January 27, 2007 at 7:01 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Hmmm… just when the weather gets nice, we have to go.
Our courtesy parking spot last night
We’re being pressured by our airplane tickets again. That deadline for getting to Tucson is looming over us. It would have been nice to stay in Myron’s courtesy parking spot another night, and it would be even nicer to stay through the Region 9 Vintage Rally that starts on Thursday. But we’ve lingered as long as we can. If we stayed any longer we’d have to rush through New Mexico. As it is, I am sorry to be bypassing Big Bend National Park. That’s practically a crime.
We took the scenic route west from Austin, and didn’t join I-10 for about 150 miles. This was a great way to see more of the hill country, and generally get a nice feel for that chunk of Texas. Eventually we ended up on the interstate, and at that point the speed limit was a breezy 80 MPH.
That’s the highest speed limit we’ve ever seen in the United States, and I am told that it will go higher still as we head further west. For the record, we don’t tow over 70 MPH, although I suppose we could. Myron and I had a talk this morning about the problems of blown tires (he’s had a few and so have many other Airstreamers) and I am not eager to experience the joy of a trailer tire blowing at highway speeds. So I watch the speed, and checked the pressures this morning and all the lug nuts too.
We’re parked at the Caverns of Sonora RV Park about seven miles off I-10 in Sonora, TX. John had suggested we check out the cave tour but Emma is not psyched. She says she’s seen a lot of caves and they’re all the same. Too bad … because we are headed to Carlsbad next. But since she’s unexcited, we are going to skip the tour here ($20 per adult, $16 for kids) and just take advantage of the cheap pull through sites ($15/night water & electric) for the night.
One feature Emma does like about this place is the animals. Many deer are roaming around here, and a couple of peacocks too. The deer are natives, the peacocks are imported. I’ll shoot a picture in the morning and try posting it from one of the wi-fi enabled Texas highway rest areas.
Our Google Earth location. If you zoom out on Google a bit from our location, you’ll see a maze of little dirt roads and what look like house sites. Actually, I believe they are all part of the big oil field in this area. Nobody seems to live out here, but the oilfield roads go everywhere.
Over the past few weeks I’ve been working with Joe via email, to figure out when and where we are going to head into Mexico. We still don’t have a firm plan but a few ideas. The latest plan is to extend a trip beyond what we had originally considered. We’re looking at a cross-Mexico trip through Sonora and Chihuahua. Soon you’ll be hearing a lot about that as we figure out the details of traveling in Mexico.
One tip I got from experienced Mexico travelers we’ve met was to get Mike & Terri Church’s book, “Traveler’s Guide to Mexican Camping.” Chapters 2 and 3 of this book should be mandatory reading for anyone considering taking an RV into Mexico. I’ll explain the issues, and what we’ve decided to do, as we go.
January 26, 2007 at 11:15 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
This morning I met up with Liz Lambert at Jo’s Coffee. Liz is the owner of the retro-cool Hotel San Jose on South Congress Street (just a few blocks from Pecan Grove).
Jo’s Coffee
I hooked up with Liz because she’s interested in vintage trailers. So much, in fact, that her current project is to refurbish a bunch of old Spartan, Vagabond, and other 50s and 60s trailers, put them on 15 acres of land in Marfa TX, and sell them as condo units. I interviewed her for the magazine, and we’ll drop by the project in the next few days.
Liz’s hotel is also the major sponsor of a bicycle racing team. They use this Airstream to transport their bikes and equipment.
We couldn’t get another night at Pecan Grove, so we hitched up and moved out to a courtesy-parking spot by Lake Travis, at the home of Myron F. A beautiful spot, but we hardly had a moment to enjoy it before it was time to head off to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center to meet John for a personal tour. John, another Airstreamer, volunteers at the center and is on the Board of Directors.
The wildflowers aren’t in bloom this time of year, and many of the plants were dormant, but thanks to John’s interpretive guidance, it was still interesting. The architecture and design of the buildings and landscape are excellent. The center also boasts one of the largest rainwater collection systems in the world, which you can see a small piece of in the picture above. Giant 10,000 gallon cisterns made of native stone hold the rainwater. Since it’s off-season, entrance to the center is free this month.
