Camp Wood to Vanderpool, TX

An Axis deer

The kitchen in our cabin at A Peace of Heaven Campground and Cabins

Living space in our cabin

You can see how nice this place is.

A black buck.

A good rest spot along the road

You can see, this place actually has hills.

Some exotic animals on a game farm.

Going through a canyon made just for this road

One of many hilly roads in the Hill Country.

This is some real Texas Hill Country. This road is STEEP!

Gravel roads are slow, but they are a fun change

A cool juniper forest at A Peace of Heaven Campground and Cabins

The outside of our cabin at A Peace of Heaven

Camp Wood to Vanderpool, Texas

1/24/10

Day 81

47 miles

Note: We had a big internet dry spell, so make sure you scroll down and check out our last few posts. We will try to keep it updated more frequently if we have more internet access.

This morning we woke up with the wind still howling through the trees. We got up and ate our breakfast in the shelter of the leeward side of the bath house. We fought the wind to put away the tent and checked in with the camp owner to pay. We didn't know how far we would make it, with me feeling as bad as I had last night. The owner was so kind, she offered us another night free at the campground if we should decide to stay at Camp Wood again.

We managed to get down the road just fine and I was feeling pretty strong. We had a quick lunch at a cafe in town and headed out. We had some big climbs coming up today as we entered the Texas Hill Country. There three major climbs and they certainly were steep but thankfully, not as long as other hills we have climbed. The country out here is so rolling, it rivals, perhaps even tops, the hills of the Oregon Coast. The vegetation around here is sparse grasses with live oak and “cedars” or as we are used to calling them, junipers. There are many cattle, goat, and “exotics” ranches in this part of Texas. We saw so many different hoofed animals, we really didn't know all of the species we saw. Some of the ones we could identify were wildebeest, emu, oryx, gazelle, antelope, European deer, zebra, roe deer, and axis deer (I think.)

Danielle

We climbed over a first large hill and dropped down into the town of Leakey about 30 miles into the ride. Today is a Sunday, so we weren't expecting much, but we found a coffee shop that advertised internet access, so we went to check it out. As soon as we approached the shop, we found that it was closed, but the owner saw us outside and let us in because she had some extra work to do there anyway. She fixed us up with some coffee and muffins. We asked about the little medical clinic in this tiny town, and the owner told us it had weird hours and we would probably be better off going to Kerrville for Danielle to see the doctor. We checked the weather on-line and headed off. We didn't have enough time to even post a blog. We had two more major climbs to do and one smaller one to get to the next town. We had to continue on so we can make it to Kerrville tomorrow. Danielle really started to fade as we climbed up these last hills. They were not extremely tall, less than a thousand feet elevation gain for each one, but they a very steep. Each one is over 10% grade. We were both ready to arrive at the campground in Vanderpool and set up camp so Danielle could rest.

Our map shows a campground in Vanderpool. Vanderpool is more of a place than a town, just a small gas station and an intersection of highways. We didn't realize that the campground on our map was not on the main highway, so when we got to Vanderpool, we pulled out our map only to find that the campground was another four miles out of our way on a different highway. We kept pedaling on, slowly. The last two miles of riding to the campground was on a rough gravel road right as night was falling. By the time we found the place Danielle was ready to be done. We pulled up at the residence of the A Peace of Heaven Campground, and knocked on the door. Much to our disappointment, the owner informed us that they do not have tent sites at this campground, and that the nearest campground was eight miles away. We were almost in shock. The owner realized our desperation and ended up making us a deal on one of the campground's cabins. We were so grateful. When she told us it was a cabin, we were expecting something rustic. We she showed it to us, we were totally floored. This place was amazing, much nicer than anywhere we have recently lived, and definitely nice enough to be considered a house. We could not believe our luck. We could not thank Rhonda, the owner, nearly enough. We turned on the heater and actually cooked supper over a real stove in a real kitchen! Then we took showers in a real bathroom in a nice shower. To top it off, we were able to get out of the wind and get a proper night of rest in a very nice bed. It is amazing how things always seem to work out no matter what the situation is.

We have to say that the A Peace of Heaven Campground and Cabins is quite the place. We would stay here again anytime. The cabin was so nice. If any of you are in the area you should stop by and spend the night. Rhonda is extremely nice and very accommodating and their property is in a beautiful canyon.

Greg