Wrapping It Up In Austin

The last two months have gone by fast but we are ready to move on to our next destination on the Gulf Coast near Galveston.  We have had a great time getting to know Austin and all it has to offer.  We have really enjoyed our time here at McKinney Falls State Park and if anyone is looking for an easy volunteer opportunity for the summer, these are fantastic folks who really appreciate the volunteers!  Every day we were thanked for what we do.  There are two things we will not miss about Austin though...THE TRASH and THE TRAFFIC!  I cannot begin to describe the amount of trash that is on the sides of the roads.  It is everywhere!  It is really sad to see for such a vibrant city.  I imagine people coming in to the State Park think it is an oasis because they keep it really clean, but that is hard work since folks seem to bring their bad habits of just throwing things on the ground with them. Runner up would be the traffic.  Austin is growing exponentially and so is the traffic.  The roads just cannot keep up and there is construction everywhere.  The roads not under construction really need help too.    Ok, rant over.

In our last couple weeks here we went to visit Bastrop State Park, had coffee with an employee/supervisor that I will be working with at a new virtual job this spring (more on that later) and had several friends over and made some new ones too.  

We also took a drive down to New Braunfels and the Gruene Historic District where we walked around the historic little town on the beautiful Guadalupe River and ate some of the best Chicken Fried Steak at the Gristmill as declared by Food Network...and me!

We also ate at another BBQ joint that Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives visited.  Valentina's Tex Mex BBQ is a cool little stationary food truck in Austin that serves brisket and pulled pork either in Tex BBQ style or Mex taco style.  We opted for the Tex BBQ version and we were lucky enough to get some of the last brisket since they sold out a couple folks behind us.  Let me say that it was probably some of the best BBQ and sides we have had.  We had the tangy slaw and roasted corn with it.  They also had a really good BBQ sauce!  Different from other BBQ joints is that they do not specifically weigh the meat and then you pay the exact amount.  You pay for half a pound up front.  Looking at our portions, they use the heavy half pound method!  Score!!!

​On Christmas Eve we made our way back downtown, hoping for empty streets and parking and we were gifted with wide open roads and a place to park the big truck so we could go to the LBJ Presidential Library and Museum.  ​We found it very informative since this was mostly before our times.  It was also very interesting to see all of the programs that LBJ instituted during his time as president, such as Medicare, Civil Rights Act, Fair Housing, Child Safety guidelines and Vietnam Veterans Benefits, to name a few.  Unfortunately, we both thought the Bush museum was much better, more interactive and not as much comprehensive reading.  We still enjoyed the short videos they had throughout, which helped us to better understand the times back then.  We are making sure to hit every presidential museum when in the area.

They also had a Motown 60th anniversary exhibit that was really cool to see.  Rick even got to practice his do wop with the Temptations.

Christmas was quiet here and since we were the only Park Hosts here on Christmas Day we fielded the camper questions and issues and kept a "presence" in the park.  Even though our normal host routine is to clean the bathrooms, clean up sites for the next camper and run the trails on the gator for trash, we had initiated some other projects ourselves to better the park and the staff has really appreciated our efforts.  

​ They even included us in their Christmas party where we ate some great food, sang some karaoke, exchanged white elephant gifts and got our 100 hour TX Parks service pins.

This last weekend in Austin we will be filled with packing up Christmas decorations, cleaning and readying the rig but we are still making time for some friends to visit as well.  We will leave out on New Years Eve morning and head southeast to the gulf in anticipation of some pretty cool New Years Eve fireworks on the beach to ring in the New Year!  Here's to a fantastic New Year filled with laughter, love and adventure!!!

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