Our Texas tour continued in the Hill Country town of New Braunfels. Just 30 miles north of San Antonio, New Braunfels allowed us to further explore the Hill Country while also putting us close enough to San Antonio for Steve’s next marathon. It was a fun few days.
New Braunfels is at the confluence of the Guadalupe and Comal rivers, and activities like fishing and tubing are very popular. It was too chilly for us to get in the water, but we did enjoy a visit to nearby Canyon Lake and the eye-popping River Road. 
Lined with camps, parks, and homes, the road looked like the place to be when the weather turns warmer. We’d love to come back.
We also loved this area because of the variety of bars, breweries, and live music. We visited the Phoenix Saloon.
Established in 1871, it was the first bar in Texas to serve women, and they claim it’s where chili powder was invented. The noontime live show was really great and Steve loved the chili! The Phoenix Saloon was just one of several establishments we visited while in New Braunfels. At Guadalupe Brewing we enjoyed a brew beside a fire and met new friends. At the Grapevine we listened to some authentic Texas music while watching children play behind the stage.
New Braunfels is super family-friendly, vibrant, and rapidly growing. There’s new construction everywhere, reminding us of the rapid growth we saw in Gilbert AZ in the past few years.
When you’re in New Braunfels, you can’t miss the historic district of Gruene (pronounced “Green”). Established in the 1840s, Gruene, which means “Green” in German, fell into disrepair during the Great Depression. In the 1970s Gruene was resurrected and today is a bustling shopping, dining, and drinking destination. In fact, we visited the area three times and loved listening to the live music and watching the Texas Swing dancers at Greune Hall, Texas’ oldest continually operating and most famous dance hall.
Over the weekend Steve completed his first marathon of 2020 in San Antonio. We spent Saturday checking out a few of San Antonio’s highlights, including the Riverwalk, the Alamo, and the Pearl Farmer’s Market.
Steve and I had been here ten years ago when we did the San Antonio Rock and Roll race. Steve ended up in an ambulance at mile 25 in that race and the DNF (Did Not Finish) result has haunted him ever since. Here’s the photo from that race many years ago:
He was set on redemption and the Run the Alamo race was his opportunity. After a few months of no races, lots of training, rest, and my pasta dinner the night before, he was well prepared. And HE WON!!
Steve came in first place in his age group and 24th overall! How encouraging it was to know that preparation and focus leads to success!
We celebrated with another visit to New Braunfel’s music and drinking establishments and Mia was happy about that.
We’re now in Austin for what was supposed to be the big event: South by Southwest (SXSW). The event has been cancelled, along with the Chris Stapleton concert for which we had purchased tickets. We’ll post another blog related to this craziness.
However, our time in Blanco was short as we were headed for our week-long stay in Kerrville, about an hour and a half to the west. 
On display at the ranch is LBJ’s smaller jet, dubbed Air Force 1 1/2. The big jets were too big for the ranch’s airstrip so LBJ and his visitors used smaller planes to get to the ranch. The airstrip still dominates the pastures behind the ranch house.
The LBJ Ranch is still a working cattle ranch and is home to cattle which traces its lineage to the champions that LBJ bred. Walking through the show barn and seeing the LBJ-branded cattle made it all the more fun. These cows have it made!
However, it wasn’t without some lingering pain afterwards. We’ll head back to the doctor when we return to Arizona next month. Luckily I can still enjoy a good picnic, even if my feet hurt!
After our hike we did some exploring of the very cute town of Fredericksburg and did some shopping. Both Steve and Mia were patient while I “poked my head into” most of the shops along Main Street. Maybe it was the free LoneStar beer that was handed out at several of the shops that made it tolerable for Steve!
We even had our picture taken at the kissing booth, with Mia as the focus of our shared affection. 
Traveling with her continues to be a lot of fun. She doesn’t like to be left in the trailer and makes a lot of noise if we do. However, she loves to ride in the truck in her crate, and she’ll wait for us patiently if we leave her in there. So far the weather has been cool enough so she’s been able to come along. We are hoping that continues and she is too. 
While in the Hill Country we also visited other cute towns including Bandera, Boerne, Medina, and Comfort. Between the towns are humongous ranches, many with strange animals in the pastures. It seems that exotic animals are a popular collector’s item for rich Texas ranchers. Anyone know what these are?
We also spent a a few hours on Kerrville’s local mountain biking trails. While we didn’t do any wine or craft beer tasting while here, we expect that will change once we hit our next stop, New Braunfels. Stay tuned!
The primary draw to this part of the world was/is the hot springs. Said to have healing properties, the springs still draw tired hikers and travelers from across the globe.
Along the short trail to the hot springs we saw Native American pictographs that show humans have been here for a very long time. Right along the Rio Grande you find the most interesting things!
I explored the park on horseback while Steve got in a long 19 mile run along the park’s roads. My horse, Little John, was a little stubborn but we managed. He skillfully picked through the steep and rocky trails that made this ride a challenge, even for the more experienced equestrians in our group of six.
Marnie and Steve Travel 