visitor center is in the Old Hay Home built in 1870

Typically Saturdays have a shoot out drama behind the visitor center, but they informed us that there would be no show today.  Bummer, oh well, moving on.  We did see the scenery here.

Around the corner was the original jail and courthouse.

"OFFICIAL HISTORICAL OLD JAIL & COURTHOUSE.  BUILT 1881. LOCAL STONE CYPRESS FLOORS USED. HOUSED COUNTY OFFICES UNTIL 1890. USED 57 YEARS"

Walking thru town we saw this mural.  Little did we know that we were minutes away from meeting the Chuckwagon cook pictured here in the mural.

But first we stop for me to saddle up on "Redneck" a longhorn steer.

He was a solid animal, but very docile at 14 years old.  Even if he stuck his tongue out for this shot.

Yee Haw !

And then we meet the adorable, Kelly, the Chuckwagon Cook.

Kelly rents out his wagon for films, including the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, where he even drove Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds to the premiere in another of his wagons.

• This type of Chuckwagon was designed by Charles Goodnight in 1866

• This Chuckwagon was used in the George Strait/Ty Murray commercial for the Houston Rodeo

This Chuckwagon has been featured on the

"Food" and "Travel" Channels, the Texas Tourism Commercial and Flip this House

Owned by Kelly Scott of Bandera, TX

Kelly also caters parties and is a farrier: a craftsman who trims and shoes horses' hooves.

Kelly was a delightful old cowboy who chatted with us for about half an hour.

I no longer am missing the shoot out drama, meeting Kelly was a great experience that more than made up for it.

County Courthouse 1890

built with local limestone, as are most buildings around here.

Honoring all cowboys, and don't you love the nick names:

Toots, Buddy, and Scooter Fries

Statue on top of Cowboy Plaque

Sure it was getting warm so we put our jackets in the truck and

Jim was all in with his cowboy hat now.

11th Street Cowboy Bar was the old blacksmith shop in 1850

oldest stone building in Bandera 1855

St Joseph's Convent-Parish Museum 1874

Originally erected for the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception as a convent; later used as a school for children of early Polish settlers.

St Stanislaus Catholic Church 1876

"Established by the Polish colonists who came to Bandera in 1855.  Their 1858 log building was located where the present gothic vernacular stone structure stands.  It is the second oldest Polish church in America."

The murals and stained glass are beautiful.

"St. Stanislaus was born June 26, 1030 at Szczepanów, Poland. He studied canon law and theology in Gniezno. In 1072 he was named Bishop of Kraków. After his conflict with Bing Boleslaw II about his lifestyle, Stanislaus was murdered at the altar during Mass in St. Michael's Church on April 11, 1079. He was canonized in the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi on Sept. 8,1253."

Jureczki-Tobin House 1876

Touring town was fun, now time for a picnic lunch on the Medina River here in town.

Carved tree in Bandera City Park

Second carved tree in Bandera City Park

Reflection of Cypress trees in the Medina River.

Sure Bandera is a touristy town, but plenty of cowboy fun to be had here.

January 17, 2021

Sunday and the living is easy.  Today we spent at the campground.

Here we are at the small fall/cascades enjoying the scenery.

Here is a video so you can hear the water here.

When out on a walk we spied a deer wading into the river.

Our neighbor to our right left yesterday morning and so far no new neighbor.

I am enjoying the increased view of the river and additional sunshine, for now.

It is a nice spot so it won't stay empty for too long.

(The truck in the center is across the street as is the orange corvette that belongs to Harry from upstate New York.)

We set up to watch a little football and have some snacks in the afternoon sun.

It was a beautiful day.

January 18, 2021

As we get further west and closer to the mountains we are considering getting a diesel truck to tow the fifth-wheel more easily.  So we spent the morning looking online at trucks in the area and figuring out what would best suit our needs.  So with that activity taking up our time it was 2:00 pm before we headed out for Kerr Wildlife Management Area.

No foot trails, people need to stay in there cars on the main road.

The views are grand

but so far we have not seen any animals

but we did learn about land management, the following will explain axe, cow, plow, fire and gun

Yes, our tax dollars are at work here.

But the views are good, even if all side roads are closed to the public.

Here is my happy driver in our dirty truck

Wait there are some turkeys ahead, unfortunately we have spooked them and they are on the run.

My brother Jim, still holds the title as best turkey photographer.

Well, the views at the Management were worth the drive, especially since the drive there also had beautiful views.

Shot taken by our Garmin on the windshield.

Since no hiking at the management area today, it is back on the campground trails.

and I am not alone, here is a deer and her fawn

the river looks good in the afternoon sun

and the twin ducks who live on the water by our site welcomed me back.

Another good day.

January 19, 2021

This morning we drove to check out a diesel truck while we liked the way it drove it had an 8 foot bed which I did not like as our current truck is long enough with a 6.5 foot bed.  It also did not have the pucks in the back to put our hitch into, and no truck bed cover.  We passed on this truck.

After test driving the truck we headed over to Gruene Historic district to look around.

Here we are at the Gruene Mansion Inn originally,

"THE SON OF GERMAN IMMIGRANTS, HENRY D. GRUENE WAS BORN IN NEW BRAUNFELS IN 1850. IN 1872 HE BUILT THIS HOME, IN WHAT WAS THEN THE TOWN OF GOODWIN. GRUENE BECAME A LEADER IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMMUNITY, WHICH LATER WAS RENAMED FOR HIM. ALTHOUGH THE TOWN DECLINED AFTER GRUENE'S DEATH IN 1920 AND NOW IS PART OF NEW BRAUNFELS, THIS VICTORIAN HOME, WITH ITS ELABORATE EASTLAKE DETAIL ING STANDS AS A MONUMENT TO HIS CONTRIBUTIONS."

