27th March, 2016

Well, here we are in Texas, the Lone Star State! We are staying with our lovely Shivonne’s lovely parents and other relatives and were met at the airport by her Mum (‘mom’?), Kim and her Dad (‘pop’?), Darryl, who then drove the 210 miles to the state capital, Austin, a mere 3 hour drive as if it was just down the road.

The plan was that we would stay a couple of nights with Kim’s sister, Karen in Austin and see the sights before heading off to Dallas/Fort Worth to stay with Kim’s parents. So first up was a drive to the Easter Sunday picnic at Willie Nelson’s Luck Ranch where there was a sort of gospel/Country & Western style concert at one of the smallest chapels you have ever seen. Luckily they had speakers outside, so everyone could hear. I was a bit worried that as I was in my travelling clothes I might look a bit odd – my travelling attire being my smart shoes, smart trousers and jacket, plus hat (of course). Why, I hear you ask, do I dress like this? Well, it is all down to weight as I reckon that the shoes are the heaviest I own and I can save some weight on our luggage, which is right on the edge. Naturally I cannot wear my tatty chinos with the shoes, so the rest follows. I thought you would understand….

Anyway, I need not have worried – I was in Austin where weird is normal and much celebrated. The ranch (I was saying ranch, which seemed to be viewed as quite funny, rather than the local dialect – raaaanch (if y’all see what I mean)) was good fun with lots of people dressed in an array of western styles and someone with a pig on a lead. We walked about a bit, met up with Karen, took some photos and generally enjoyed a nice warm spring day. No sign of Willie, sadly.

It was then off to Austin proper to Karen’s lovely flat overlooking the Colorado River where we were joined by Monica and Noah, Shivonne’s siblings – and Brooklyn, Monica’s cute daughter. Stupidly I seemed to have been enjoying myself so much I failed to take many photos of them, but here is one of the flat and its view!

28th March, 2016

By the by, my mother would have been 100 years old today. Happy Birthday, Mum!

Today we explored a bit of Austin, starting with Mount Bonnell which is a lovely park with stunning views (as you can see below). Austin is not as big as Dallas and Houston, but is the state capital. It has the usual downtown high rise buildings, but thereafter it is almost all two storey houses surrounded by trees. And really nice houses too. The ‘let’s hold up downtown Austin’ pose did not work as well as hoped! The TexMex lunch was great though (if a bit messy)!

That evening Monica, Patrick (her partner) and Noah joined us for dinner and Val cooked chicken rice and I made, wait for it, a fruit salad!! (Nod to Caroline there as this is her all-time favourite!).We managed to witness the famous bats of Austin, which congregate on one of the bridges and tend to set off for a fly-by at sunset…. (picture of Brooklyn also included).

29th March, 2016

Today we ventured into Austin proper, starting with the Capitol building, a very impressive edifice in pretty much standard architectural style. Interestingly the senators and Representatives only meet for 140 days every other year, spending the rest of the time doing their day jobs, which is just as well as they only get paid $7,000 a year. Sounds good to me! They had a portrait of Audie Murphy there, the most-decorated US soldier of WWII who also had a major career in the movies before an untimely death in a plane crash at the age of 45. There is also a photograph of the door hinges, which weigh about 8lbs each.

We also popped into the Texas Museum and caught up with some of the history of the state, including when it was a separate nation for a while having fought with Mexico for independence (‘Remember the Alamo!!’) before annexation by the USA. An excellent museum, but sadly we did not have quite enough time to fully enjoy it. Next time! We had a really excellent early supper at Monica’s restaurant and  then set off for Fort Worth where we stayed with Lee and Phyllis at their truly lovely house.

30th March, 2016

Amazingly, the weather forecast was for rain (in TEXAS???), so any outdoor pursuits were out of the question, so instead we had an excellent visit first to the Amon Carter art gallery with a very good display of Western art, especially the gallery dedicated to Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell, two of the best artistic recorders of the last remnants of the old Wild West and also an exhibition on Thomas Hart Benton (look him up). And then we followed that up with another iconic American pursuit, going to the cinema – where we saw The Revenant. Great performance by the Bear – and Dicaprio!. A few photos, including two exhibits we found at the gallery (Lee and Phyllis!) and a few of the kitchen at their house, where Lee makes a superb breakfast!!

After a last minute game of Yahtzee it was time for the traditional photos before Kim took us to the airport. Many thanks to all concerned for looking after us, especially Kim and Darryl who did so much driving and Karen, Lee and Phyllis for accommodating us so regally.

Next stop – Pennsylvania!