Bandera and Hill Country

We definitely are cheap dates. Today was sunny and cool so we just jumped in the truck and took a ride. That's our new truck parked with the Montana. We went into Bandera, the "Cowboy Capital of the World." Seemed like most men had Stetson hats and the front of most of the pickup trucks had brush guards on them. Bandera has many old buildings that were constructed in the 1800s. The old courthouse is beautiful. We continued on through Bandera and went into what they call Hill Country. The countryside had changed from the flat, bland area around the Rio Grande Valley to lush and hilly. The gigantic ranches had so many animals. Besides the usual horses, cattle, longhorn steers and sheep there were many exotic animals. We felt that we were going through parts of Africa, the Andes, the Urals and who knows where else. Last week we found some exotic animals near Edinburg and when posted were advised that many ranches in Texas have these exotics for hunting parties. We saw ram type animals that looked as large as a small horse, other horned animals, long legged ostrich type birds and deer type animals that we have never seen before. Some were close enough to the road to be photographed. We drove through Medina and discovered that one of the few businesses here is Kesee's Bar B Q. We stopped at this rickety looking building with the outhouse on the outside and entered a world of great BBQ. We picked up dinners to go and found a picnic table along side the road at an apple orchard. Nice peaceful late lunch/early dinner, or "Linnner," as Carol calls it. Sunny even met the friendly dog of the apple farmer and agreed the trip was worthwhile. We first saw the gnarly Live Oak trees in Rockport and found one alongside the road that Carol says should be from a scary movie. Tomorrow we are probably attending a Greyhound Meet and Greet in San Antonio.