FTJ, Entry 71: Austin to San Antonio

Some more pictures from Austin:

We had lunch at the Iguana Grille, overlooking Lake Travis.

 

Larger view of Lake Travis... which is really low due to the drought.

And speaking of the drought, check out these photos. The right one shows the dam, but the other two give you an idea of how dry it is here. They need rain in Texas, but on the other hand, the weather has been super.

Views of our park in Austin:

Riverwalk Perfection

We arrived in San Antonio yesterday, with the goal of doing the Riverwalk and seeing the Alamo.

 

The trip from Austin to San Antonio was a dramatic series of hillsides and beautiful vistas.

If you have not visited San Antonio's Riverwalk, you must. It is a beautiful place, unlike anything else, period. A winding river that meanders beneath the San Antonio city streets, it presents a feast for the senses -- food, flowers, music, wildlife -- just glorious. Photos really cannot convey the experience.

This mosaic mural is made of a gazillion tiny tiles, and was created freehand, without a drawing or design.

Typical riverside restaurant.

From the boat we saw the stage that Sandra Bullock performed on for her film Ms. Congeniality.

On one of the many Riverwalk bridges.

Love this - the last known place where horses drank and forded the river,
dedicated to the memory of Texas trail drivers. Very cool.

Finally, you cannot talk about San Antonio without mentioning that sacred shrine to 200 brave, brave men, the Alamo. What a thrilling and emotional experience, seeing the remains of the compound and knowing you are walking where Crockett, Travis, and Bowie walked -- and died.

Tanks, Panky

FTJ, Entry 70: Beau Finds Nirvana at Salt Lick

We are in the hill country surrounding Austin, TX, and while the wind is still howling, at least the humidity of Port Aransas is behind us. The area is quite pretty, and a nice change from the miles and miles of scrubby flat land we have seen up to now.

You can see a little of the hill country here -- Dave and Joyce's RV is up ahead on the road.

 

But the world famous Salt Lick barbecue restaurant in Driftwood, TX, has got to be a major highlight of this trip so far -- especially for Beau. 

It was a bit of a drive from our RV resort, La Hacienda, but so worth it! When we arrived, a little after 6 pm, the place was already jumping. The smell of the barbecue wafted in the air -- along with dust from the hundreds of cars in the parking lot. There were tons of people everywhere, and a great Stevie Ray Vaughn-like band was rocking the place. The place is BYOB, so most people were dragging coolers and big buckets of beer. What a happening!

We got a table right away and the cholesterol extravaganza was underway. I had a plate of two giant ribs and brisket, Beau and Dave got the ribs, brisket and some other meat, and Joyce, who is a very healthy person, ordered the turkey.

AMAZING! And such an experience. Now this was the Texas we had been hoping for.

Some of these photos are a bit blurry, but we wanted to capture some of the "flavor" of the place:

The happy cowboy who directs traffic into the place.

The band was terrific.

The guys then splurged on an extra order of a beef rib -- the traditional Texas rib. Dave compared his to the brontosaurus rib Fred Flintstone orders in the cartoon -- the rib that tips his car over, if you recall.

That is one big cow rib!

The pit.

 

Three happy carnivores -- and one happy, healthy eater who will outlive us all.

Two views of the very large crowd...

.

A great evening! And the bill came to $40 a couple, even with the $7 charge apiece for the brontosaurus ribs.

Have to end this post with the photos we took as we passed through Kyle, TX -- for our grandson, whose 3rd birthday is Sunday, April 10.

Happy Birthday, Kyle!  Wish we could be there with you...

Tanks, Panky

FTJ, Entry 69: Marooned and Typhooned

We changed the itinerary and have skipped South Padre Island, opting instead to stay here in Port Aransas until tomorrow and increase our stays in other locations. Beau's foot injury, plus the knowledge that South Padre Island is pretty much like this area, except for more condos, helped us make the decision. Oh yes -- and the fact that there are nearly constant winds here, anywhere between 20 and 45 mph. 

