New Braunfels was our last stop in the Texas Hill Country. We took off and headed north and east to Nacogdoches. There are Caddo Indian mounds just to the east of Nacogdoches that we wanted to stop and see. We stayed overnight at an RV park in Crockett, Texas, on the way, which was of course named for Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier. And we had dinner at Davy Crockett’s Bar & Grill, where I had another great Texas hamburger. I think I’ve eaten more hamburgers on this trip through Texas than in the past year all together. Davy Crockett is, of course, a hero of the Alamo, and a big name in Texas history. (Believe me, I’ve edited a lot of history textbooks for Texas adoption, and they all have a big section on Texas history, so I do know a thing or two about it.) When Davy Crockett lost re-election to Congress from Tennessee, which may or may not have been due to some dirty tricks by then-President Andrew Jackson, he is alleged to have said, “You may all go to hell, and I a...

From Garner State Park we drove up to Kerrville via a scenic route through the Texas Hill Country. Mike says we were really driving through small mountains; Texans just call it “the Hill Country” because even the hills are bigger in Texas. We didn’t realize we were going to be following the Guadalupe River, so we hadn’t been expecting to see the devastation from the floods that happened there in July 2025. It was clear in places how much water had come torrenting through, with trees knocked down and debris carried with the water. We saw battered buildings and places where there was nothing left but the foundations of houses. The small town of Hunt, Texas, still had tents set up providing food and other supplies to residents who had been affected by the flooding. There were also some beautiful places along the Guadalupe River, but it seemed like a lot of people were also just rebuilding in the same place. All we could figure was that the floods had been considered a “hundred-year ev...

In the late morning we drove back up Mustang Island to the town of Port Aransas and took the ferry to the mainland for the second time that day, since we’d gone across just after dawn to make it to an appointment for an oil change. Coming across to Aransas Pass, we saw a whole flock of cormorants sitting on a ferry piling, and I learned that a flock of cormorants is called a “gulp.” A gulp of cormorants in Aransas Pass Then we headed north–northwest, passing through the ranch towns of Taft and Sinton, which were named for Cincinnatians William Howard Taft and his father-in-law, David Sinton. They had both tried their hands at Texas cattle ranching in the early 20th century. I am guessing that they weren’t exactly hands-on ranchers, but they did visit their respective ranches to see how things were going. The town of Taft is a small place; I missed the “Welcome to Taft” sign so I had to settle for a photo of Taft Donuts. Every little town in Texas has at least one donut shop. Taft Don...

Last week, we drove down to Padre Island, the next island south of us, to see the Padre Island National Seashore. It is a beautiful but desolate stretch of beach; there’s a road that goes to the visitors’ center, but past that you just drive down a road of packed sand on the beach. We wandered through the dunes, went to the visitor’s center, and on the way back we had a nice lunch at the Captain’s Diner, north of the National Seashore. It was a fine day. Padre Island National Seashore, from the visitors ’  center We mostly stayed around the campground the rest of the week; on Saturday, the “social crafting” gathering at the tent had a special project—we all made seashell windchimes, from seashells a few folks had gathered down on the Padre Island National Seashore after a storm a couple of weeks ago. Apparently when there’s a big storm, suddenly the beaches are full of shells. I only recall one storm while we’ve been here, but I didn’t see a lot more shells up our way. Anyway, it w...