The cold front started coming in yesterday afternoon while
we were coming home and we could feel the temperature dropping. The motorcycle thermometer
started off at 26C and within 5 minutes the reading dropped to 20. The winds
started about the same time but got really strong through the night. We enjoyed more of the Hill Country with the high
reaching 27C.
We wanted to go back to Kerrville to visit the Tourist
Information Centre and get some gas and selected another route to come home. We
checked out a store called Billy’s Western Ware. It was a large store containing
all types of western wear, hats, boots and belts, buckles, boot straps with a
lot of bling.
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| Old section of Kerrville |
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| Bill's Western Wear |
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| The chicken car |
We stopped by Camp
Verde, a U.S. Army Post Location that experimented with Camels for dessert
warfare in 1857. It didn’t work out for them.
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| Now a tourist trap complete with restaurant |
We were driving through an area know for Dude Ranches and
also noticed a lot of exotic animals in the fields. Here are some pictures of some we saw.
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| Wildebeest and Mouflon Ram |
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| Axis Deer |
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| Wood Bison |
We discovered in the 1930’s & 40’s when ranching was
very difficult due to drought conditions that the farmers introduced different
varieties of exotic animals to the region and opened up Safari/Hunting Ranches.
People would come to the ranches that provide lodging and guides to go out to
the open lands and track and shoot their trophy animal. In 1994 there were approximately
71 different species and 200,000 animals. Now, they estimate about 80,000 on
the open range and are considered wild. The average cost to hunt a Wildebeest is $4200.00 for a trophy size, male deer $1500.00 and $2700.00 for the average Ram.
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| These grates are placed in front of the gates to prevent the animals from getting out if the gate is left open. |
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| Most people in the hills have their homes on the top of a hill this guy was unusually high and the roadway is very steep. |
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| The soil her is very gravelly and light in colour due to the contents of limestone and granite. |
All for now...
