I Love The Texas Hill Country.

Mom, Sandi and I went on a road trip to Bandera today. We thought about going to the coast, but opted for something a little closer to home. We probably drove just about as much as we would have if we had gone to the coast, though.

I forgot my camera. :o( But we did have fun! (Pics accompanying this post were gleaned from the internet).

Bandera is the Cowboy Capital of the World. We saw lots of cowboys--we happened to visit on the day they were celebrating the National Day of the Cowboy!

There were people everywhere, and all kinds of activities going on all day long, including breakfast on the courthouse grounds, booths, music, food and entertainment in front of the courthouse, induction of local cowboys into the hall of fame, a dance and rodeo.

We had lunch at a barbecue place when we got into town, wandered up to the courthouse to check out what was going on and did a bit of shopping.

Then we found the second oldest Polish Catholic church in Texas, St. Stanilaus. It is absolutely gorgeous, and they have 24 hour Adoration in the tiny little Blessed Sacrament Chapel there.

We went on a scenic tour of the Hill Country around Bandera and Medina after that, crossing the Medina and Sabinal Rivers several times during our journey. The scenery was beautiful--high hills, pretty valleys, cedar trees everywhere, bald cypress along the rivers.

We saw a little sign advertising cabins, and took a side road to see what they were like. We wound up at a house in the boonies with a bunch of dogs, cats and peacocks wandering around the pretty yard. We met a sweet, charming man who showed us the view of the river from the back of the house, gave us brochures, and told us where some of the cabins were located so that we could see them.

One of the cabins was a little old red caboose located right next to the river that slept 3 people. It was so cute!

Our tour took us in a big loop and we went back through Bandera on our way home. We stopped for dinner at Applebee's before heading back to Mom's apartment. I picked up my car there and got home around 9 PM.

It's been a fun day, but I'm exhausted. :o)