Tag: Austin

Even More Austin!

You can probably tell that I have my notebook from when I was in Austin – unlike Houston where I was going strictly from memory. Lots more details thanks to past Ms. Haps who remembered to write things down. Every mile is a memory, but only if I put pen to paper before I forget.

One of the shows that I watched while I was on the road was “The Great Pottery Throwdown” – think Great British Bake-Off meets clay. It was a fantastic series, but HBO didn’t renew it after five seasons. It also inspired me to try my hand at hand-throwing pottery. I’ve been to those shops where you paint something that has come out of a slip mold, but this was my first time learning about the process to throw pottery by hand. I signed up for a class at Rosa Pottery while I was in Austin. The class was informative and entertaining, and I really enjoyed just feeling the clay shape under my fingers. I was terrible at it, but I had a lot of fun, and I hope to try it again when I’m a little more settled. Thanks to Hillary for shipping my pieces to me in Minnesota since I left Austin before they were fired.

Speaking of art, I had a lovely day to visit the Blanton Art Museum. Here are some of my favorites.

The museum had these modern, flower-like sculptures that provided shade, which was needed on the sunny day I visited. The second image was one of a series by Tavares Strachan which focuses on depicting Black men from history who were violently silenced, held by their own mothers. This one depicts Alice Nokuzola Biko and the body of her son, Bantu Stephen Biko, an anti-apartheid activist in South Africa. The set of landscapes are by French artists – Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and Frederic Emile Jean-Baptist Ragot.

The Blanton is across the mall from the State Capitol of Texas, so I walked over to take the tour.

The area around the capitol was undergoing some renovation, but you can see its dome to the right of the crane in the first picture. The second picture is the interior of the dome. It was a Saturday when I visited, and the place was very busy.

My friends from Houston came to town for a visit as well while I was in Austin. We had brunch at Pheobe’s Diner and then went to throw axes at Urban Axes. Probably not a shock to most people I know, but I was much better at throwing an axe than I was at throwing pottery. We also had a great instructor who was from Minnesota, and I hit some bonus thing (no idea what it was called) and got to sign the wall.

For this first picture, our instructor had prompted us to pretend we were facing a horde of zombies (from L to R: Gonna smile those zombies to death, Ready to take ’em down, and Already in the battle). Second picture is when I hit that spot that I can’t remember what it’s called, and the third is us with our instructor. We ate dinner at P. Terry’s Burger Stand, which was fantastic. I wish I had stopped there sooner because my time in TX was just about over.

Just a couple more highlights from my time in Austin. This beautiful mural was outside of a very prolific tortilla maker in Austin that I cannot remember the name of, but the tortillas were as delicious as the mural. I also met some friends in Gruene, TX, at Gristmill River Restaurant for a really nice lunch on the patio that overlooks the river.

One last glamour shot of Arthur before we start to make our way out of Texas. I don’t think he’ll miss HEB as much as I will, but I think he really enjoyed four months of very little travel. The trek back to Minnesota might be a rough one.

Weirdly (about) Austin

I was realizing that the last post was more about San Antonio instead of Austin, so this one – I promise – will actually be about, you guessed it, Austin.

When I returned from Austin, the part for my fridge had arrived, which I also forgot to tell you that I ordered when I got to Austin. I figured out that it was likely the thermistor after doing some reading and asking around. This did involve me learning what a thermistor is, but when it arrived, I installed it without issue, and just like that – we have refrigeration again. Thankfully, I have small hands and a basic sense of survival, which proved to be vital in this repair. 🍫🍫 Throughout this journey, I’ve learned that I can live without running water, refrigeration, and in the most desperate of times – without electricity.

This prompted a trip to HEB for fridge-worthy supplies, an hour and thirty minute round trip to Chicken Salad Chick, and a stop at an independent bookstore (BookPeople) for a book. Austin is excellent for indie shops, and since I decided I was going to go to some library book clubs while I was in town, it was a great find.

Meanwhile, back in Minnesota, my Dad went to test drive a car for me that I had seen online and had expressed some mild interest in. (After Austin, it was gonna be just a short amount of time before Arthur and I would leave Estella behind and head out for some extended stays in the cities that were the finalists for our Unicorn City.) So, through my Dad and his BFF at the car dealership, Troy, I was able to buy a car in MN while living in TX. More on that later.

