Abita Springs, La

We awoke to rain but it stopped and left an overcast warm day in which to explore the neighborhood. Abita Springs is a tiny cute old town about 30 minutes north of the campground. There is great architecture and we enjoyed walking around the town looking at the quaint old homes. The parade was called push mow but anything went. Some did use riding mowers to pull their floats.

As early as 1896 the artesian spring water in Abita Springs was bottled. The town became a popular summer resort for New Orleans residents early in the 20th century. The pure water led to the Abita Springs Brewery being founded here. We had lunch at the original brewery, which is now Abita Brew Pub. While we were eating we were entertained by a bagpipe band that had performed in the parade.

After lunch we toured the Abita Springs Brewery where we found lots of college aged students visiting and drinking free beer for an hour. I could only wonder how many times some of them have taken the tour.

Mandeville, La

We went early to check out the area for the Krewe of Eve parade which was to be our first in the area. All the floats were ready and the krewe was gathering. The parade also included many marching bands and some beautiful horses. I couldn't understand why the horses preceded the bands!

I faired quite well. Don't I look fat? So far I have only indulged in a muffaletta with fried oysters. The jacket was perfect for holding all my stuffed toys.

Leon finally got the hang of it and did alright himself at his first Mardi Gras parade. We drove over early and had a picnic in the truck after we secured a good parking spot.

Fontainebleau State Park, La

We are settled in a lovely spot and quite surprised to have wifi! We got a late start yesterday and arrived here about 7 with Leon complaining that he had to drive after dark, but he did a fine job thanks to my help! It looks like our evening Mardi Gras parade in Mandeville might get rained out today. But there will be plenty more.

Galveston, Texas

A sunny 73 degree day was perfect for the 2 hour drive to Galveston. This time we made it all the way in the rental car. We spent some time exploring the Offut Bayou area near Broadway and 61st Street which had a tremendous amount of destruction from Hurricane Ike. The boat is sitting in what was once a mobile home park.

We also drove along the harbor and down to the Strand, an older area of Galveston that has been rejuvenated. Trucks were busy along the seawall bringing in loads of sand to rebuild the beach. While they worked we had my day late seafood birthday lunch overlooking the damaged Flagship Hotel and gulf at Fish Tales.



We retrieved the truck in Santa Fe, turned in the rental, and drove two hours north to Livingston. It was time to go eat gumbo and fried oysters to celebrate Marion's birthday. We have enjoyed a good visit with Marion and Don. Tomorrow we will head back to the dead end.

Livingston, Texas

We are spending a few days at the Escapees Campground, which is Leon's legal home, and his first time to "come home."

About 6 miles away lives our friend Marion and we enjoyed visiting at her new place. She has ten lovely acres and the place is a work in progress.

Don has driven up from Houston as Marion, Don, and I have birthdays within 8 days of each other so this is our birthday visit.

Leon, Don, and I drove through Houston yesterday and a few miles south the truck decided to stop. We spent most of the afternoon visiting with Don in Hardy Auto Repair's parking lot in Santa Fe but it was a warm sunny day and we had a great visit. Who knew the sending unit was cracked? The rental car brought us back north up 146. A birthday to remember for sure! Thank goodness we didn't break down in Houston!

The Fat Blob

We met this fat blob while we were visiting family in Austin, Texas last week. In just 3 hours you can have you own fat blob! Actually he is the subject of a new game for xbox, The Maw, and at 12:01 the game can be downloaded from Xbox Live Arcade for a mere $10. He was created by my someday-to-be nephew and his team at Twisted Pixel. So if you have an xbox be sure to get your blob soon! You will be glad you did. If you want to know more first then you can see what the maw is all about!

Hill Country of Texas

On Day 8 we rested! We did go to Sattler to use the wifi at the little library and then into New Braunfels for German food at Oma's Haus. It did not seem right to spend so much time in a community with a German heritage and not sample the food!

On Day 9 we went into New Braunfels to see Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino and what a grand movie it is! We recommend it.

On Day 10 we took the backroads crossing the Devil's Backbone, a scenic section of route 32, through Wimberly and Dripping Springs into Austin. We had a delicious home cooked meal with Sean and Kelly. We then visited the Apple Store in Barton Springs Mall (there must have been 100 people!), a bike shop, and McKinney Falls State Park. We took scenic winding backroads back to the campground and again got home at dark thirty. It was amazing to see so many neighborhoods springing up south of Austin on tiny two lane roads. Thank goodness for the gps!