I now know why people committed suicide during the Dust Bowl.

Still, we are having a fine time marooned at Gulf Waters RV. The beach is nice, but we have not been on it, mainly because of the foot, the wind, and the seaweed. (Hey - sounds a bit like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe!) 

You can get an idea of our experience and some of our surroundings from these photos:

We all enjoyed the quick ferry ride across Aransas Pass...

Lucy liked it, too!

Joyce drove the beach at Port Aransas.

Had to stick in an oddity, of course.

A lovely sunset as seen from our RV site.

Sunset at the marina downtown.

Our lakefront RV sites.

 

 

Tomorrow, we head for Austin (Beau is excited to get BBQ!!).

Tanks, Panky

FTJ, Entry 68: Deep in the Heart of the Lone Star State

I am trying to make this blog a bit less onerous, and in the spirit of the old adage "pictures speak louder than words," I will keep this short and sweet.

We have been in Texas for nearly a week. First in Galveston at the very nice Jamaica Beach RV Park, and now in Port Aransas, at the even nicer Gulf Waters RV Resort.

Do we like Texas? Hmmm. I would have to say, not yet. Although every place we go is a new experience and part of our adventure, I don't think any of the four of us would purposely come back to south Texas to stay for any length of time. The two RV parks we have stayed in, though, have been extremely enjoyable. But I just heard this one in Port Aransas has coyotes and rattlesnakes near the beach! Have to be extra careful with Buddy.

Some unfortunate news: Beau is pretty incapacitated with a bad toe joint. He stubbed it, sparking an old injury (a heavy maple kitchen cabinet fell on his toes back in 2007). He is in a lot of pain and hobbling around like an old man. The x-ray didn't find anything broken or dislocated, but if he has sprained or torn a ligament, his recovery could be long and, for him, frustrating. (This also means that I have to ensure the stubborn mule takes it a bit easier. Good luck to me!)

Some pictures and quick explanations of our Texas sojourns.

Welcome to Texas, y'all!

 

On the left, the high-tech bikers Dave and Joyce. On the right, the Clampetts and their bikes.

Hard to see, but most of these sunsets feature horses in the field.
There were about eight or so horses right next to our RV park. Weird looking sun, huh?

While in Galveston we visited the Oil Rig Museum, which is basically a converted MODU (Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit). It was quite amazing to see the complexity of oil drilling and rigs, and the technology and equipment required to find, drill, and pump oil. Here are a few facts you may not know about drilling: 

• A jack-up rig is a MODU with three or more legs that are jacked down to contact the sea floor, then these continue to be jacked until the entire hull of the oil rig is out of the water.
• The cost to operate a drill ship is $445,000 a day (no wonder fuel costs so much!).
• A blowout preventer is typically a stack of remotely controlled sealing assemblies. The final sealing elements, the shear rams, are powerful enough to cut through a pipe as they seal off the hole in the event of an emergency. 

 

The famous oil rig fire and blowout specialist, Red Adair, honored at the museum.

 

This rope contraption is called a "Billy Pugh" and is used to transport personnel on and off rigs and ships.

 

Have no clue who these roughnecks are.

Galveston Bay

Later, we dined at Joes' Crab Shack. Two blurry photos of our dinner:

Dorfs on Golf

Our RV park in Galveston had a really cute mini golf course on site. I will finish up with these photos of our hilarious mini tournament. I have no idea if Dave and I won or lost -- and who cares?

Explanation: Some holes had a spinner that had a variety of silly things you had to do while playing. Both Joyce and I were "lucky" enough to land the spinner on one saying we had to bend over, put our heads on our clubs, and spin five times before playing. 

We both fell down.

Spin out!

 

Me after my spin. We are both hysterical here.

 

Still laughing...

Dave's spinner stopped on the instruction saying he had to play with his putter behind his back. 

Nice form, Dave!

All this and we were sober!!

Tanks, Panky