<– Day 22 – Sun. May 3rd: Buc’s, Boats, Bats & a Batmobile | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 24 – Tue. May 5th: San Antonio’s Riverwalk –>

Ann riding a Jackalope with a drink in her hand.

Our only plans this day were to explore Austin and test out some of the best BBQ Austin had to offer. We started by heading downtown to get some photos of the Texas capitol building.

A whole street blocked off at the capitol for motorcycle parking.

That plan didn’t quite work out. Apparently, the city was memorializing police officers who died while serving. The capitol grounds were full of officers and people and there were no open parking spaces to be found. One side street was packed with motorcycles. We decided to abandon that plan and head for another option: Museum of Weird.

Austin has built a reputation from the city’s slogan, “Keep Austin Weird“. As ‘weird’ as that slogan is, it seems it was not an organic marketing effort, but rather formed and promoted by the Austin Independent Business Alliance. Whatever its beginnings, the city seems to have embraced that mentality, proudly. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Austin ought to be very flattered by Santa Cruz and Portland‘s ‘borrowing’ of the concept.

Of the weirder things in Austin is the Museum of Weird. A tribute to the time honored freak shows of yesteryear, the owner of the museum has assembled some odd items. I couldn’t say for sure if they are real or not, but the whole thing was pretty humorous. After paying our money, we walked through a couple short halls full of memorabilia, objects, and assorted freakish things. We were alone, as we usually seem to be whenever visiting museums. This part we expected.

The fur bearing trout

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<– Day 21 – Sat. May 2nd: Ingram Rocks, but Kerrville Robots  | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 23 – Mon. May 4th: Keeping Austin Weird –>

Any day I see a Tucker is a good day. It was an unexpected pleasure. So, yeah, Sunday was a very good day.

We started the day driving south toward San Antonio. We did not need to follow any signs to locate the city. All we had to do was listen for the anguished moans of NBA basketball fans. Those poor fans are still sad about their team’s loss.  Wow, was that a great game!

Our first stop of the day was to visit the largest Buc-ee’s (and largest convenience store) in the world. It’s located in New Braunfels. Once again, we counted the pumps. There were 120, which is 8 more than the Temple Buc-ees. The New Braunfels store is 67,000 square feet. You could fit two average sized Whole Foods stores or 11 7-11 convenience stores under Buc-ee’s roof. There are 83 bathroom stalls, 250 employees, and 1,000 parking spaces, We didn’t take any photos, because  it isn’t that much bigger than the new Temple store.

Following our Buc-ee’s fix we motored northward on I-35 until we reached Texas State University’s Meadow Center, home to glass bottom boat tours at the headwaters of the San Marcos River. When Spanish explorers first found the area they thought it was the fountain of youth due to the bubbling fresh water. In some cases the water spurted out like small geysers.

In 1849, the lake was dammed. For decades the lake was known for Aquarena performances and theme park attractions. Eventually, the theme park was shuttered, but glass bottom boats still explore the crystal clear lake sharing its history and educating visitors about the unique environment. Through Groupon we got a buy-one-get-one free deal, so if you decide to go, check them out for the discount. The boat operator was full of information and we enjoyed the tour. One tip, on weekends parking is free.

Entry way to glass bottom boat tours

The dammed lake is long and narrow. The water is very clear. It appears they have four boats that operate every half hour.

We photographed the lake bed through the glass bottom, but all perspective was lost. This shot demonstrates how visitors look down through the glass. I’m not looking down. I am posing for a photo, but it seems I should be posing by looking down?

After our boat ride we decided to check off another to-do item. We visited Dicks Classic Garage Car Museum. I’d decided to visit the museum, because it was one of the few car museums in Texas I could find.

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<– Day 20 – Fri. May 1st: Luckenbach, Texas  | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 22 – Sun. May 3rd: Buc’s, Boats, Bats & a Batmobile –>

Kerrville, a pretty neat town.

Today was a ‘day’ off. It was supposed to be an easy, fun day. Yet, we still found ourselves at a few cool places in the otherwise semi-sleepy town of Kerrville.

We didn’t drive very far today, staying mostly in Kerrville.

We arrived at Kerrville on Friday out of sheer fate.  Well, fate and careful motel hunting. Our plan was to land in Austin Friday night, but the weekend rates were pretty unfriendly for an otherwise friendly state. Fredericksburg rates were much better. So, using Priceline I found myself veering over to Kerrville; someplace called the YO Ranch was serving up some rooms at $62 for Friday and Saturday. That was a bargain for a weekend rate, so I went for it. I figured since we’d never been to Kerrville that maybe there’d be something interesting there.

It turned out that this YO Hotel place was really cool! Check out the interior and exterior shots.

