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Published: March 5th 2006
After some wonderful shopping and days lounging by the super natural thermal pool, we left San Miguel with a bang. Our last night, Josh and a gang of 3 others really put on a spread of fajitas, homemade tortillas, wonderful local fruit and a variety of yummy drinks. We had a great week in San Miguel and would like to extend a special thanks to Tom, Proferia, Tony, Triny and Maria for all of their hospitality. We had an amazing time because of you!!
After leaving San Miguel, we got on the freeway heading due North. Our sights were minimal because the insurance was due to run out the 16th. We did stay the night in Saltillo about 250km from the border. Besides the amazing amount of pigeons in their main square (one almost took a peck at my foot he was so hungry), there wasn't a lot there for us to marvel at.
Border crossings and customs at the airport always make me nervous, so getting to the Mexican border was somewhat of a relief and somewhat of a short nightmare, at least for me. We finally got to the bridge that crossed the Rio Grande and inched
Tom's House
The natural warm springs pool stays at about 84 degrees. Awesome!over the US - Mexico line in the middle of the bridge. Or course we got in the slowest line so we had plenty of time to ponder the number of dead bodies found in the Rio Grande over the last 10 years as well as the number of drive by shootings there may have been during the drug wars, etc. If Josh hasn't told you or if you don't know me well, I have a lot of "I wonder...". It was interesting that all the border agents looked alike. I'm not being crazy here. Josh was about to say the same thing. All were men, dark hair, tall, good looking, same facial features, and had the same uniform. Our border agent motioned for us to pull forward and saw our Hawaii plate. He stopped us before we got to his stall. He checked our plate on the computer, looked at our plate again, did more typing on the computer, checked AGAIN and then finally asked us to pull forward. He asked all the same questions where we had been, where we were from, etc. and of course Josh was very eager to share all the details of our trip.
Texas State Capital and us
This is our attempt at a "UT". In early days, people were shot in Texas for stuff like this. The officials final question of us, "if you are both unemployed, how are you financing this trip?" Relevent, but seemed to be provoking a drug smuggling, illegal business, unlawful act type answer which he surely could not assume Josh and I were party too. Just to innocent looking. - heee, hee. He sent us on our way where we promptly stopped at the LARGEST truck stop in Texas(to include full shower facilities, possibly a church and 3 fast food restaurants) to fill up on $1.99 gallon gas and load up on some American food.
Quick wrap up...Mexico is wonderful. Over the years we have heard plenty of rumors suggesting that Mexico is unclean, dangerous and unlawful. From our 3 week experience in Mexico we were amazed by the beauty, made to feel at home by the locals and saw more street signs than we have seen many other places we have traveled. We both would recommend a trip if you have the time.
To Austin...our super friends Shauna and Brad agreed to not only put us up for the week in Austin but also had a variety of itineraries planned for us AND they were eager to go
Our Wonderful Austin Hosts
After a full meal at the Salt Lick, we could barely stand up straight. see the things with us! We arrived on a warm sunny day - about 70 degrees. Upon arrival we did a quick change and made a run for a favorite hang out of our hosts. The first night's meal of tortilla crusted cat fish and queso sauce really sums up the cuisine in Texas. We had a great night with plenty of cerveza and finger lickin' food. Our 2nd and 3rd days in Austin (a slighly chillier 40 degrees. Yes, a 30 degree drop from the previous day) included a night out on 6th street, a seat at the Oasis, a trip to the Salt Lick and live music at Gruene Hall. 6th street for those that are not familiar is a widely popular row of bars and clubs that cater to the college crowd. The cops actually close down the street to traffic at 10p in order to calm the mania. We ended our night at the Chuggin' Monkey where Josh, Shauna, Brad, and I cleared the dance floor with our moves. Honestly, the DJ played Livin' on a Prayer by Bon Jovi and Josh started to dance the sprinkler, both Shauna and my arms were flailing. Talking about
the seen later, we weren't sure if it was our dancing that cleared the floor or the fact that most of the people in the bar were not born when the song came out. Anyways...no need to dwell.
The Oasis is a monument in Austin. It is a restaruant on top of a hill that also runs down the side in multi-layer decks. At peak capacity it probably held 1,000 people for a meal or a show. Unfortunately, in June lightening struck and burned 1/2 of the restaurant. It was an amazing sight to see pictures of this place in full swing and check it out now. It was a great stop for a quick look at the damned lake Travis too.
Upon recommendation from our Mukilteo reception we stopped at the Salt Lick on our way to Gruene Hall. As you can see from the pictures provided, it was all about the meat! We could not leave Austin without a little TX BBQ. Brad and Josh ordered a rack of ribs that were HUGE. All of the food was served in a very family friendly atmosphere in a place with alot of character. Would advise a trip
Typical Texan
Can't get much more Texan than this. if in and around Austin or San Antonio. From the Salt Lick we set out for Gruene Hall which is the oldest dance hall in Texas. What I find funny is quite a bit of Texas was settled by the Germans and of course the Mexicans...but the Texans pronounce the German and Spanish words so odd. For instance Gruene Hall is pronounced Green, where in German it would be pronounced Grun. In addition that is a major street in Austin called Guadalupe pronounced Guadaloop. I wonder if this is George W. Bush's doing! Anyways, the music at Gruene Hall if knee stomping, boot kickin' good. We had a great time.
Josh and I went out solo for a couple days this week. Our first excursion took us to Fredricksburg, a local wine country town. We stopped at a local winery for wine tasting and met up with our bartender who have to be from France (did not like my taste in white wines a bit), grew up in Morocco and used to ranch on the island of Vanautu. He married a Texan and now lives in a dry county to his disgust. Now he commutes to work in the
Wine Tasting Texas style
A frenchman, raised in Morraco, who lived in Vanuatu. Only in America. winery and is having a great time learning about the wine making process. He was fun to talk to and although his wine knowledge was limited, (kept referring our questions to the printed notes on display) he made the wine tastin experience a great one. The town of Fredricksburg prides itself on being the "little Germany" of Texas. It was cute with little shops and ice cream parlors. There were a couple of German restaurants, that were far outnumbered by the beef jerky and fudge shops. One shop we stopped in sold bottles and bottles of salsa, fruit topping, jam, perserves, pickled veggies, etc. The best part about it all...there were samples of EVERYTHING! Josh seriously tried over 150 different things. I had to stop after I tried a flaming hot salsa that burned my stomach lining. I should have headed the warning of "VERY HOT" with the flashing siren beacon over the top of the display.
Later that night, we were able to catch up with Sheda in town with her boyfriend Dwayne and her friend Stina. We thought it was very appropriate to hit the local cajun place with Mardi Gras in full swing. Shida was Josh's
Marisa-o-Nemo
Next year's Halloween Costume? year at CMC and they have kept in touch. She is also a local so we were able to get some tips from her too. It was great to catch up!
Overall, Austin has been awesome. It is young, lively and there is so much to do every day. Between the running trails, the hikes, the great food and the amazing night life, Austin has been a great place to stop for Josh and I. Look forward to adding more details of our last nights here on our next blog. Hope all is well.
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mandy
non-member comment
mmmmm. meeaaaatttt.
you guys look like you're having so much fun! i am especially jealous after seeing the shot of all the meat at the beginning of this blog. mmmmmm, texas-style grub. don't get much better than that!! safe travels! xoxo