After I crossed the Mississippi, my next destination was Buda, Texas, which was a mere 525 miles away. I had an appointment for Flo at Camper Clinic 2 to have her checked for leaks.
Buda is a small town about 10 miles south of Austin, and, incidentally, Buda is pronounced “BEAU-da.” (I knew you wanted to know.)
I crossed into Texas and stopped into the welcome center.
And I was back in Texas!
I stopped for the night at a rest stop near Corsicana. I like the fact that Texas welcomes travelers to stay over at their rest stops. It makes covering ground in that huge state much more convenient.
After a good night’s sleep at the rest stop, I hit the road towards Austin. I started seeing signs for Buc-ee’s.
Buc-ee’s! Now I know I’m in Texas!
There are billboards announcing how far you are from the next Buc-ee’s. When you get close, you finally see the Buc-ee’s sign glowing in the distance.
You might want to know, “What is Buc-ee’s?” Well, it is a Texas-sized gas station. Actually to call it a gas station is kind of like calling the Grand Canyon erosion damage.
The clerk in the convenience store – which is roughly the size of a Wal-Mart – told me that there are 96 gas pumps in front of the store, and that there are times when all the pumps are full and there is a line!
At the entrance to the store is a bronze statue of Buc-ee himself!
The store has just about everything you could want – food, clothes, outdoor equipment and REST ROOMS! (Guess where I was heading?)
After my visit to the porcelain convenience, I decided to grab a little sustenance. I saw that they had kolaches, which I hadn’t managed to sample on my previous travels in Texas.
According to my ultimate resource (Wikipedia), a kolach (plural: kolaches) is a pastry that comes from Eastern Europe. It is a type of pastry that holds a dollop of fruit rimmed by a puffy pillow of supple dough. Now I can say I’ve had kolaches.
On my way to the cash register to pay for my snack, I passed a large display of Buc-ee swag. While they had cute stuff, I didn’t really need anything. I was able to pass the display and get back on the road.
I arrived at Camper Clinic 2 and dropped off Flo. Cora and I headed for the hotel.
The plan was that they would apply the Sealtech machine on Flo and then seal up where the water was getting in. I do love a plan! One of these days, the plans will work.
After I got settled in to the hotel, I got a call from them that told me that the repair job I had done the year before – when I put a hole in the side – had been done incorrectly. They told me that they had to remove, reseat and re-caulk the five windows on the affected side of the trailer. I took a deep breath and agreed to the repairs.
So, rather than the two days I had originally planned, I ended up spending about a week in Austin.
Oh, well. I did feel that I hadn’t allotted enough time for my visit to Austin the year before.
I don’t know what I was thinking when I booked campsites. I must have forgotten about drive time and spending time setting up camp when I got there. And, then there are those “taking-care-of business” things. I had to go pick up some latches for my cabinets.
There was a smiling Airstream greeting me at the dealership.
After a few more errands, it was time for lunch at Taqueria Arandinas.
Facebook friends had been giving me loads of recommendations for places I should eat, but I was hungry NOW! I consulted Yelp! and this place met the criteria.
It was close by.
Their tamales came highly recommended.
They had signs posted about free WIFI, but no one there seemed to know anything about it. Oh well…
The food was great. As a special treat, I had the horchata, and it was delightful.
When I had finished and wanted my bill, I followed the directions on the table card. I pressed the button to get the bill.
The waitress came over and told me that the receipts were kept at the register. Hmmm.
I got back to McKinney Falls State Park in time to take a stroll down to the falls.
I walked across some interesting limestone formations on the way to the lower falls. (The upper falls were closed due to damage from flooding a few months ago.)
And there were some nice river rocks.
I enjoyed looking at them but I left them there. I had just gotten finished dumping a whole bunch of rocks I’d picked up in the last year.
I picked my way to the lower falls and enjoyed the falling water. And then it was back to the trailer to get ready for a big day of tourism.
I decided that the most logical thing for me to do would be to take a tour. After all, I hadn’t done the research and I sure didn’t want to have to maneuver the streets downtown with BART – not to mention trying to find parking!