The town had a Long Grove feel to it, historic buildings with boutique shops and restaurants.

Hunter Junction is a Gruene's first retails shop 1981.

The building is from 1854 by Rudolf du Mentil.

GRUENE'S HALL

"BUILT IN 1878 AS A SALOON AND SOCIAL HALL FOR AREA COTTON FARMERS. THIS IS BELIEVED TO BE ONE OF THE OLDEST DANCE HALLS IN TEXAS, CHRISTIAN HERRY (1854-1917) BUILT THE HALL UNDER THE DIRECTION OF TOWN DEVELOPER HENRY D. GRUENE, FOR WHOM MANY OF THE FARMERS WORKED. THE CENTER OF THE COM MUNITY'S SOCIAL LIFE FOR OVER A CENTURY, THE LARGE ONE - STORY STRUC TURE FEATURES A "FALSE FRONT ENTRY WITH ASYMMETRICAL WINDOW AND DOOR "

It still is a bar and dance hall today.

Erhardt Neuse house

"BUILT IN THE 1880s BY HENRY D. GRUENE, THIS WAS THE HOME OF THE FAMILY OF ERHARDT NEUSE, FIELD FOREMAN OF H. D. GRUENE'S VAST COTTON INTERESTS. THE NEUSE FAMILY CONTINUED TO RESIDE HERE UNTIL THE 1930s, WHEN THE TOWN OF GRUENE EXPERIENCED A DECLINE. FEATURES OF THE LATE 19TH - CENTURY VERNACULAR COTTAGE INCLUDE AN EXTENDED SIDE BAY WITH ANGLED CORNERS, BOARD-AND-BATTEN SIDING AND AN INSET FRONT PORCH WITH MILLED BRACKETS."

ORIGINAL GRUENE MERCANTILE

"FOUNDED IN 1878 BY HENRY D. GRUENE TO SERVE THE FAMILIES WORKING ON HIS COTTON FARMS, THE ORIGINAL GRUENE MERCANTILE SERVED MANY PURPOSES FOR THE COMMUNITY. IN ADDITION TO PROVIDING FOOD, CLOTHING, HOUSEHOLD GOODS AND FARM IMPLEMENTS, THE STORE WAS A STAGE STOP AND A POST OFFICE. IT WAS ALSO USED AS A DISTRIBUTION POINT FOR H. D. GRUENE'S DISTILLERY, SELLING HIS GREEN RIVER BRAND WHISKEY. THE WOODEN BUILDING WAS MOVED TO THIS SITE IN 1904 WHEN A NEW TWO-STORY RED BRICK MERCANTILE STRUCTURE WAS ERECTED ON THE ORIGINAL SITE ACROSS THE STREET."

The 1904 Mercantile (when did they all become stores, mercantile seems grander)

"IN 1878 HENRY D. GRUENE (1850 - 1920) ESTABLISHED À MERCANTILE BUSINESS AT THIS SITE. TO PROVIDE MORE SPACE FOR THE GROWING BUSINESS, THIS BUILDING WAS ERECTED IN 1904, ONE YEAR AFTER THE LOCAL POST OFFICE NAME CHANGED FROM GOODWIN TO GRUENE. THE MERCANTILE SERVED AS THE COMMUNITY'S BUSINESS AND SOCIAL CENTER UNTIL 1938. THE BRICK STRUCTURE FEATURES CORBELLED CORNICES AND REFLECTS INFLUENCES OF BOTH CLASSICAL REVIVAL AND RICHARDSONIAN ROMANESQUE STYLES."

Here is one of the display windows.  The building houses antiques now.  It has a great feel inside as it seems fairly unchanged from its original structure.  There were just so many dealers and antiques inside it was impossible to get a picture of the interior details.

We ate here at the Gristmill River Restaurant.

Everything is bigger in Texas, a least the onion rings sure are.

Jim enjoyed ribs while I had a great prime rib sandwich, not surprising Texas has good meat.

Here is the fireplace in the room we ate.  A steer seemed odd but Texan.

Now truly odd 3 wild boars on this fireplace.  I did not find it appetizing, glad it was not in my room.

Here are some shots of the interior of the grist mill.

I found it very cool.  The room we ate in had a view of the river and folding doors that opened completely so we had inside dining with an outdoor feel and when it started to rain, we stayed dry.

January 20, 2021

Wednesday, it rained all day.  We took the time to plan our next four stops and book campgrounds for each.  We now know where we will be until March 1.

January 21,2021

Today we bought a diesel truck!

We went from this gas truck . . .

to this diesel truck.  It has more towing capacity then we need so the mountains out west should not be an issue with this hauler.

We need to transfer a whole lot of stuff from the old truck to the new truck.

Lots more stuff inside to be moved as well.  You need a lot of things when travelling for a year.

And yes this one has a 6.5 foot bed with the pucks for our hitch and we were able to transfer our truck bed cover to this truck.

Jim is ready to be a diesel truck driver.

Oh, and all of this will have to get hooked up in the new truck.

The drive home was smooth, looks like a good decision.

And just for fun; Truck decor from the auto brokers.