Tonight we met up with my old friend Vicki, who moved down here about fifteen years ago, and took her out for dinner at the Salt Lick in Driftwood (just outside Austin). We were here last year. It’s a great spot for barbecue. It’s so popular on weekends that they have to enforce a 90-minute limit for diners. We used up every minute catching up with Vicki, and another hour in the parking lot outside.
January 25, 2007 at 8:07 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
I was awoken this morning by an unfamiliar sight: sunshine in the bedroom window. The dismal weather has broken, at least for a day. I had work to do, but at least in the late afternoon we got a chance to take a long walk along the Town Lake (that portion of Lake Austin that flows through downtown).
Town Lake looks like a river. From Pecan Grove it’s a short walk down Barton Springs Road toward Zilker Park and the trails that run along the edges of the lake. Today, enjoying the respite of sunshine after weeks of rain and cold, the locals were crowding the wide dirt and gravel trails, jogging, mountain biking, and pushing baby strollers.
Our loop was about four miles, but thanks to bridges and alternate routes you can program in any length you want. With the Town Lake trails, Zilker Park, a botanical garden, a sculpture garden, and the entire downtown, Austin has some great opportunities for pedestrians, unlike many other cities.
A quiet tributary to Town Lake gave these folks an opportunity for fishing and boating too. It’s nice to be able to take a picture like that in January.
On the way back along Barton Springs Road we saw a little of the neon starting to light up. Elaborate neon signs are all over Austin, but I won’t have time to get out tonight to shoot as many of them as I’d like. I wonder why they are so commonplace? They look terrific — colorful — exciting and retro.
January 24, 2007 at 10:12 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Last February when we were in Austin we visited the Whole Foods Market at 6th and Lamar. That’s just a few blocks from our location. It was such a fun time we decided to do it again. It’s a tradition now. Plus, we like to browse interesting food.
“Yes, we have some bananas”
In keeping with the local slogan, “Keep Austin Weird”, we picked out a smorgasbord of various odd items to sample and brought the whole pile home to spread out on the dinette. I was in a seafood mood so you’ll notice that influence on the choices.
From top center going clock-wise: marinated seafood salad; ciabatta bread; crab, artichoke & parmesan bisque; grapes, “Pink Lady” apples, Concorde pears; Cowgirl “Red Hawk”, “Oregonzola”, Parrano, and Shropshire cheeses; roasted nuts; roasted edamame salad; smoked rainbow trout, pepper-smoked mackerel, smoked Chubb, Yukon Salmon “candy”; emerald kale and sesame grilled tofu; more soup; grilled asparagus salad.
And not for tonight, we bought bacon cheese and mushroom sausage; Italian sausage with romano; and Buffalo chicken and blue cheese sausage; Cajun-rubbed catfish.
For dessert: Italian cream cake, chocolate mousse cake, and chocolate truffle marquise. But who had room? There will be enough for lunch tomorrow and another day.
January 23, 2007 at 10:00 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
We decided to take a few days in Austin, because we liked it here so much last time. Part of the fun is Pecan Grove RV Park, a funky oasis in the middle of Austin. This is an old-time park that the city grew around over the years, and one of the last RV parks where you can camp just blocks from downtown of a major city. It has a mix of permanent residents and transients like us, plus a few eccentric millionaires. Right down the row, Matthew McConaughey keeps his Airstream, but he’s not here at the moment — he’s in Australia shooting a movie.
Another feature of this park is an abundance of Airstreams. For whatever reason, Airstreamers are attracted to this place, and there are at least a dozen parked here, accounting for a sizeable fraction of all the trailers in the park. The drive over from Blanco on wet roads left our Airstream looking grim with streaks of dirt, so we’re currently the shabbiest looking unit here. If we don’t get some rain tonight I may sneak out and do a little washing.
This park, and the one next to it are endangered. Once at the outskirts of Austin, they are now sitting in the midst of prime real estate and hungry condo developers are making offers. In a few years I would expect them to be gone, so enjoy them while you can! Many others are, and the parks are full much of the year. We got the last spot this week.
