Drive through the Country

Since arriving in the San Antonio area, we've been dealing with rainy and dreary weather so we haven't done much.
So today, after being cooped in the trailer, we went for a drive through Texas' famous 'Hill Country'. Hill Country is a scenic region northwest of San Antonio with lots of pastures, fields of cactus and as the name suggests, sporadic hills and valleys.

We drove a big loop and about halfway around the loop we stumbled across an awesome little town called Bandera. It's the coolest place...it's very reminiscent of an old fashioned western movie setting. Old saloons, old hardware stores, people riding horses through the streets! Coolest place ever! The culture here is actually a blend of Indian, Mexican and Polish, giving it a unique ambiance.

Back in the early 1700s, many bloody battles between the Comanche and the Spanish took place in Bandera Pass just a few miles outside of current day Bandera. Legend has it that a bandera (Spanish for flag) was flown at the Pass to mark the boundary between Spanish and Indian territory.

These days, Bandera has became known as the cowboy capital of the world! For a couple of reasons actually: Firstly, the Bandera area was the site of the final big cattle drives of the late 1800s. Not only that but a vast majority of national rodeo champions call Bandera home! A bronze figure in the park downtown was erected to recognize the town's history. Pretty cool or what!