Our next destination is Fredericksburg, a charming little German-themed town that makes for a perfect day trip from Austin, Texas. As we embark on our journey back to the west, we've decided to kick off the first week of our trip in this delightful town.

Having been stationed in Austin for more than a month, we're looking forward to a brief drive as a gentle reintroduction to life on the road. Moreover, we've been regaled with tales of the exceptional wine and delectable cuisine in Fredericksburg, making it an appealing choice for spending Christmas. The alternative of being isolated in the desert as we sped westward didn't quite match up to the allure of this quaint town.

Finding good food in Texas has been a bit of a challenge, but in Fredericksburg, we hit the jackpot. Almost every restaurant and winery we visited served up top-notch food, with our favorites being Hill and Vine and Pasta Bella. We ended up spending a pretty penny because we just couldn't resist the amazing food, and we had to practically roll ourselves back to the RV after each meal.

Aside from the great food, there are tons of quirky souvenir shops and stores with Christmas-themed goodies and rustic decor, although that's not really our thing, so we just took a look around.

The last few days we were here, right during Christmas day, a freak cold storm came through the whole country. It was our first time experiencing truly freezing temperatures. The high for two days was below freezing, so we spent over 36 hours below freezing. It means our tanks in our pipes and anything left outside could potentially freeze solid and crack. With the windchill the lowest we got two was -5, with 40 mile an hour gusts it hurt to go outside. We do not have the clothing for this weather.

I think we were one of the more prepared groups.

• extra gallons of water inside with us
• we put a heater in the storage compartment with the batteries
• we filled the fresh water tank, a full tank takes a lot longer to freeze
• we kept the hot water tank running so it wouldn’t freeze
• we put temperature sensors in the underbelly and storage areas
• we kept the furnace running regularly, which also kept us nice and warm inside

Even with all of this our freshwater tank froze enough that we couldn’t get any water, starting the first night even. Our batteries struggle to stay warm so we will be adding some insulation down there. But otherwise nothing broke and we stayed warm enough with power the whole time!