From San Antonio to Austin

Monday, 12.05.2014

As predicted, it is overcast when we get up. G. goes to the Alamo after we changed our hotel reservation for Austin online. We leave San Antonio at 11:30 a.m. Since bad weather is expected in Austin, we initially drive northwest out of the city on smaller country roads to Bandera - the world capital of cowboys and ranches.

We are looking for the Flying L Ranch mentioned everywhere in travel guides, but it has absolutely nothing typical of a ranch. There are individual houses that can be rented, there is a horse stable and a few Axis deer and antelopes roaming around, but there are no cowboys, horses, or longhorns to be seen.

What nonsense to recommend something like this everywhere! Except for a few drops, it remains dry. We return to Bandera, but it is small and uneventful, so we continue and try to find real ranches along the route, considering the density of ranches here...

There are supposed to be some in Kerrville, but even when we turn off to three ranches there, there is nothing that gives the impression of a working ranch. One seems to be more of a children's and youth camp, one is not recognizable at all, and another is behind a gate with a clear warning not to enter. Considering the loose gun culture in Texas, we do not dare to cross any borders here and turn back.

So far, Texas has not shown what we had expected. We always imagined huge herds of cattle, many longhorns, huge ranches, and endless oil fields with corresponding pumps. But we did not expect that we would have to search for all of this.

In Medina, I quickly get a sandwich from a stall, and we observe a small hummingbird at a trough. half an hour later, we reach Fredericksburg. "Welcome" is written at the entrance to the town. Many Germans once lived here. The main street is called the "Hauptstrasse", there is the "Auslander Biergarten", and across from it, the restaurant "Der Lindenbaum", and several streets with German names. Unfortunately, the bakeries are already closed.

As we continue driving, the sky becomes increasingly dark. We head east on highway 290, and here wineries line up one after another. We have been on the road to Austin for about two hours. The landscape remains hilly and beautiful.

Today we saw many beautiful meadows with wildflowers and blooming thistles and cacti. The area is a lovely mix of hills, meadows, and rural charm that lies quietly and does not resemble what we had imagined Texas to be like at all.

We will be staying at a LaQuinta Inn in Austin for the next three nights. It is a normal motel located above one of the main roads to downtown. After checking into the room, we drive the 3 miles to downtown. We find a parking spot on 6th Street.

Live music echoes from several bars, which is also what Austin is known for. After a small salad, we go to the bar "Friends", where a band takes a break after two songs, and the next group takes almost an hour to do a sound check. We leave around 9:45 p.m. after the second group has managed to play two songs. We briefly check out another bar that could be nice, but then we decide to return to the hotel.

As soon as we get in the car, a downpour starts, unlike anything we have ever experienced. Thunder and lightning strike at short intervals above us, and it is pouring so heavily that even the windshield wipers on the highest setting do not provide much visibility.

Just three steps from the car to the motel are enough to get completely soaked. The TV goes out, and the thunder makes the floor of the motel tremble, while all of this continues for another two hours. Opposite the hotel, torrents of water flow from the gutters, flashes of lightning and thunder alternate, and the lamp above the nightstand flickers. Finally, around 1 a.m., it becomes quiet.

Daily distance: about 200 miles / 320 km