Outside of the Y O Hotel

Lobby of the Y O Hotel. Dangling off the chandeliers are all the brands of ranches that sent cattle from southern Texas to the panhandle (or so they say).

We even have balcony attached to our room.

On Saturday morning we awoke and went hunting for a laundromat. I normally travel with a week of clothes. I can always tell when the week is up, because the rear of the jeep smells like a gym locker. I don’t know how my wife stands it. I guess it is true love after all?

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<– Day 19 – Thu. Apr. 30th: Texas Justice, Pacific War, & a Comfy Bed  | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 21 – Sat. May 2nd: Ingram Rocks, but Kerrville Robots –>

Ann and I checking out Luckenbach, Texas. We didn’t see Waylon, Willie, or any of their boys.

After a good night’s sleep at James’ B&B, we took a few photos and hit the road. Our first stop was downtown to meet up with James. We both got so busy that we hadn’t had a chance to meet in person.

James strongly recommended that on our way to Kerrville, where we planned to hold up for a couple days, that we stop by Luckenbach, Texas. Of course, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson made the town famous in their song. That was all Ann or I knew of the town, so we were all in for that adventure.

We made a quick stop in Fredericksburg at the Nimitz portion of the National Museum of the Pacific and learned about Nimitz’s early life. However it was too dark to get any photos inside. We settled for some photos of us operating artillery.

Luckenbach is only six miles or so south of Fredericksburg, It didn’t take us long to get there. After some confusion about where Luckenbach was, we finally figured out (with some help) that the main loop into the town was closed for a bike rally, so we had to park nearby and walk to the town.

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<– Day 18 – Wed. Apr. 29th: Power Wagons & Pecans  | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 20 – Fri. May 1st: Luckenbach, Texas –>

Our welcome to Uncorked’s Bed and Breakfast

We didn’t have much driving to do today, but we still managed to use up the time we had.

Thursday morning we met with Texas Justice, or more accurately with the Justice of the Peace in Llano County (the name is pronounced ‘lah-no’). Normally, we get hauled into court, but this time we went of our own volition to meet with Brian Alexander. Brian’s been interested in jeeps since he was a kid working at his uncle’s camp, a long stone’s throw from downtown Llano. He remembered the camp owning an early column shift CJ-2A, but then they switched over to floor-shift models.

Eventually Brian moved to Odessa, where he enjoyed a career in law enforcement, before moving back to Llano and winning election and re-elections as Justice of the Peace. Along the way Brian, always a military buff, got involved in reenactments and WWII history. For years Brian was interested in owning a jeep, but the stars didn’t align until a 1951 CJ-3A fell into his lap. It needed some work, so he’s been rebuilding it. The project is nearly done. When finished, he plans on selling it and getting what he’d really like, an MB or GPW (well, and a M-38, and a M-38a1 — why just have one, right?).

Brian seems to have a good knack for details, so I suspect that once he buys an MB or GPW, he’ll end up restoring it, because not having the correct steering wheel or some other detail will gnaw on him until he has it right (Brian, that’s my prediction 🙂 ).

We had a real nice time talking with Brian about jeeps and about his interests beyond four-wheel-drive, so we thank him for his time. Also, Ann and I need to apologize to the people of Llano County for bringing the wheels of justice to a halt at least for a couple hours Thursday morning.

Downtown square in Llano

Another shot of the square.

The deer sign represents the fact that Llano County is the deer hunting capital of Texas,

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<– Day 17 –Tue. Apr. 28th: Dr. Peppers & Texas Rangers  | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 19 – Thu. Apr. 30th: Texas Justice, Pacific War, & a Comfy Bed –>

Talking about jeeps and life with Lee (left) and his father Sam (right).

Great day yesterday that started with a question mark … Would Paul Cook respond to my request to see his Power Wagons before we passed Kempner on our way to San Saba. I had contacted him at the last minute, so I wasn’t assured he was available. Since we had nothing else planned, we just went with the flow and hoped Texas would surprise us with something.

Around 11am we were driving south toward Temple, Texas, when I saw a sign for Buc-ee’s. Then I looked across the freeway and saw a giant beaver head with lots of triangle flags, which I believe is the international symbol for ‘Hey, we’ve just opened so come over and take a look!’. I asked Ann if she knew what a Buc-ee’s was. She didn’t. I didn’t either, but told her we were going to find out! So, we took the exit and drove across the freeway for our first ever Buc-ee’s experience.

You really have to see a Buc-ee’s to believe it. HUGE!

