Day 33 - Austin: Mount Bonnell, Mayfield Park, Texas Capitol, Public Library, Sixth street

I read that people hike up to Mount Bonnell to watch the sunset, but with all these clouds I don't think we would have seen anything. Instead we had lunch looking at the Colorado river. We noticed the multi-million dollar homes lining up on the shores. 

We tried to follow our google trip day planner and this time it took us to Mayfield Park and Nature Preserve. In 1971, the 21 acres were donated to the city of Austin by Mary Mayfield Gutsch for all Austinites to enjoy as a park. The sky was still cloudy and it was muddy and wet. We took the trail that goes to lake Austin. On the way, we saw a couple of peacocks, one was on the roof of a house.

We realized that the google trip day planner was no good. The map lists places in a sequential order that does not make sense. We assumed that there were no humans involved in the compilation of this itinerary.

So we aimed for the meat and potatoes, the Texas Capitol.

The Capitol building sits on top of a hill, surrounded by a park. As we were driving down Congress Avenue flanked by high rise buildings, we could see the Capitol looming at the end. It's quite a sight. It is one of the largest and tallest Capitol buildings in the US.

We took the free general tour with a docent. After a general description of Texas history, which is pretty much made out of  two main battles, Alamo and San Jacinto, she went on describing the life of the 150 house representatives at the Capitol. So they work every other year and for only five months, 140 days, from January to ...hmmm maybe beginning of June. Yes you understood correctly, it's only every two years and not for long. I had to ask twice.

Bill googled it and then he found out that they are not paid that much. In fact, they make $600 a month for a total of $7,200 per year, plus a per diem of $190 for every day the Legislature is in session. They all have other jobs, this is just an hobby.

We got to enter the house of representatives and the senate rooms.

 

 

 

 

Every February when the Legislature is in session, a group of individuals bring a bunch of rattle snakes to the Capitol to show them to the representatives. They handle them with sticks. First they squeeze their head down until their eyes are bulging out and then they hold them by their heads and put them on a rep shoulder for a photo shoot. When they are done, they literally throw them down on the pile to avoid getting bitten, and this makes a big noise... pretty disgusting!

I love public libraries and this one was especially awesome.

Public Library

The Butterfly Bridge

Austin By Night is on Sixth street. There are bars, restaurants, and nightclubs all along including the museum of weird stuff.

My hair at 97% humidity 😂

We spent the evening at the Elephant Room, where during happy hours for free we could listen to a jazz band with a singer playing famous jazz songs of the 30's and 40's.

Day 32 - San Antonio to Austin

This KOA is only two years old. Everything is brand new, from the laundry machines to the unisex huge shower rooms. The grounds are a bit rough but the hook ups are the best I have seen so far.
On the other side of the fence we are told there are some longhorn cattle. I can't wait to see them.
The area is rural and for this reason it's quiet.
On the way to Austin, we see on one side a prominent Sikh Temple and on the other side the vast grounds of the Austin Rodeo. Welcome to Austin!

As the body ages, it needs more maintenance, like exercising to keep the bones healthy. I think I need to exercise more now than when I was younger. It's the only way to get rid of creaking 😉
But very few campgrounds have an exercise room, like this one, so before leaving we bought resistance bands. They work like weights but without... the weight 😂

Lately I have been using google fit for keeping track of workouts and steps. I like it because it's on all the time.
Also since I haven't mentioned it yet, we are traveling with Scampers, our cat, and for who knows her and worries about her, she is doing great and she is a great traveler.

She loves the trailer, but sometimes she feels cold or depressed (?)

Day 31 - San Antonio: Gruene and the Tower of Americas

The humidity is transforming my hair. I am developing a nice afro. Bill likes it.
I always think it's cold because it's cloudy and then I end up sweating in my jacket.

You need a second half of the day to visit Gruene, because in the dance hall, bands start their gig around 6pm. Unfortunately we had to leave the town by 3pm. We figure that we can come back from Austin.
Gruene Hall was built in 1878 and it's the longest operating dance hall in Texas.
Various famous artists have been playing on this stage, like Chris Isaak, the Dixie Chicks, BB king and many more.

Gruene Dance Hall

Gruene town has many shops and historical. It was fun to walk around and check out everything.

At 4 pm we went to meet our friends at the Tower of the Americas back in San Antonio. We wanted to secure a good table before happy hour (4:30 to 7:30). We didn't have to pay for the elevator because we were going to spend money at the lounge.

The view was stunning, the plates were big, the cocktails were good and the price was low (4 to 7$)

Day 30 - San Antonio: San Jose Mission