Because I was so close to College Station and had meant to go to the George Bush Presidential Museum the last time I was there, I made the trek there. It was a really well done museum. I even got to look very presidential.

I really didn’t want the picture behind his desk, but the docent made it sound like it was a requirement, so TA-DA, here I am behind a replica of President Bush’s desk, looking very presidential with my backpack. The sculpture outside the museum was also outstanding. I love horses and how they incorporated them into a monument celebrating the Berlin Wall coming down was well done.

There were some really beautiful moments at the RV park as well. Like this sunset.

And stars!

I had a work trip to Florida during my time in Austin, so I got to experience the Austin airport, which was great – easy and breezy – a very different experience from Houston.

A friend visited from Waco for a day of adventure in Austin. We went for brunch at True Food Kitchen at The Domain. Then we headed over to LBJ’s Presidential Museum.

There was a really nice art display and a good amount of Lady Bird’s personal effects and her office, overlooking the university. We had a good time wandering through history and then decided to go to grab a snack near the RV park. It was good, but I can’t remember where we were, but it’s just outside of Del Valle, TX. And I do remember that I had the steak nachos.

Well, we’re all starting to get tired, so more Austin later.

Keeping Austin Weird – Part 1

It’s almost been two months since I’ve had a chance to sit down and write. Between work, getting out and about, and adjusting to living in spaces larger than a van, I’ve been busy, but it’s time to finish up our RV journey and talk about how our search for our Unicorn City is going.

I’ve always known that Texas would not be my final destination for one reason >> the seemingly never-ending, oppressively hot summers that start in March and last through October. If you ask a Texan, they’d probably disagree and tell you that it’s “really nice in March, April, September, and October”, but I am here to say that 100 in September is not “really nice” in my book.

So, January and February in Austin were perfect for me, Arthur, and Estella. On January 17, we left Houston and headed to Austin, and I planned a three-hour drive for many reasons but mostly because Arthur hadn’t been on the move for over two months. He did pretty well considering, but when we stopped in Bastrop for provisions, his will to continue had completed depleted.

Since we were only about 30 minutes from our RV park, the howling was tolerable. We stayed at Austonia outside of the city, and it was one of the very best parks we stayed at. When I made the reservation, they were undergoing a renovation but were certain they would be done by the time we arrived. The bathrooms were fantastic. The shower rooms were so spacious and clean, which was great for our two-month stay. They were also a lot more comfortable about water usage during the winter, and that was refreshing.

On our second night, we got snow! It wasn’t a lot, but it was really nice to have some snow and feel a little winter.

This was the view out of Estella’s front window.

I picked up a rental car after being in Austin for about two weeks. Time to get out and explore! I went out to get my hair done, found a Sbarro for a slice of pizza, and got ready to head to San Antonio for work. Once again, I found a wonderful Arthur sitter through Rover.com, so I knew he would be in good hands while I was away.

My drive to San Antonio was a reminder of what happens to highway infrastructure when cities grow faster than the roads. There was a lot of road construction, and the traffic was more than your average city’s rush hour. Even though Houston’s labyrinth of highways and frontage roads were daunting, it efficient.

In San Antonio, I had some credits to use, so I stayed at the Eilan Hotel & Spa. This place was massive, but my room was the perfect size with a balcony and plenty of space to spread out.

Great views from my hotel room balcony.

Since I didn’t get into San Antonio until late afternoon, I didn’t do a lot of exploring. I did try Raising Cane’s and went to see “A Complete Unknown” in Boerne. I had heard so many good things about Raising Cane’s and about their sauce. I thought it was fine. The chicken was good, but the sauce – to me – was meh.

I was treated to this beautiful sunset as I was leaving Raising Cane’s and headed to the movie.

On Sunday, I met with some friends at the historic Pearl district near downtown for lunch at Brasserie Mon Chou Chou, and we had great conversation and a lot of laughs. The food was delicious as well. We walked around after lunch and visited a gorgeous market. I also stopped at Bakery Lorraine for an almond chocolate croissant and cookies. A tres manifique day!

The rest of my time in San Antonio flew by. I was able to work in the company office in downtown San Antonio and then had a delicious dinner with a friend, his wife, and their kids at Dough Pizzeria Napoletana.

Arthur enjoyed looking out the window at our neighbors throughout our time in Austin.