My ‘Expedition’ Through Texas Day – 2

I woke up on day # 2 (Tuesday April 24th, 2018) of my roadtrip, after spending the night in the parking lot of the Fredericksburg Walmart.

I was happy with the spot I had found. The bushes provided privacy at the rear, and there was no place for anyone to park along the passenger side of my vehicle. Since it was at the far side of the lot, it was unlikely that anyone would park along the drivers side either.

I took Marley for a walk and fed him. The I put on a clean shirt, deodorant, brushed my teeth, and went inside Walmart. I spent $10.00 for a 1-1/4 inch thick foam pad to go under my sleeping bag. Although I had slept OK, the surface I was sleeping on was hard, and the sleeping bag wasn’t quite enough padding.

After leaving Walmart, I headed to the local McDonalds for breakfast, then fueled up the Expedition, and headed out to explore.

Fredericksburg:

Although I didn’t spend any time actually touring Fredericksburg, I did find some things of interest that will make me come back;

National Museum Of The Pacific War:

Fredericksburg native Chester William Nimitz, Sr. was a fleet admiral of the United States Navy. He played a major role in the naval history of World War II (WWII) as Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet (CinCPac) and Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas (CinCPOA), commanding Allied air, land, and sea forces during WWII. His grandfather’s hotel is now the Admiral Nimitz State Historic Site.

Fredericksburg is also the home of the National Museum Of The Pacific War. I want to return to Fredericksburg and tour the museum when I have more time. If you want the full WWII battle of the Pacific experience, you can travel another (3) hours south to Corpus Christi, and tour the USS Lexington, a WWII Navy aircraft carrier.

For more information, visit http://www.pacificwarmuseum.org/

Old Mill Settlement:

Another interesting thing in Fredericksburg is the Old Mill Settlement. It was built by the late Terry Armstrong, founder of San Antonio Shoemakers (SAS Shoes). At one point, it was a bed and breakfast. According to a Tripadvisor post, the company (SAS Shoes) has always owned it, but rented it out until some corporate parties got a little wild. Now it’s for sole use of SAS and their company personnel. Sadly, it’s posted as private property, and not available to the public. The Old Mill Settlement is on the street behind the National Museum Of The Pacific War. It’s still interesting to drive by and look at.

Willow City Loop:

I traveled back north on SR 16 to FM 1323 (Willow City). I turned east on FM 1323, and followed that to the Willow City Loop. The Willow City Loop will take you through some scenic areas, and bring you back out to SR 16.

Make sure you watch out for the cows grazing along the road.

Once back on SR 16, I headed south back to Frdericksburg, and went east on US 290. I followed US 290 to FM 1376, and then took FM 1376 south to Luckenbach.

Luckenbach Texas:

Luckenbach Texas is probably best known from Waylon Jennings’ 1977 song “Luckenbach Texas”.

The words go: “Let’s go to Luckenbach, Texas With Waylon and Willie and the boys…”

However, Waylon didn’t write the song, and only visited once, when he played Willie Nelson’s Fourth of July Picnic there in 1997, five years before his death.

For more information about Luckenbach, Texas visit http://www.luckenbachtexas.com/

I bought this ‘Luckenbach Texas’ sign as a souvenir.

Swiss Alps Of Texas:

Often referred to as the “Swiss Alps of Texas,” this approximately 85 mile loop allows you to cross both the Medina and the Sabinal Rivers many times, and takes you through majestic vistas ranging in elevation from 1,400 to 2,150 feet above sea level.

From Luckenbach, it’s easiest to back track to Fredericksburg, and then head south on SR 16 to Medina. In Medina, go west on FM 337 to Vanderpool. There are some beautiful views along this road. Then turn south on FM187 to FM 470, and head back east on FM 470 to SR 16 in Bandera.

When I got to Bandera, I stopped at Burger King for lunch, fed Marley, and headed south on SR 173. SR 173 allowed me to bypass San Antonio, and reconnect with SR 16 near Jourdanton. From there I cut across country to IS 37, and headed south to Corpus Christi. I generally avoid the interstates, but there wasn’t another highway that would take me close to there, and I wanted to be there before sunset.

Corpus Christi:

IS 37 intersects with US 181 in Corpus Christi. Following that a short distance will take you across a bridge where the USS Lexington comes in to view.

Unfortunately, when I got down by the dock, my low tire pressure light came on. I checked the pressure in all of the tires, and found that the right front tire was low. Luckily, I found a Firestone Complete Auto Care nearby that was still open. They removed a small screw, patched the tire, and had me back on my way.

I went back to the dock and took some photos of the USS Lexington. The USS Lexington (CV-16), nicknamed “The Blue Ghost”, is an Essex-class aircraft carrier built during World War II for the United States Navy. Originally intended to be named Cabot, it’s name was changed to “Lexington” (while under construction) after the USS Lexington (CV-2) had been lost in the Battle of the Coral Sea. So while there was a USS Lexington aircraft carrier fighting throughout WWII, it was not the same ship during the whole war.

The Japanese referred to the Lexington as a “ghost” ship for her tendency to reappear after reportedly being sunk. This, coupled with the ship’s dark blue camouflage scheme, led the crew to refer to her as “The Blue Ghost”.

The USS Lexington is now a floating museum that you can tour, but it had already closed for the day when I got there. For more about the USS Lexington, visit https://usslexington.com/

At this point, I have managed to travel to the Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and the Gulf of Mexico. I was actually surprised at how warm the water felt here.

I briefly considered getting a hotel room. The thought of sleeping by the ocean was appealing, but I didn’t want to spend the money for the room.

I continued north up US 181 to US 77, and then south on US 77 to the Loves Travel Stop. I had hoped to sleep there so I could get a shower in the morning, but I was greeted by this sign:

I wasn’t feeling the love at this Loves. I continued on US 77 to Calallen. There I stopped at a Denny’s for dinner, and noticed that there was a Walmart behind it. After eating dinner, I was able to find a parking space next to a tree in the Walmart parking lot. After taking Marley for a walk, we called it a night and went to bed.

It was a long day, and we covered a lot of ground. The Texas hill country was better than I expected. I was expecting rolling hills, and found mountains instead, so it was a nice surprise.

Tomorrow I’ll find a shower 🙂