Jan 23 - We've been in Fredericksburg Texas for the past three days. It's only about an hour from Austin, but we came here because I found an r.v. repair guy here who could fix a little problem. We have two cables under the slide-out that had been hanging, and dangerously so. Joe the fix-it guy came to our r.v. park, crawled under the van, figured out what to do, and soon had it done. Nice to have those cables secured, as they're feeds for our propane. Would have been bad news if they'd caught on something and been ripped off. Only problem so far with the van.

Before we left Austin, we hit the Whole Foods market. Could have spent a fortune, but restrained ourselves. What a great store for the new wave in foods. Free samples. Could have stayed for hours.

Now then, why did we stay in this little town of ten thousand for three days? Turns out Fredericksburg has a strong German history, having been settled in the 1840s by a large contingent of people escaping the trials and tribulations of the German states of the time. The town has German restaurants, nearly 70 wineries in the area, and a well preserved German-flavored history proudly displayed around the town. So with our Germany days so much a part of us, it was neat to be in an American town that has such a different flavor.

The Main Street is loaded with upscale stores...antiques, dress shops, souvenirs (but upscale, not honky tonk), and excellent Art stores, as there are many very well regarded artists in the area. As well, there is the Lady Bird Park (the Johnson name pervades), the LBJ ranch not far away, and the hills, which are very scenic. So there's a lot to do and see here for two or three days. There's also a Museum of the Pacific, with two parts, one named for Admiral Nimitz, who spent his youth here with his grand-parents, and the other named for George Bush Senior. The focus of both is the Pacific component of WWII..

I was sitting on a bench on Main Street waiting for Gail to 'do' a store, and a heavy-set guy plunked down beside me as his wife went into the store. We got talking football, and it turned out he played 7 years for the Denver Broncos years ago. The base salary for any first year signed player in those days was $5,000. for the season. He got $15,000., so was pretty well paid. Today, he told me, the base rate is $550,000. He could only shake his head. It was his birthday, so many happy returns to him.

Fifteen miles north of here is a park called Enchanted Rock State Natural Area. The rock rises about 450 feet above the hills below, and consists of solid pink granite, bald, bare and beautiful. Naturally, despite the fact Gail had a bad head cold, we had to climb it. It's not a tough climb, although steep in spots. But the wind was howling, making it hard to stand still at the top. A beautiful 360 degree view of the hill country was the reward. Coming down was much easier, so I did an hour hike along the base while Gail had a rest in the van. It was a very nice outing.

Today we will attend a Blues Festival being held at a place called Luckenbach. This is not even a hamlet, this place. Maybe half a dozen people live here. But they have music periodically, and it just happens that there's an all-day thing happening today. So we'll check it out. I've googled all of the scheduled acts, and there's quite a variety of blues groups. So if it's good, we'll stay, and if not, we'll head on to Del Rio on the Mexican border. Stay tuned. Comments appreciated. Thanks, Marilyn and Ron, and Mick. Good to hear from you. By the way, there are two Robert Morrows, one an old guy who had CIA involvement in the Bay of Pigs, and our guy, who we think is an out-and-out nut. Interesting to research both. Are they father and son? Can't trace the lineage, but working on it.