Our jaws dropped as we pulled into the massive parking lot. This was supposed to be a gas station/convenience store, but it was enormous. It was so big it seemed like it took an hour just to circle all 112 fuel pumps (yes, we counted them). As many of you know, Ann and I have been through many states in the last few years, but this Texas-sized gas stop was the biggest one, by far, that we’d ever seen. We were even more surprised to learn this was the 35th store.

I’m just one of the many nuts in the store.

That’s a LOT Of picked eggs. I picked up a jar.

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<– Day 16 – Mon. Apr. 27th: Frontier Texas | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 18 – Wed. Apr. 29th: Power Wagons & Pecans –>

Dr. Pepper Museum in Waco, Tx, and a happy Dr. Pepper fan eagerly waiting to venture inside.

We had big plans for Tuesday morning. Our first stop was going to be the outdoor historic village of Buffalo Gap. So, when I hopped out of bed at 7:30am and saw that it was raining, we quickly changed that plan. Without feeling rushed, we somehow didn’t get out of the room until 10:30am.

The rain was gently falling as we got onto eastbound Interstate 20. Soon we turned southeast on Highway 6. If there’s one thing I like about these Texas state highways it is the speed limit: 75mph. That’s faster than any of the speeds on Oregon’s Interstates. You can get places in Texas, however the places are so spread apart, that even at 75mph it doesn’t seem fast enough.

Eventually we reached Dublin, Texas. I spotted a cool Dr. Pepper sign and asked Ann if she’d like a photo of it. She agreed, so I did a loop around the block, We weren’t halfway around when we ran into several more Dr. Pepper signs. Then we spotted a Dr. Pepper museum reference. That’s when the light clicked for both us. We both remembered reading that besides the Dr. Pepper Museum in Waco, there was a second one in a small Texas town. This was it.

This is the billboard I spotted while driving through Dublin.

Feeling lucky, we jumped out of the jeep to see what this was all about. We learned that Dublin was home to the first Dr. Pepper bottling plant. The Dublin plant used cane sugar in all their soda pop products, including Dr. Pepper, even when the rest of Dr. Pepper world switched to high fructose corn syrup. This fact angered the Dr. Pepper company, so the company revoked Dublin’s right to bottle and sell it. Now, the Dublin Bottling Works bottles and sells a variety of custom flavors and sells them all over the country.

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<– Day 15 – Sun. Apr. 26th: Parks and Wind | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 17 – Tue. Apr. 28th: Dr. Peppers & Texas Rangers –>

That’s us sitting on a giant metal skull at the Frontier Texas Museum. Above us are Buffalo that pivot like weather vanes.

On Monday morning we awoke planning to reach Waco, but we got side tracked by an errant attempt to locate a Best Buy so Ann could buy a lens cap. I won’t go into the machinations of locating one, even when trying to use both of our ‘smart’ phones, or how we eventually (and accidentally) stumbled upon one and how we were so surprised that my wife did an all-too-quick u-turn in the street, dumping a rather sizable container of ice-cold water into my lap. No, you don’t want to hear all that!

And, I’m really sure that after you read this sad tale, and after you learn what it took to get the lens cap, and when you understand just how wet my underwear and shorts were, you’ll acknowledge the personal sacrifice I made in the cause of the lens cap, and only then can you appreciate that three hours after we bought the lens cap I accidentally dropped it onto the ground — it broke, into several pieces … uggghh!!!

Instead of that long, sad tale, I will give my impressions of Monday morning in Odessa. There were many men around our motel dressed in heavy one-piece work outfits. They all worked for energy companies with bland, forgettable names. All drove white trucks packed with tools in the back and with catchers on the front that could move an entire herd of cows. On Sunday evening, they had all looked tired from a long day; most were gone by Monday morning, but not before eating up all the available breakfast that our motel served that morning. They did manage to save me a piece of sausage.

We were out of the motel room by 9am. As we drove through Odessa, my view was filled with industrial buildings, piping equipment and oil rigs. The equipment suggested people here worked hard. My other impression was that land is cheap, or at least was cheap. All the endless industrial companies we passed on Monday morning on our way to nearby Midland seemed unconcerned with how they organized their stuff. Stacking didn’t seem to be a concern, as everything was horizontal. Space was cheap, stacking wasn’t necessary. Those were the thoughts that bounced around my head as we drove to the Petroleum Museum.

Near the entrance to the Petroleum Museum.

We arrived at the Permian Basin Petroleum Museum just after it opened. When we entered the building we were told that the entire history portion of the museum was undergoing an $18 million dollar remodel. Obviously that wouldn’t do us any good, but they did have a few exhibits — gems, paintings, and race cars — that we could view. Since we were there, we wandered around and looked at those for a short time. However, I really wished we could have see the main oil history exhibit.