Gunny and Eleanor at Rudy’s
This evening Gunny came over and we headed out for dinner at a local chain called Rudy’s for barbecue. Rudy’s is sort of unusual. You pick up everything a la carte and make your own meal from the pieces. Free samples of everything except meat on the bone (ribs). If you want a sandwich, you get some bread and whatever you want in it. No waitstaff either, and you bus your own table. All the seating is family-style with folding chairs. It has no frills, but there’s good food and a fun atmosphere.
Rudy’s slogan: The Worst Bar-B-Q In Texas
Once we were seated one of the staff dropped by with three free cookies for dessert. He told Gunny that his was the best jacket they’d seen all evening. Gunny’s jacket says “US Marine Corps” on it.
We’ll stay in Austin for a few days. There’s work to be done and more friends to be seen, plus I want to get over to Lamar Street at night to photograph some of the great neon signs over there.
January 22, 2007 at 8:20 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
This blog is for my friend Dr. C (but you can read it too).
Dear Doc:
Everyone tells us that Blanco is a neat little town, but when we drive through it looks like a small patch of not much. The Court House building, an ornate cube sitting primly in the middle of the green, has a sign in front of it that says you can rent it for events. The block of buildings across the street are the sort of half-rotted stone and wood construction you see everywhere in the old western towns, vacant of stores. I am reminded of your phrase about your hometown of Patagonia, that it is “a landfill in waiting.”
But if you look more closely, Blanco has surprises and small treasures. You have to stop and talk to people to get the real picture of this place. Last night at dinner with Jim, we met the mother of the owner of Riley’s Restaurant. She was a charming old lady, sitting in her chair by the entrance and chatting us up without guile or reserve. Today at the post office, “Chief” (of police? of the fire department — I wasn’t sure) came in to pick up a package and started a friendly round of ribbing and joking that everyone waiting in line joined in on. Everywhere we go, people are exceptionally calm and friendly. Those are the attributes of people who live in a low-stress region of the world, and who are comfortable with their places in life.
I took to asking people why they recommended we come to Blanco. The real estate agent in Wimberley, our friend John in Austin, the folks at the store …. all said that Blanco is the kind of small place that feels like the town they remember from their childhood: friendly, sweet, uncomplicated.
They’re right about that. Blanco even has institutions that haven’t been seen in other parts of the country in decades. The most-often mentioned local restaurant is a simple cafe carved out of the front of the local bowling alley. It’s a place where you can still get a decent dinner for $5.95, with two sides. The bowling alley itself is a throwback: 9 pin bowling with manual pin setters. They hire kids to set the pins up between frames. If you want to bowl, you need to reserve a week in advance and your reservation is “dependent on availability of pin setters.”
And if you look closely, or talk to anyone in town, you’ll find out that the block of decaying storefronts is undergoing a multi-million dollar renovation. The daughter of a car dealer, so the gossip goes, was given a pile of money to spend and she chose to spend it renovating Blanco’s one-block downtown. Makes you think maybe Blanco has an upswing coming.
I’d hate to see it become too much of a success. Fredericksburg, 40 miles to the west, is a tourist mecca with all the trappings and high real estate prices. Blanco is still a real town, with real (nice) people, and while it’s not an exciting place, it is a place worth visiting.
I worked in the trailer most of the day, but the tedium of work was broken up by two unexpected visits. Warren K is parked just a few sites away from us in his shiny new Airstream Classic 25. He’s a nice guy who has a rough medical history, out full-timing on his own and trying to enjoy life as best he can. When I meet people like Warren I’m always impressed with the healing power of travel. It doesn’t cure problems, and you can’t escape them, but it does provide perspective, new friends, and opportunities for reflection. That’s got to help.
Luc and Jane
Jane and Luc dropped by too — they’re 20-somethings (I think) roaming the country in a 1969 B-van with no particular plan except to see what there is to see. They knocked on our door just because we have Vermont plates and Luc is a Vermonter too. You don’t see too many people from Vermont in Texas, I guess. They brought over some brownies and we compared notes about places we’d been before Jane had to head off to her temporary job up in Johnson City. Once they have some money saved up, they’ll move east, but they were so nice that I hope we can cross paths again.
So goes a day in our life. Blanco ain’t Disneyworld but sometimes that’s better. Now I’m reminded of what you like about Patagonia. See you there, in a few weeks.