Sunday began with an excellent breakfast at Stu and Joanne's in their new rig.

We drove over to Canyon Lake Dam for a walk alongside the Guadalupe. What a peaceful place. Joanne and I visited about midway down the trail and watched kids come downstream in kayaks.

Stu and Leon returned after hiking the rest of the 2 1/2 mile trail.

We had to go to Walgreens in New Braunfels so we had a small lunch at the Smokehouse. The potato soup was excellent. After Leon worked on the electricity in the trailer we went back to Stu and Joanne's for a nice visit and supper. We hated to head out of the hill country the next day as there was so much still to do but it was time to move on.

Fredericksburg, Luckenbach, Texas

We are behind schedule! I had told Leon that on the the 7th day we would rest but due to the weather we will have to wait a day. After 28 at night a 66 degree forecast called for another day trip - west this time.

Fredericksburg was once the edge of the frontier and home to German pioneers who had to worry about the Comanche Indians. Now it is a tourist's delight with good German food and antique shops. We thought we should detour through Austin and fetch Kelly for the day. After we all ate lunch Sean had to go on to work.

As you head east on Main Street starting at Adams Street the first letter of each street name spells "all welcome." Going west on Main Street from Adams and they spell "come back." Who knew?

The National Museum of the Pacific War was Leon's priority. This once was the Nimitz Museum named for Admiral Chester Nimitz, a most famous resident, who was Commander in Chief of the Pacific in WW II. Kelly and I strolled the shops and streets while Leon was at the musueum
Kelly is taking to being a Texan quite well. Notice that cowhide foot rest!




A western music fan doesn't resist a stop a few miles from Fredericksburg at Luckenbach, the place made famous by Waylon Jennings in his song. The town was founded in 1852 by the Luckenbachs and the brothers opened a post office which they called South Grape Creek. The name was later changed to Luckenbach.


The post office is still in the general store.



The bar is in the back of the general store. We did not have a designated driver so we did not stay and listen to the music. You could sure tell who was local and who was visiting.


The dance hall holds dances monthly, usually on Saturday night. It did not look like much of a vegetarian menu is offered.

This is my first glimpse of a wreath made from cactus. It is quite attractive.

We dropped Kelly off, used her internet connection, and got back to the campground before they locked the gate at 10. Now we can look forward to a day of rest!

Sattler, Seguin, Luling, Gonzales, Texas

Our day started with these weird ducks in our yard. No idea what they are.

We have spent the morning in the truck in the parking lot of the Sattler Library. We took the backroads over and stopped at the dam overlook for a morning view of Canyon Lake. Now it is off for another day of adventures in the hill country. We might have to stop in Gruene for lunch!



Later: Well we did stop at Adobe Verde in Gruene, a nice little Mexican restaurant, and then a quick stop and shop at the general store.

Seguin was not on our planned route for the day but we stopped there when I saw they had a statue of a pecan on the courthouse lawn! They are noted as "The Mother of Concrete Cities" as a local chemist held several conrete production patents, which explains why they used concrete in more than 90 area buildings by the end of the 19th century. I am not impressed by concrete buildings. I prefer "home of the largest pecan."

But we did wander down to Starcke Park on the Guadelupe and found a nice place with roaring river rapids for Leon to have a nap. I reminisced about the kayak float I had with the WINs on the Guadelupe.




One of Texas' most historic cities is Gonzales. This is the "Come and Take It" town which houses a famous little cannon.We loved wandering around town looking for the Memorial Museum as we passed many old large homes. The citizens received a small brass cannon from the Mexican government in 1831 for protection from the Indians. Four years later when relations between Mexico and Texas turned sour more than 100 Mexican soldiers staged a battle to retrieve the cannon. The townspeople sewed the first battle flag of Texas which included a picture of the cannon and the words "Come and Take It." The Texans fired a shot and the Mexicans retreated. The confrontation was short it but played a big role in Texas' fight for freedom.

We also visited the Old Jail built in 1887 and used until 1975. It was a cold place where I would not want to stay. Included was a reproduction of the gallows that held the last hanging in 1921.
We found our way over to Greg's coffee and computer shop on the square and enjoyed a caffeine boost. Wifi was available but it was getting late and we were far from home.



Oil was discovered in Luling in 1922 and the fields still pump the "black gold." There are 184 wells within the city limits. The local folks got creative with some of the pump jacks and later the Chamber of Commerce commissioned an artist to transform some of them into moving sculptures. We were disappointed that many needed painting and weren't pumping.