Me pretending to drive one of the race cars. I didn’t fit very well, especially not on the driver’s side! I hope they didn’t mind me removing the steering wheel . . . .

The mineral exhibit was interesting, but shamefully I know very little about them (where are my ancestors when I need them??).

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<– Day 14 –  Sat. Apr. 25th: Saddleblankets to Prada | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 16 – Mon. Apr. 27th: Frontier Texas –>

An overlook at Big Bend National Park (looking west)

Today we drove and drove.

The first part of the trip took us south toward the Mexico border at Presidio, Texas. Along the way, we encountered ‘Elephant Rock’, which we felt lived up to its name.

Called Elephant Rock for an obvious reason.

Eventually we reached Presidio, a dusty dry border town. I am not entirely sure what the appeal is for living in that area; it looks like plenty of shops and stores were out of business.

Ruins of an old house in Presidio

Ruins of old building in Presidio

Ruins of old truck in Presidio

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<– Day 13 –  Fri. Apr. 24th: We Made it to Texas | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 15 – Sun. Apr. 26th: Parks and Wind –>

Oh yeah, I can work it!

Our goal for Saturday was to visit multiple odd-ball places in El Paso, then head to the Guadalupe Mountains, before dropping to the town of Alpine. The key to this plan was an early start and an aggressive stop-and-see plan at the oddball locations. However, Texas had other plans for us.

It started 30 seconds from our West El Paso motel. On our way to see Pancho Villa’s finger — yes, downtown at Dave’s Pawnshop is something that resembles Villa’s trigger finger that is for sale, only $9500 — we hit traffic. Since we only had four miles to go, I figured it couldn’t take us too long, right? Wrong. Without any other route options, we were forced to endure stop and go traffic as four lanes dropped to three, three lanes dropped to two, and two lanes dropped to one. One hour later(!!!), we finally made passed the blockage — workers were hanging signs on an overpass. Who knew? We didn’t, at least not in time.

By the time we reached the finger (Ann’s idea) I might have been a little surly. But, it was fun to visit the shop on El Paso Street, a mini-Tijuana that looked like it might be fun to stroll up and down when we didn’t have camera and computer equipment locked in our jeep. So, we passed on exploring the area further, but Ann did get her chance to photograph Pancho’s finger:

After getting the finger, we left for another old relic, a 1919 refurbished gas station with non-functioning pumps. Local resident Rod Davenport restored the gas station. Other local residents were so pleased with the result they turned the surrounding area into a small park. It was a neat little place.

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<– Day 11 & 12 – Wed. & Thurs Apr. 22rd & 23th:  Road to Recovery  | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 14 – Sat. Apr. 25th: Saddleblankets to Prada –>

When you are in Tularosa, it is easy to go nuts for pistachios.

Finally, we made it to Texas. Now our trip can start, right? It wasn’t a long day, but if felt good to be back on the road again. Here was our rather short drive:

Before we left Tularosa, we made sure to stop by and ham it up in front of the world’s largest pistachio (see pic at top of the post).

From there, we drove south on highway 54 until we saw the magic sign:

Our first and only real stop of the day was at the National Border Patrol Museum. Surprisingly, it is entirely donor based. No federal funding is used to support the museum.

Inside, the museum is divided into small sections. One area was devoted to Border Patrol vehicles. Another honored those agents that had died. One section explained the history of the Patrol, how it originated, and its evolution over time. It’s a nice little museum that doesn’t take long to explore.

Of course, I was there to see the jeeps. In fact, their 1947 CJ-2A is one of the center-pieces of the vehicle exhibit. The jeep was assembled by volunteers. The front frame rails have more patches than a leftovers quilt. And, the floors aren’t particularly pretty. But, it’s doing the job!

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<– Day 10 – Tue. Apr. 21st:  Another One Bites the Dust | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 13 – Fri. Apr. 24th: We Made it to Texas –>

On Wednesday I had a slight relapse, mostly from lack of sleep, but Wednesday night I finally got some good sleep (10 hours worth) with the help of Tylenol PM. That’s exactly what I needed. All Thursday I felt like myself. Ann felt good all day too (even got herself a pedicure).

Feeling confident, we will hit the road again today (Friday) and we will FINALLY be in Texas by Friday evening! It’s only taken a week and a half to get there. Our first stop in El Paso is to see a museum about some jeeps.

And so we bid adeiu to Fred and Cindy, the Stong Hospital and Recovery Compound, and the panoramic backyard view we enjoyed through sickness and in health. Not much happens in their backyard, but it was enough to entertain us for a week whether day or night.

<– Day 10 – Tue. Apr. 21st:  Another One Bites the Dust | TRIP OVERVIEW | Day 13 – Fri. Apr. 24th: We Made it to Texas –>