Jan 19 – 27th. The Texas Capital and surviving the Mcleods The trip to Austin was painless with no wrong turns….amazing! Even having 3 GPS’s available we seem to always make one boo boo that gets us turned around…but not today…Yeah. We got settled in and got caught up again with haircuts, bill paying, coach cleaning etc. We needed a couple of days to get ourselves organized for company later this week and then the trip to Mexico next week. We were parked beside a few trees that were filled with those darn Grackles again (dark birds) singing their butts off all day and night (and other stuff from their butts). They must be in the middle of migrating and they decided to park right on top of us and the Beastie. There are literally 1000’s of them all over the place. I feel like I am in an Alfred Hitchcock movie. We ran into Austin for a day of touring. What a neat core they have. Very historic, clean and friendly. We went to the Texas State Building. As we all know everything is bigger in Texas…well, the dome of their State Building is 13 feet higher than in the Congress in Washington….Take that Washington!! We took a tour of the building and learned tons about the History of Texas and the significance of the Six Flags that hang all over the State. Each flag represents a form of Texas status over the last 300 years. One flag signified Spanish control, one French control, one Mexican control, one the Republic of Texas, one United States Confederate control and finally the USA. Flag makers are thrilled to work with Texas! We walked all over downtown and finished up in the Story of Texas Museum. They walked us through from the days of the Alamo through to the Space Program and everywhere in between. Texas has a colourful past of wild cowboys, cattle drives, wars, oil and space. Texas is bigger than life and they are incredibly proud. We had lunch at a restaurant called Shotsky’s which has been in business since the 1700’s. It is located just off the main grounds of the government and it has been said that more business has been done at Shotsky’s than in the Legislature….The beer was cheap and the food was good, so I suspect the story is likely true. If this were in Ottawa, I could easily see Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin in there talking with Rob Ford! Just that kind of place! Austin was a fun visit, despite the Grackle noise and poop. The food was good and the history impressive. Off to San Antonio. We arrived in San Antonio in a blink of an eye…55 minutes, campsite to campsite and all downhill tahboot….The Beastie only used one tank full of fuel! We were excited as we are having company arrive tomorrow and we want to get all set for them. Our site proved to be a continuation of the trip…seriously downhill slant. So much so that the automatic levelers couldn’t adjust to make it level. So, Ian and his natural ability to be on the level, set it up manually……I did not too bad, but you did have to hold on from skidding down to the door……and of course the hike back up to the bed was a challenge….but I sort of got it set up. It was easy to roll out of bed to get to the bathroom which was a blessing. Doug and Cheryl Mcleod, very good friends from Calgary arrived late Friday and we were all so excited that we managed to drink a little too much and talk a little too much and get to bed a little too late…..But what the Hell, they are only here for 3 days and I had lots of Whisky (had)… Up the next morning and off into town for a Segway tour. None of us had ever done this before and were not sure what to expect. So to take the edge off we took the “Whore Tour” that lasted 1.5 hours and explained all the seedier history of San Antonio. The tour itself was brand new and we were probably only the 5th or 6th group out, there were still some bugs to work out with the content…..but the Segways were cool. They turn on a dime, they accelerate to max 12.5 miles an hour (governed) and when you lean back they stop…..Thank God! You get a 15 minute training session to learn to ride…then you sign copious paperwork relating to your death and insurance on the Segway. Put on your Colonel Klink Helmut, close your eyes, lean forward…and scream “get out of the way”. Off we went through the market square into the red light district and by the old hooker haven hotel area. It doesn’t take long to master the Segway and the guide keeps you pretty slow and in single file…except for Doug, as he kept screaming up my butt saying something about “move it chubby”…Smart ass has lost 39 pounds and thinks he’s svelte! But who is in the rear….Dugi? Finally the guide takes us to a vacated park and said, ok, I know you have been itching to let her fly on your Seggy … so go for it for a few minutes. Off we went in a cloud of heifer dust and small pebbles. We were zipping along at full throttle when Cheryl went sailing by Dugi. Despite his weight loss, Cheryl had his number!! It was really a fun afternoon of touring, then back to have a steak and boozy dinner and laughs. The next morning we realized that we may have consumed a bit much last night and that we are 39 anymore. That didn’t stop us from a pepper bacon and egg breakfast, that I barbequed just to piss off the neighbours. We finished brunch and off to the Riverwalk downtown. This is a true treasure for San Antonio. It is a river (aqueduct) that runs through the core, about 15 feet lower than the roads and it has been built to look like a grotto with stone walkways, trees, restaurants, live music, boat cruises, birds and lots of people. It was just beautiful. We walked and stopped for beer and nibbles’ and just watched the world go by. What would a trip be to San Antonio without a trip to the Alamo? The history of the standoff and massacre here permeates the city atmosphere and as usual the US has managed to display it with flair. The story of the Davey Crocket and Jim Bowie participation just highlights the story. It was a neat spot to visit. We finished off Doug and Cheryl’s trip enjoying wine, risotto and laughing into the evening. Doug and Cheryl left at 11:00 the next morning and Francine and I napped the day away after the three days of power visiting (Thanks Dugi and Cheryl). Now we are getting ready for the trip to Mexico. There may…no…there will be a delay of a week or so in the blog due to the Pina Coladas we intend to drink…So talk to you in a week or so. Hola!
Posted on: Thu, 06 Feb 2014 19:29:27 +0000
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