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Published: February 10th 2009
Photo 1
Me in the State Capital of Austin“Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together.” Woodrow Wilson
It is now Jan 13th and Jorg and I are crossing over the Texas border. Jorg has decided that he is going to get out of the car at the sea and journey on from there. I dropped him off just before we hit the water at the Galveston coastline and I continued on to Galveston. When I rounded the corner at the gulf, I wasn’t prepared for what I was about to see.
The coastline was desolate. There was barely anything left standing. I knew that last September Hurricane Ike had hit the area, but I didn’t realize the extent of the impact. I was looking at my GPS and it indicated streets in the town of Gilchrist but the only thing I could see was dirt and old foundations. As I drove along, there was the odd house left on stilts, but most had been damaged and uninhabitable. At one point while I was driving along I spotted a house lying upside down in the middle of a field. I walked up as close as I dared and found personal items like a
Photo 2
Scene along Galveston coastilne. duffel bag, curtains, ceiling fan etc strewn all over.
This landscape continued along the whole coast up to the port where I caught the ferry that took me to across to Galveston. When I got off the ferry, I continued on to the address I had punched in my GPS for the hostel and I arrived to a building no longer habitable. I drove along the coast some more. There were some businesses open and a few hotels open, but it was hard to tell what was open, and what wasn’t. I found a hotel which was listed in my coupon book but it stood out over the water with holes in the building and curtains blowing through the windows in the wind. It was 5pm now and I was looking for a place to stay. Most places that were open were full so I made the decision to just drive straight through to Houston instead. I had seen enough of Galveston today.
I settled in a hotel just north of Houston. I took this opportunity to catch up on personal things. I wanted to do a little relaxing and take time just for me without touring and
Photo 3
Scene along Galveston coastilne. traveling. I actually went out one night and saw a couple movies at the theatre. The only reason I was staying in Houston was to visit my old friend Lisa. We were friends back when we were 16 and in Army cadets and we haven’t seen each other since.
Thursday Jan 15th was dinner with the Bush’s … Lisa, Chris, Emma and Lucas. It was so great to see Lisa and meet her family. They are all great (the kids are adorable!) and dinner was delicious. We sat and chatted about the old army days and somehow those 25 years since we last saw each other just melted away.
It was time to hit the road again. The next day, I drove to Austin Texas. As soon as I arrived I knew I would just love this place. The hostel was located on the river edge and the downtown was about a 40 minute walk along the river. It was clean, comfortable and quiet.
It was Friday Jan 16th when I arrived so I decided I should go out. I was on the Austin city website and found a band playing at the university. They had a
Photo 4
Scene along Galveston coastilne. couple sample songs on the website and I decided I liked it, so I went. The name of the guy playing was Charlie Robinson and he was great.
The next day I took a guided tour of the Bremond Block and the Capital Building. I was the only one who showed up for the tour so it was a private tour. George arrived in town today so we met up in the evening and went for dinner together and then enjoyed an improve show at a local coffee shop. Afterwards, given it was Saturday night, we thought we would wander down 6th street and see if we could find some good live music to listen to given Austin is the “Live Music capital of the world”. All we found were lots of clubs with kids (you know, those early 20’s people) out club hopping, dancing and having a good time. It really wasn’t the place to be to listen to some good live music. We enjoyed a couple margaritas on a balcony watching the kids then decided it was time to call it a night around 1:30am.
On Monday Jan 19th, George and I decided to spend a
Photo 4b
Scene along Galveston coastilne. day in the Hill Country outside of Austin. We took some of the recommended drives on some side roads. We then eventually arrived at the Enchanted Rock near Fredericksburg. It was a mini Rock/Mountain that we hiked up, then down and around. The views from the top were great and the total hike was a good 3 hours.
Tuesday Jan 20th. The day the world changed. It was In Inauguration Day here in the US. I spent the day in front of the TV at George’s hotel room, then later in the evening at my hostel. There was no where else I wanted to be.
Normally I would have left the hostel by now, but I had decided to spend some extra time in Austin. I needed a break from all the travelling. I wanted to just relax and get some personal things done. Austin was a great place to do this. The hostel was great and there were so many opportunities to walk and relax. One day I actually spent the whole day in a chair by the river, learning to use my Nikon D40. Another day, I spent on the internet investigating TEFL courses.
My
Photo 5
Me and Lisa 25 years later. last night in Austin was Saturday Jan 24th. I went out with Ellen (a friend I met in the hostel) to a local bar playing Marimba music. I didn’t know what it was at all, but I enjoyed it. In this same bar, they were playing Salsa music upstairs so I couldn’t resist going upstairs to watch for a bit. Boy, would I love to be able to dance like that. It looked like so much fun! Someday.
On Sunday, it was time to leave Austin. I was off to San Antonio. I was told I had to go and see the Riverwalk as it was beautiful. Well, I saw the Riverwalk and everyone was right. It was very nice. I also took the opportunity to explore the Alamo so that I could “remember it”! It was 5pm when I was done touring downtown. I headed to the hostel and the person on the desk wanted $26.50 for one night in a dorm room. I told him that I could get a motel room 5 minutes down the road for $30. He didn’t care, so I left. I actually decided I had seen enough of San Antonio anyway. I
Photo 6
Enjoying the scenery outside my hostel. also realized I wasn’t really tired and was still full of energy so I decided to keep driving. I found that I made it all the way to Fort Stockton Texas. It was here that I had to decide by morning whether to continue to go west or to go south. I made the decision to go south and it was one of the best decisions I have made on this trip.
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