March 23, 2016 - Fredericksburg, TX to Sonora, TX

We were up at 8:30, checked the weather. Today is the day we leave Fredericksburg, TX for San Angelo, TX.  Oh boy, What a heavy load off of our shoulders after the house was sold yesterday afternoon. What a big relief it was! We can now focus on enjoying our travel.

We enjoyed our time in Fredericksburg and would not mind spending a few more days here, but we needed to move on.   We can always come back to visit it another time.  There were few places on the list we had not visited and would like to see again, such as the Willow Creek drive and The Enchanted Rock.

Pollen is very high and Edith started to have allergy reaction. She took Allclear hoping it will help her feel better later on in the day. The main pollen contributor are trees, none from grass or weed.

Before leaving KOA we emptied grey/black tanks, filled up fresh water. Now our Lil' Home (LH) is ready for our next destination. We finally left KOA at 10:50 am.

From KOA we turned left to get on US 290 West. Clouds are building up, but we can see the blue sky. Winds was at 25 mph. There is a road construction on the US 290 bridge, east of Harper, TX

From US 290 West we got on I-10 West at 11:15 am (one hour drive from Fredericksburg) Not much traffic. Speed limit is 80 mph, NO way we are going that fast!

The rock walls along I-10 West were beautiful.  The view was awesome and breathtaking. The road condition was great. There were five deer grazing in the field near the interstate.

Beautiful rock wall in Junction, TX (near Exit #457)

We love these rolling roads on I-10 near Exit #432

You know Texas is a BIG state and we reached half of Texas on I-10 near Roosevelt, TX (439 miles).

We pulled into a rest area stop (mm #422) 19 miles east of Sonora, TX.  Beautiful bluebonnet patches with cacti.

We arrived Sonora, TX at 1:15 pm, got on Texas 467 Loop to the town. Erwin called Caverns of Sonora for information on campground ($25 a nite), but after reading reviews on RV Parky app most comments were negative, so we decided to check out the other one, Stadium RV Park, that is in the town of Sonora. Mike, the manager, drove by, led us to site #48.  Mike was very friendly and hospitable.  We asked him for information on attractions and he suggested that we visit the Caverns.  After setting up the LH we unhooked the Jeep, went to the Caverns.

It was a nice drive to Exit #392 where we got off to go to Sonora Caverns.  The roadway to the Caverns is steep, but it will be manageable if we drive our LH.

The admission fee is $20 per person for an hour and 45 minute guided tour.  We tried to get the lady to give Edith a discount since there is no transcript or interpreter available.  She refused and said they do not accommodate accessibility for handicaps of any kind.  Edith tried to reason with her, but to no avail.  This means writing a letter of complaint and sending it to the Caverns headquarters.  Of course, we went ahead and paid $40 for two of us.  It was at 3 pm when we got the tickets, then the lady said the tour does not start until 3:45 pm.  Oh! What are we going to do for 45 minutes?!  We went out to check the campground.  Pull-thru sites are nice, but too close to each other and there was not much privacy. 

Rita, the tour guide, explained the rules first before we stepped out of the store. No touching anything inside the caverns except for handrails.  If you are caught touching anything the fine is $50,000 and 4-6 year jail time.  No bags, backpacks, purses are allowed.  Not even kangaroo pouch that Erwin had on his waist! We had to leave our stuff in the Jeep and we did not want to leave valuable things, so we took out wallets, put them in our jean pockets. Flashlight is not permitted. Flash photography is allowed.

Rita advised of the condition inside the caverns. 71˚ all year round, but the humidity is 98% which feels like 86˚.  Also, she warned about CO2 in some areas is high and we may have difficulty breathing.

Rita, our tour guide

Faces in the cave!

Looks almost alive!

Colors!

Fish Fossil

Clam Shell Fossil

"Cauliflowers"

Erwin, Rita & Edith at the end of the tour

After the tour we went back to the store, browsed around to check out gems, stones, fossils and minerals.  No, we did not buy anything.  We were offered fudge samples and they were good.

CUTE!

Condominiums?

Barnswallow

Rita suggested us to try La Mexicana Restaurant at 240 Highway 277 N in Sonora, TX.  Our meals were hearty and delicious.  Reasonable prices!

Edith had 7 Layer Dip

Erwin's dinner

We drove around downtown Sonora, stopped at a school area to get pictures of the building and the sunset. It was beautiful. The moonrise was beautiful, also.