Our Last Week in Austin

Welcome back and thank you so much for taking the time to read all about our RV lifestyle and adventures. We appreciate all you amazing readers! 

When we left off last week, we were on our way to visit Jerry’s Aunt Kathy and Uncle John.  Interesting fact: Aunt Kathy is the youngest of 12, and she is only 5 years older than Jerry.  He loves calling her “Auntie”.  They live in Baytown, TX, which was a 3-hour drive from Austin.  Jerry picked me up at Katie’s apartment Saturday morning as Katie and I had a Susu & Katie Friday night together.  She made spa reservations for us which included a massage and a facial.  We had so much fun!  We went out for Italian food for dinner and enjoyed our spa treatments. We then just hung out with Tito (her dog) watching TV and talking.  It was magical.

Driving to Baytown, Jerry and I ran into 3 Buc-ee’s convenience stores.  These are not like any convenience store you have seen.  They are HUGE with their own line of private labeled foods, a jerky bar, fudge bar, taco bar and on and on.  I have never seen so many gas pumps or ice machines in my life.  We had such a good time exploring the 3 we stopped in and of course, purchased some fun things like our Buc-ee’s clothing.

Aunt Kathy had invited her grandchildren and their children and friends for the day.  Jerry loved seeing cousins he hadn’t seen in 20 years.  She made all kinds of southern food, especially Gumbo and a peach cobbler that is Jerry’s favorite dessert ever.  Lots of cocktails, laughs and just an overall amazing time had by all.  We are so glad we were able to see them while in Texas!

When we left Baytown we drove straight to Katie’s for some more fun on Rainey Street.  Katie, her friends Ashley, Jon and I had the most amazing time.  Rainey is a historical street with nothing but bars, restaurants, and food trucks.  Needless to say, I had WAY TOO much fun.  I now understand why Katie loves living in Austin.  Between The Domain, South of Congress, Rainey and so much more, there is no way you can ever be bored in Austin.  She is thriving there with so many wonderful friends.  We were so glad we were able to spend as much time there as we did.

We did have to leave two days early to get “Madge”, our RV, looked at as we had discovered a couple of issues. We drove to La Vernia, TX which is the only place that was able to do what we needed done to our front jacks.  La Vernia is about 27 miles away from San Antonio, so we got up at 5:00 am to hit the road!!  First time we had to set our alarm clock in a very long time.  When we arrived the RV Techs immediately said we didn’t have a problem!!!!  I looked at Jerry and said, “you owe me big time”.  Needless to say what we thought was an issue was NOT.  We still do have slide issues, but they couldn’t fix that.  They did make it a bit better, but we will need to go to Indiana where Madge was “born” and have the manufacturer fix the problem.

So, instead of being upset about leaving Austin 2 days early, we made the best out of it and went to San Antonio for the day and played tourists.  We had a lovely lunch on the RiverWalk, took a boat tour, went to The Alamo, and just had a ton of fun. We also decided that we will stay in Desert Hot Springs for two days on our way to CA instead of one to break up this very long trip. 

The trip to CA includes Fort Stockton, Las Cruces, Tucson, Desert Hot Springs, Bakersfield and finally Pleasanton, and we will be staying at the Alameda County Fairgrounds until Dec 7.  Cannot wait for Thanksgiving to see family! We have lots of lunch and dinner plans with friends.

The most exciting thing for me is getting my haircut with my incredible stylist, Victoria on Dec 3.  I haven’t had my hair cut since September 9 in Darby, MT. For those of you who know me, you know I always get my haircut every 4 weeks.  OY VEY!!!!  CANNOT WAIT!!!!  Also, we have dentist appointments to complete our own self maintenance.  Gotta get things done when you can!  

We will be taking next week off for the Thanksgiving Holiday, but we wish all of you a wonderful time with your family and friends.  Jerry and I are so grateful to all of you.

Just One More…..Thanksgiving with our family!