Life in Austin, TX

As many of you have heard by now the trip has hit a major snag already in the first week. After an enjoyable stop in New Orleans and a quick stop in The Woodlands the car broke down on day three. There was just a little vibrating at first but nothing that would cause me to stop driving as I’ve had other similar issues in the past that turned out to be nothing. Then, the vibrations became intense but only for a couple seconds because it was a smoother ride once the front right tire broke off and went flying past the passenger window! My car dropped to the pavement with a thud and there I was driving on my rotor at 60 MPH. Luckily I was in the middle of no-where, in the right hand lane, and there wasn’t much traffic behind me. The tire rolled into the median, a small grass fire started on the side of the road from a spark, and I was able to pull safely off to the side of the road. Right at that moment I knew that I better prepare myself for a long stay in Austin. All of this happened near Bastrop, TX about 30 miles outside Austin. To shorten things up, I’ve been in Austin all week staying with my friend Nicole, State Farm is paying for the repair and a rental car, the car won’t be fixed until Monday, I will lose at least 2 days of a hotel I already bought on Hotwire in San Diego, but the surf camp dude said to show up whenever and I can pay per day so that was like totally gnarly(?).

One good thing is that now I’ve seen enough of Texas so I never have to come back. First of all camping in New Orleans was good except the rednecks living in their tent complete with TV across the driveway. I saw downtown and the damaged areas. Lots of abandoned buildings still but there were quite a few tourists. Then I visited the Phelan family home in The Woodlands in which we lived for 6 months in 1981. Everything looked a lot smaller 25 years later. But everything else about it was the same. On Monday I spent the day in Austin touring the capitol and watching about a million bats fly out from under a bridge. Tuesday I drove to Dallas. I spent the afternoon at the JFK museum on the 6th floor of the old Texas School Book Depository building and taking pictures of the grassy knoll and triple underpass. Tuesday night I went to a Rangers game with my favorite ACA consultant who happened to be in town, although she cried all night about wanting to ride the roller coasters at Six Flags next to the stadium. I walked a few miles around downtown Dallas the next day and headed back to Austin. I really enjoyed Dallas and would recommend it for a visit. Wednesday night Nicole, two of her friends, and I all went to watch Shaun of the Dead at an outdoor showing in a park here. It was funny and the weather was perfect. Today I drove to San Antonio to check out the Botanical Gardens and the Riverwalk/Alamo. I have been quite impressed with all three Texas cities I’ve visited so far. On Saturday I’m heading to Houston to watch the Astros play the Diamondbacks and do a little swimming at the beach. I plan to stay the night down there and come back here on Sunday.

Although I’m stuck in Texas and going to miss the Grand Canyon, things still aren’t going too bad. At least I’ve got my health…..for now. Nicole has been great about letting me stay here. I just need to talk her or her roommate into driving me out to Bastrop on Monday. One more thing, I stopped in a beautiful little town outside San Antonio called Gruene. I also recommend it to anyone in the area. Make sure to stop at the Grist Mill for a bite.
See you in SoCal.

Pictures: Bats in Austin, The Grassy Knoll, My Car without a Wheel, Jackson Square N.O.