A Little Bit of Germany!

Today we left the desolation of Ft. Stockton about 11am and continued to head south on I-10. Unfortunately the desolation continued for another 100 miles, which was cruel since we were looking for a place to eat breakfast. There were absolutely no cities along the Interstate until we got to Ozona - an appropriately named little town. But by the time we rolled in the breakfast window had disappeared and it was time for lunch (thank god for Cheetos!). We saw a couple of local restaurants but parking a rig as big as ours was not to be. We finally found a Subway and parking on the street behind it.

Of course leaving the dogs in the car with 104° temperatures is strictly verboten, so we now fire up the generator in the trailer, turn on the air-conditioner in the bedroom to full blast, leave the dogs to lounge on our bed, and then close the doors.

Apparently Subway is THE restaurant in Ozona. When we entered, there was just a short line of folks waiting to order and as a result we had our roast beef sandwich in almost no time, but then the masses started to appear out of nowhere just after we sat down. By my travel-experienced eye, these were mostly tourists who were also drawn to the first place to grab a familiar meal within 100 miles.

We continued southbound on I-10 and the scenery was definitely changing from scrub bushes to real trees and the flatness was being replaced by rolling hills, Texas hill country couldn't be too far away.

After continuously staying on Interstates since we left Oceanside, we finally headed on a two-lane highway eastbound toward Fredericksburg. Houses were become more and more prevalent, and they did have a definite European flair. Closer to town, the street names became 100% German, ending in "Strasse" instead of the English "Street".

We had to drive through downtown Fredericksburg to get to our RV site. Tons of tourist cars were mixed with "cowboy Cadillacs" (pick-up trucks) which stuck out into the road, and as a result we had to take up a parts of two lanes just to navigate our way. But no one seemed to mind too much - heck we were just more tourists adding to the local economy!

The Fredericksburg RV Park is a nice park not too far from all the action. We pulled in, and for only the second time on our adventure we disconnected the trailer from the truck.

We took the truck to fill it up with diesel fuel just the third time on this trip, and again this was the lowest cost per gallon we've ever purchased, just $3.659, four cents cheaper that our previous record back in Tucson. Thank you Texas! A 50 gallon fuel tank is a blessing when driving, but can require two credit card swipes to fill up unless one stops at a truck stop, where we're just the little guy.

I was ready for a German meal and we found a restaurant called the Ratskeller. Their menu was loaded with familiar fare, yet there wasn't a German person anywhere on the premises, as the entire staff was Hispanic - they must have come from the extreme south of Germany...!

I ordered Jaeger Snitzel and Marianne had the sausage platter, both were very good, but don't hold a candle to my Mom's cooking! A hefeweizen bier made everything go down better, and a piece of the German all-time favorite (not!) key lime pie topped off the meal.

It was still very warm after we left the restaurant at dusk and walked a couple of the downtown blocks window shopping. We also discovered the Chester Nimitz birthplace and a museum, as well as the National Museum of the Pacific War - who'd a thunk? These are places I'll visit while Marianne shops. . .

Back at the trailer we appreciated the air-conditioning, loaded up on liquids, walked the dogs and finally passed out into our bed.

High temperature today: 104°

Miles traveled: 270

Fredericksburg by Marianne
click collage to enlarge