Of my options, I decided to take Double Decker Austin, which left from the Austin Visitor Center. The Visitor Center conveniently had a parking garage above it. I got there early and the tourism specialist recommended Easy Tiger for a cup of coffee a few blocks away.
I snapped this photo of a river walk next to the bakery/coffee shop. I found out later that this river walk will one day extend from the state capitol to Lady Bird Lake.
The tour began on time. I opted to sit on the lower level for the first couple of stops because I was going to get off at the Capitol building. I heard that there were free tours – and you know how I love free!
The first stop was the Museum of the Weird. Not my cup of tea, but the guide told us that Johnny Depp lived on the third floor when he was filming something or other. I wasn’t taking very good notes, but I did snap a photo.
Next stop: the Capitol.
The grounds were beautiful! They were lush and green and had memorials placed around the campus.
Just inside the gate, there was a statue to the Confederate War dead from Texas. This year, I have been very interested in what people remember about the past and when they choose to erect memorials.
This is what the plaque at the base of it says:
“Died for state rights guaranteed under the constitution. The people of the south, animated by the spirit of 1776 to preserve their rights, withdrew from the federal compact in 1861. The north resorted to coercion. The south, against overwhelming numbers and resources, fought until exhausted. The the war, there were 22,057 engagements, in 1822 of these, at least one regiment took part. Number of men enlisted: Confederate armies 800,000 Federal armies 2,859,132. Losses from all causes: Confederate 437,000 Federal 485,216.
It was erected in 1901 by surviving comrades.
There was a dynamic grouping of bronze statues that seemed to highlight the history of the the settlement of Texas.
This was a perplexing marker. The REALTORS® of Texas sponsored an ornamental water fountain to celebrate the nation’s bicentennial in 1976. Do you see a fountain? No? Well, it was removed in 1996 as part of the Restoration of the Historic Grounds project that returned the Great Walk to its 1888-1915 design.
So, we have a sign commemorating something that isn’t there anymore.
I made my way inside the Capitol – in the side door and through the metal detectors. Of course, my shiny new knee set it off, so I had to get wanded. After that, I was off to see what I could see.
I happened upon a photo shoot for a young lady’s quinceañera. The whole family was there watching the photographer document her big moment.
I got to the rotunda, and there was another photo shoot going on. This time, a school field trip was having their visit documented.
And then I found a tour taking place! I just kind of blended in and joined them.
Capitol rotunda
The guide was very enthusiastic and really seemed to know a lot about the building, its history and Texas history. Unfortunately, I couldn’t hear her really well. So, I will share a few photos and put in a few remarks here and there.
This is the House of Representatives. There are 150 members.
They make up a poster for the members each year. The Legislature meets beginning in January of odd-numbered years. The small photos are the children of the legislators. I suppose there is a poster of the 2015 class, but it wasn’t where we were standing.
This sign is at the front of the room and has the names of all the members. It is used in voting, but I am not exactly sure how it works.
This is a desk that belongs to a representative. On the brass disk at the top of the desk are three buttons they use in voting. They can choose yes, no or abstain.
On our way out of the chamber, the guide pointed out the hinges on the doors. In addition to being amazingly works of decorative art, they each weigh eight pounds!
Now, let’s pause for just a moment.
Can you imagine how much brass went into building the Capitol? How much pink Texas granite? This is one of the tallest state capitols in the country and seven feet taller than the United States capitol. Oh, it was built at no charge to the government.
In one of the largest barters of recorded history, John V. Farwell and Charles B. Farwell, agreed to build the capitol for more than three-million acres of land in the Texas panhandle. They formed the XIT Ranch, which was the largest cattle ranch in the world.
The cornerstone for the building was laid on Texas Independence Day, March 2, in 1885. The building was completed and opened to the public on San Jacinto Day, April 21 in 1888. San Jacinto was the final battle in the Texas Revolution, when Texas won its independence from Mexico in 1836.
She guided us through different passages and we ended up in an extension. By then, I was hungry and more than ready for lunch in the Capitol Grill.
I opted for the beef bourguignon. It was tasty. Unfortunately, I ended up wearing it for the rest of the day.
I wandered over to the hop-on-hop-off bus stop to wait for my big red bus. I’ll let you wait with me until the next part of the tour.
