By Marilyn Mitchell, F172407
August 2021
Where do you go when you want to see the most beautiful bluebonnets? To the Texas Hill Country, of course! Bluebonnets are the official flower of the Lone Star State, and each spring they blanket the roadsides and fields throughout the Hill Country, which encompasses a region in south-central Texas between Austin, San Antonio, and Kerrville.
So, that’s where 27 members of the Hi Plains chapter headed this past April.
We began our bluebonnet excursion at the Buckhorn Lake Resort in Kerrville, Texas. The campground managers bent over backward to make our stay a wonderful experience. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, this was our first RV rally in a year, so we celebrated.
We began with a potluck meal in the campground meeting room the evening we arrived. The next morning, Van Bradford and the Roadkill Crew started our day off by preparing yummy breakfast burritos for everyone. Then the group caravanned into Kerrville, splitting time between the Kerr Arts & Cultural Center and the Schreiner Mansion museum, where we discovered what an entrepreneur Charles Schreiner III was, and how he helped the city of Kerrville to grow and prosper.
After a day of checking out the shops and wineries in Kerrville, Dale Martin and his crew offered to have a fish fry, with side dishes provided by Robert and Marilyn Mitchell and Clay and Donna Walser, who were the Hi Plains rally hosts. Delicious!
The second day the group caravanned to Fredericksburg, Texas, and spent time poking around in the shops and enjoying the wineries. Some members even toured the National Museum of the Pacific War, which focuses on honoring Admiral Chester Nimitz, who was a Fredericksburg native, and the men and women who served with him. We all met to enjoy a delicious lunch in the biergarten at the Fredericksburg Brewing Company on Main Street.
On the third morning at the campground, Van Bradford and his Roadkill Crew went all out to prepare a great breakfast of pancakes, sausage, and fruit salad. That was followed by the chapter’s business meeting. The afternoon was free time, and then everyone traveled together to Billy Gene’s Restaurant for a wonderful evening meal and to enjoy the picturesque view of Nimitz Lake.
The final morning of the rally, the group gathered at the Mitchells’ motorhome for doughnuts and to say goodbye before hitting the road.
Unfortunately, because of dry conditions and the hard frost the state experienced in February, the bluebonnets were not as plentiful as usual. However, what the group found was gorgeous, and it didn’t stop us from having a good time.