I haven't had internet in quite so time so even though I'm currently sitting in the Bright Angel Lodge at the Grand Canyon, I'm going to do this Texas blog and then the Arizona blog separately.
Austin was supposed to be our first major stop, but obviously New Orleans replaced it in the final weeks before the trip. Surprisingly I liked New Orleans more than Austin, I think. Austin was a nice city to live in (if it weren't in the middle of Texas), but New Orleans was more fun to visit as a tourist. However, I still really liked Austin and I'm very glad we went.
One of the best parts of Austin was how it felt like a small town, just with a lot of fun restaurants and parks to visit. They have off-leash dog parks which makes any city awesome. Unfortunately we didn't trust Kaos enough to take him off his leash, especially since it was a place he didn't know and there were dogs (and statues that he found terrifying) everywhere. There were also little parks throughout the city streets that made for nice resting spots because it was ridiculously hot. I think the first week of our trip saw 100 degrees everyday.
Austin has the largest urban population of bats in North America so we went to watch them come out from Congress Street Bridge at night. We got a picnic at the first Whole Foods ever, which was fun, and waited for the bats. Apparently they were coming out later than normal because of the heat, so we were way early, and we went back to our room for a little while to finish waiting. We got back to find a huge crowd. The bats didn't come out til it was pretty dark, so it wasn't as impressive as it usually is unfortunately. That's not to say it wasn't entertaining - half way through the wait a little boy went up to the fence in front of the entire crowd and started peeing on it. Everyone was already watching and applauding (he had no idea it was for him) and he proceeded to try and go #2 on the fence. At that point his dad ran over and grabbed him, so everyone started clapping for him too. It was so priceless.
The best part of Texas was definitely the BBQ. In Austin we ate at a place called "Iron Works BBQ," which was very laid back just like the city. You went up to essentially a cafeteria window and said what you wanted, they gave it to you, you went to an ice bucket to grab your drink and opened it right there since they were all glass bottles (the beers and soda) and then you went to check out. The seating was also awesome, we sat on a back patio that overlooked a little creek and had bamboo growing around it. On the way out of Austin we stopped at a place called "Salt Lick BBQ" which was in Driftwood, Texas. This was definitely one of my favorite stops in Texas, and I'm not as obsessed with BBQ as the guys in our group are. You have to go on some little back road to get there because it's about 30 minutes outside of Austin, so on the way you get to see the real Texas - ranches and such. The drive was gorgeous and then you pull into this restaurant that has literally nothing but other ranches around it. You park in one of the several huge parking lots, which are essentially fields so they look nice, and basically just show you how packed it gets there. The restaurant is laid out in several buildings, all of which are one story and made out of stone and covered in trees or other plants. It had a real Australian Outback feel. My mom and I sat outside because of the dog so we got to watch a helicopter land so three people could come grab some lunch. You know, the usual. The boys sat inside because that was the only place you could order the all-you-can-eat deal. Inside the part of the restaurant they sat in you could see where they made their own sausage. It was just hanging from the ceiling near the cash register. Very cool. Once I have more time I'll add that picture. It was beyond delicious and just an incredible experience.
San Antonio was our next stop and was just as hot as Austin. We were staying in a KOA Kabin there, which fortunately had air conditioning. It was super cute, but the beds were very uncomfortable and I hardly slept. On the way into San Antonio we visited San Jose (or Juan?) Mission which was gorgeous and the highlight of that town. Because we took so long at Salt Lick (well worth it) we only got to see one mission, but we definitely saw the best one. It was huge and very detailed. There was a wedding taking place while we were there which was interesting. The brides maids dresses were very cute. The inside of the church, however, was pretty boring. We stayed there for at least an hour despite the incredible heat, so that tells you just how nice it was.
We went to the Riverwalk for dinner, which was a very unique downtown area. All of the restaurants and some shops line the river, which has nice sidewalks and bridges going along it. By river, its really more of a dirty waterway that comes from the river, but still.. the effect is nice. The restaurant we ate at wasn't exactly delicious, but it was the perfect Riverwalk experience. We were out on the sidewalk with all of the people walking by. The Dallas Cowboys (vomit) were in town for the week for training camp or something, so the place was packed. About 50% of the people were in Cowboys jerseys and 100% of them were incredibly unfortunate looking. People in Texas (and Arizona..) are really ugly. Like, really really UGLY.
While walking along the Riverwalk we went into the Hyatt, which had glass elevators. As we were in the lobby my mom turned just in time to see some chick lifting her skirt to moon us (we were the only ones there to see it, unfortunately). The rest of us were incredibly disappointed we missed it, but once her friends pointed out that people had actually seen and she turned around humiliated, we all waved and were cracking up. It was awesome.
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