Again we arrived home at dark. What a day!

Wimberley, Texas

Joanne and Stu are staying just a few miles up the road from us at an rv resort on Canyon Lake so today we stopped for a visit. Joanne gave us a tour of Lake Pointe and then rode to New Braunfels with us while Stu worked on the new rig. We located the Chinese restaurant, Walgreens, and a bike shop where I began my quest for a new bicycle. We had a great visit and reminisced about old times at the Slabs. We dropped Joanne off as we came back down 306.

Wimberley was established on the Blanco River in the 1850s. It is a small town with about 3,500 people, which boasts of dozens of specialty shops in an oblong town square. There are many artists in town who have relocated to the Hill Country. We arrived just as the stores were closing - that might be a good thing so I only bought a new hand knitted scarf. We enjoyed the scenic drive on 32 across the ridge of the hills where you could really see the countryside.

Gruene, Texas

Gruene (pronounced Green) is a tourist mecca drawing visitors to see the area that once was a thriving cotton plantation begun in the 1870s. It included a swinging dance hall and a cotton gin. The boll weevil came to town and was followed by the Great Depression and Gruene became a ghost town. One hundred years after it was founded, investors began the restoration process and the deserted structures came alive again.


The Gruene Dance Hall never closed and was packed with a crowd enjoying the live music. Lyle Lovett and George Strait played here in their early music years.




The general store brings back memories as it was the first mercantile store built in 1878 to serve families that worked on the cotton farms. It was also the post office and a stagecoach stop.

A later mercantile building sprang up in 1904 and is a fun antique shop which Kelly spotted very quickly. While Kelly antiqued Sean found wifi in a coffee shop and got in a little work.


Gristmill River Restauant is located in the ruins of the 120 year old cotton gin high on a hill above the Guadeloupe River. They had a roaring fire in the fireplace and at sundown the warmth felt good as we dined.



We were delighted that Kelly and Sean joined us and indeed enjoyed spending the day with them. They are such fun!

San Antonio, Texas

The 17th century Spaniards went to San Antonio in search of wealth and later the Franciscan friars established a chain of missions designed to convert the Indians to Christianity. Mission San Antonio de Valero, also known as the Alamo, became the first of five such buildings established in 1718. We did stop by the Alamo, better known for its skirmish in 1836 when 188 men died after being attacked by Santa Anna's Mexican forces.

The 2.5 mile River Walk was our priority for the 64 degree sunny Texas day. The river walk lies below street level with winding sidewalks that meander along a branch of the San Antonio River and is lined with luxury hotels, art galleries, sidewalk cafes, and specialty shops. We dined oat Boudro's and my crab tostado was fabulous.

The Market Square dates to the early 1800s, when Mexico ruled the settlement. The renovated plaza has the largest enclosed Mexican-style marketplace in the country at El Mercado. Shops have replaced the fresh produce and meats that once filled the market and music filled the air while shoppers filled the market.

La Villita is a shopping area that is filled with shops in old homes in what once was the housing area downtown. We ran short on time to visit many.

Austin, Texas

Austin is a a high-tech city, with an economy based on computer related industries and state government. It is Texas' answer to Silicon Valley. The population of 1.45 million in the metro area includes 50,000 Texas Longhorns, students at the university. A cold front came through in the night and we nearly froze walking up Congress to take a self-guided tour of the capitol, a handsome pink-granite building which is the tallest state capitol. We made sure we walked all the steps from the basement to the top floor! I think Leon wanted a closer look at the inside of the dome. His new knee passed the test.

We strolled back down Congress past a sculpture of the woman who kept Sam Houston's army from moving the capitol from Austin.

Under the Congress Street bridge that crosses the Colorado River lives the largest urban colony of Mexican free-tailed bats which at sunset make their exodus in search of supper, but not in January.

Decorated guitars dotted the streets in keeping with the "live music capital of the world" nickname due to the large number of live music venues. We spotted quite a few of them on Sixth Street, the heart of Austin's nightlife. "Keep Austin Weird" is the well-known logo atop this guitar.

We spent the afternoon enjoying a great visit with my niece Kelly and her fiance Sean who recently moved his game company, Twisted Pixel, to the area. We stopped back in New Braunfels at Camping World for another camping part that didn't survive the freeze (a shower hose). Other people go to New Braunfels for apple strudel and German food!