Happy Holidays to everyone!!!!

We have been in San Antonio for the past week. We spent Christmas and will spend New Year's here. Before leaving Austin, Thumper and his friend Noah played together.

We drove into town and went to River Walk area. It was fun to see it lit up for the holidays. Also, the bowl game is this Saturday between Texas (Longhorns) and Oregon (Beavers). Both schools bands and players were on the river boats and the bands entertained everyone during their ride. An added treat for all the revelers in the area last night.

Oregon Beavers

Texax Longhorns

Skip's cousin, Gary LeRow and his wife, Lynn, live in San Antonio. We met Gary for lunch in the El Mercado (Mexican shopping area) of San Antonio, and visited he and his wife at their home that evening. We had not seen them since we were at the LeRow family reunion a few years ago.

We are enjoying our stay in San Antonio.

We are leaving Austin tomorrow and heading to San Antonio, TX. We will there be for Christmas and leave after a few days after the new year.  On Friday we took a ride out to the Lake Travis area of Austin. Traffic was heavy so it took about 40 minutes to get there. The ride over was interesting. ON the side of the highway were trees decorated for Christmas. It looks like school children decorate various trees.

some of the decorated trees

Lake Travis

Lake Travis is in serious drought!! It is down 40 feet! A few residents told us they have never seen it this low. The lake is feed by the Colorado River. We had lunch at The Oasis. This restaurant has tiered seating outside so diners can enjoy the view. Unfortunately, it was too cold for us to sit outside. We still got a view.

Outside The Oasis Restaurant

Saturday we took a ride to Lockhart, TX (approx 30 miles due south of Austin). Lockhart is known as the Barbecue Capital of Texas. This small town has 4 well known barbecue restaurants. We ate at Black's. Food was great. Their brisket was the best we have tasted to far.

Skip enjoying barbecue

walking through entrance

As other cities decorate for the holidays, Austin also has their holiday decorations and traditions. Sunday night was the opening of the Trail of Lights at Zilker Park. This starts with a huge tree (what else in Texas) all lit up, as well as the field covered with 1,000,000 lights. Skip and I did not know what to expect. They have a shuttle service to take you to the park because of the number of people that attend this event. On the news, it was said that between Sunday night and Monday night at least 100,000 people walked through the light trail. It was something to see. We thoroughly enjoyed it.

tree in Zilker Park

entrance to trail

This is a great event for adults as well as for the children.

Stopped at another Austin institution - CHUY'S (TexMex) for lunch. Seems Elvis also loved TexMex. On the menu, there is an Elvis Presley platter. I loved the food; a little to spicy for Skip but he managed to get through it with the help of lots of iced tea.

Skip and Elvis

We went to the Lyndon Johnson Presidential Library. It is on the grounds of the Univ of Texas. There was not much to see. They are in the process of remodeling and making changes, but we did get to see the replica of his office in the White House, as well as photos and the various gifts he had received during his presidency.





Since we are in Austin at some point you will end up at the University of Texas. The campus takes up a large area of Austin. As you know, the longhorn is the mascot!!!




Over the weekend, we headed out to Driftwood, Texas to have dinner at The Salt Lick. This is a fun place to eat. It is family style and BYOB (We brought one bottle of wine; others brought coolers of their favorite beverages!!!!!) Brisket, sausage, and ribs are their mainstay. They also have turkey. We did the family style plate (which is all you can eat). Brisket, sausage, and ribs were great!!! I have to say, their potato salad which has no mayo in it, was delicious. The restaurant is about 25 miles outside of Austin. The ride out takes you into the Hill Country where you can see ranches all around. When Top Chef was in Texas, they went to the Salt Lick. This is a family owned business, and the land has been in the family for at least four generations.

barbecue pit

backside of grill

Skip enjoying dinner!!!!

This was our anniversary (44 years) dinner and we had a good time!!!