January 21, 2007 at 11:04 pm · Filed under FAQs
Our hunt for a winter home has officially begun. Everything west of Austin TX to Borrego Springs CA is in our search area. So we spent the day touring and considering the merits of small towns in the Texas hill country, that area west of Austin and San Antonio where rolling hills and cedars and cattle make up the landscape. Amazingly I forgot my camera and so I have no photos for you today — sorry about that.
This evening, our friend and blog reader Jim Whitworth showed up at the trailer to take us out to dinner, which was a really nice surprise. Jim has offered a lot of useful advice about real estate in this area, and we’ll probably go to his house in a few days to learn more.
Rita, a blog reader from Portugal, recently wrote to us to ask some basic questions about the things we bring along for our full-time travel. Since we get asked this a lot, I thought I’d share Rita’s questions and our answers:
Rita: how do you know how many clothes to bring and how many pairs of shoes?…
We packed only what we need, which means not “something for every occasion.” We have clothes for dry and wet weather, cold weather as low as 30 degrees (with layering), and warm weather. We have enough clothes to last for at least two weeks in average weather, without doing laundry. We left about 3/4 of our clothing behind in storage and periodically return there to pick up new things and drop off clothes we are bored with.
Eleanor says you should pack your absolutely favorite clothes. That way you’ll enjoy what you’re wearing every day. She made the mistake of bringing “camping clothes” the first few months. When she realized the difference between camping and full-timing, she swapped all the clothes out for things she likes to wear and was much happier with her choices.
Each of us has three pairs of shoes, which is plenty for a wide variety of situations if you are thoughtful about what you bring. I have a pair of hiking boots, a pair of casual everyday shoes, and sandals. Since we don’t go to formal events, I was able to leave the wingtips at home. 😉 Emma has sandals, sneakers, and puddle boots. Eleanor has two pairs of sandals (one for hiking, one for dress), sneakers, and casual shoes. We all have a pair of slippers as well.
Rita: how about books and magazines?…do you buy them? after you read them do you keep them?…
Well, as a magazine publisher and avid reader, yes, I buy books and magazines all the time. But I don’t keep them. Books either get left at campground “book swaps”, mailed to friends, or shipped home for storage. All magazines get recycled with friends or thrown out — except of course AIRSTREAM LIFE! It’s a crime to throw out Airstream Life.
Rita: do you buy souvenirs?
Yes, but only very small ones. We each have things we collect. I collect stamps in our National Parks Passport. I also take digital photos — 12,000 at last count, of which I’ve retained about 5,000. These take no space and they are free, but very memorable. Emma collects small rocks (no larger than 1″ diameter) in a fishing tackle box. When the box gets full, some rocks get shipped back home. Eleanor collects National Park pins.
We do buy other things to decorate the trailer, but anything large gets shipped back to storage. That’s rare. We try to only buy things that are truly memorable and interesting — which doesn’t include t-shirts, coffee mugs, and other typical tourist stuff. For example, we bought a hand-made sotol walking stick in Big Bend National Park. This was very meaningful to us because it was made by a fellow we met from the Mexican town of Boquillas, who I interviewed and later featured in the magazine. We kept it in the trailer for a few months and then dropped it off in Vermont at our storage unit. Later it will be a treasured artifact in our next house.
Rita: how do you manage to keep the things on your airstream streamlined so that you are not overflowing in “stuff”, since we all know how “stuff” is so easy to accumulate? did the three of you make a rule on how to keep it light?
Yes, and the rule is simple: bring only what you need and for everything optional that comes in later, something else has to go. Even with this rule, we have managed to accumulate more stuff than we should have. So it’s important to periodically go through the entire trailer and look at everything with a critical eye: Do I need this? Have I used it in the past three months? Will I definitely use it in the next three months? If the answer is “no”, it goes away.
It’s amazing how much stuff we brought that we thought we “might need someday” and which has never been used. In fact, we are currently making another pass through our possessions, because the trailer is starting to get too close to our maximum weight for my comfort. So far we’ve filled two 14x14x14″ boxes with stuff to send home.
The bottom line is that you can’t bring it all with you. Nor should you. If you find you need something that you don’t have, you can usually get it readily enough. And a great lesson from this form of travel is learning what you really need — and that’s a lot less than you might think.
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