We have been in Austin for the past week, just in time for the cold spell. At least it lasted only a couple of days. Campground is about a 15 minute drive into downtown Austin. With the Univ of Austin at one end of town and the eclectic area South of Congress Street (affectionately called SoCo) this is a diverse town. Center of town is loaded with bars, restaurants and shops. SoCo has real funky shops and a variety of eating establishments and is a lot of  fun. We took a tour on the Austin Duck which takes you around Austin and also up to and  into Lake Austin. Is a fun way to see the city. So far we are enjoying Austin. We will be here for another week.

along 6th Street

Capital

Hula Hut on Lake Austin

Great Tex Mex 

  Drove down Congress Street to South Congress. As I said this is funky and eclectic

One of the food vendors in SoCo

There are a variety of restaurants in and around Austin. We will be out finding our way around this city and surrounding areas.

Before leaving Corpus Christi, we drive over to Padre Island to take a ferry ride to Port Aransas. This is a free ferry ride. Just drive your car on ferry and go across part of Corpus Christi Bay. It is about a 3 minute ride.

on board ferry

passing the barge

After leaving Corpus Christi, we headed to Austin, Texas. The 3 hour drive became a 5-1/2 hour drive. Skip's Garmin (which he named "Brittany") took us on the scenic route. We went through small towns, saw lots of cattle and farm ranches. We made it to Oak Forest RV Park in Austin.  We will be here for about 2-1/2 weeks.

at Joe's Crab Shack

This past weekend Corpus Christi had their Festival of Lights celebration for the holiday season. Skip and I went into town to see the lighting of the tree and to see the various boats all lit up!!! The marina was crowded and everyone was waiting for the parade of boats. We had dinner at Joe's Crab Shack at the marina and then joined all the revelers for the show.

Their Frosty Snowman

me and tipsy raindeer

A good time was had by all.  Candy was thrown from the boats  for the kids.

This was a great way to start the holiday season!!!!!

Someone's dinner

Last Friday, we took a ride to The King Ranch in Kingsville, TX. The town is about 60 miles away. With speed limits at 70 and 75 you are there in no time from Corpus Christi. The ranch which was founded by Captain King in 1853 now totals 825,000 acres here in Texas (which is larger that the state of Rhode Island). They also own property in Florida (think Tropicana orange juice). The bus tour takes you by pastures with longhorns, horses and lots and lots of land.  The main house where the family had lived over the years is 35,000 square feet with a tower that can be seen at least 2 miles away. Unfortunately, you are driven by the house. Many generations later, descendants still use the house at various times. Besides cattle, they grow feed for animals, and the ranch works with DOW Chemical to find environmentally safe methods of farming and ranch management.                                     

farm hands quarters

      There are living facilities for the farm hands, as well as a school on the premises and a baseball field.  We noticed the creek beds were dry due to no rain. While other parts of the country are getting soaked, Texas could use some.

Texas longhorn

 On the way back we saw some oil wells, so we stopped to take a closer look. Unfortunately, no one was around to talk to. 

You don't see these on properties up in the northeast. At least, Skip and I haven't come across any. When you drive around, you realize how big this state is. 

oil field with refinery was in the distance

For us, another fun in Texas!!!

We have been in Corpus Christi, Texas for the past week or so. The weather has been beautiful. The beaches on Padre Island are beautiful, and Thumper has thoroughly enjoyed them.  Even though we were on the beach, we had to watch for coyotes and rattlesnakes. Thankfully, non appeared.

After a day at the beach running around, even Thumper beat Skip to the afternoon nap.

Another day, Skip and I took a ride into Corpus Christi to see the USS Lexington battleship. Neither one of us had been on a battleship and this was impressive. We thoroughly enjoyed this tour, which is self guided, but there are plenty of volunteers around to answer any questions you may have. Also, you go up and down many stairs. You definitely get your exercise touring this battleship. There is also a film on flight and how
airplanes are made.

FLIGHT DECK

THE BRIDGE

SKIP PLAYING GUNNER111

Have enjoyed our stay so far.