Texas Hill CountryAustin

Dia De Los MuertosDay of the Dead

FridaAs a special “attraction” for the Dia de los Muertos celebration and parade, they had a contest to see if they could get 100 Frida Kahlos to turn out. Why? don’t know, but they got more than 100.

Bumper sticker at “The” Austin Motel

Here’s one of the Fridas with a white mustache.

“The” Austin Motel The desk clerk said that before they banned cell phones the lobby was madness and she couldn’t tell who was supposed to be talking.

The skulls? It was Halloween Day. The mask? It was Halloween Day.

Not A Frida

A Frida

Spring Water

AustinJust across the river and a few streets away from the state Capitol, Barton Springs gushes sparkling clear, 68 degree water year round.

Serenity Room 144

Guadeloupe River River RoadRiver Road crisscrosses the Guadeloupe river four times - very popular “toobing” route.

State Capitol

Guadeloupe River Gruene

Gruene Hall – oldest dance hall in Texas. Today it’s standing room only, if you can get tickets.

San Marcos RiverSan Marcos river runs though the middle of town and Texas State University.

Hill Country Glass FishOver billions of years, a special species of fish developed in the hill country’s crystal clear streams and rivers. In order to survive in this pristine environment, the fish gradually became almost as clear as the water. Their skin became as translucent as a jelly fish and their internal organs took on a silver sheen. The Comanche called them “no see ums.” Today they’re referred to locally as glass fish.

Glass Fish

This place was out of control, no “protective” barriers, no fences, no lifeguards, no patrols, no fees, no “NO” signs except for this friendly message on a bridge. The people in this area were very friendly. One person told me

that the river is full of fish and other aquatic types and that it’s a popular place for snorkeling. Later I learned that it is reputed to be one of the most fertile rivers in the U.S.

These two couples acted like delirious 10-year olds as they were in and out of the river and drifted with the current through the park.You can get some idea of how fast the current is by how far they drifted between these fairly quick snapshots. Think “Cocoon”

Religious Apparition?This image in the lower right appeared inside a hollowed out tree along the San Marcos river. Is it St. Marcos carrying the baby Jesus on his shoulder much like St. Christopher carried travelers across ancient rivers?

Comal River New BraunfelsLargest Springs in Texas, crystal clear spring water 72 degrees year round, eight million gallons an hour. Shortest river in Texas 2.5 miles.

Blanco River Wimberley

Hamilton Pool SpicewoodGood little hike down into the canyon. Had the place to ourselves.

Chargin Them HillsTexas Hill Country - where them hills is hillier and them drivers is sillier.

Austin

All the clerks at the Austin airport car rentals were all snoozing like Maytag repairmen, except at Thrifty. A customer was having a problem about something there.When I finally got to the counter the Thrifty clerk asked, “Can I help you?”I had a reservation, but thought I’d lighten things up by saying, “Do you have any cars for rent?”“Do I have any KHAAS for rent!” she said.“I guess I’m going to have to work harder on that Boston accent if I want to blend in around here,huh? “I said. She said, “Actually, I don’t have any cars.”

Seems that the chiropractors were in town, there was a Longhorns game, and some other whacky event like the Friends of the Armadillo convention, and that those people weren’t returning their cars on time. Hmmm, Austin must be so special, I thought, people just don’t want to leave. Sounds good, I can wait for that.

So we waited around for awhile ended up with the next one that came in -a Nissan Sentra which wasn’t what I expected, hmmm.

Texas DriversTexas drivers are civilized, but quirky, and can be less predictable than Brittany Spears with two kids in the trunk. They’re somewhat slower than expected and seem very law abiding even though there’s virtually no police presence on the roads.

However, there are so many accidents in Austin rush hour traffic that it gives new meaning to the word carnage. It can be so chaotic that the local TV stations will use the weather person as a fill-in traffic reporter to handle all the incidents. That’s really not such a big deal though because Austin weather can be very predictable.

They Don’t Like ChangeThe most noticeable difference on the open road is that there’s usually some caboose creaking along in the left lane 10 MPH below the speed limit followed by a line of cars not passing in any of the several less populated lanes to the right.

As another example, let’s say you’re on an access road that parallels the highway. It’s three lanes wide and has all the motels and fast food places on the right. The speed limit is 60 and these things go for miles. You drive along in the far right lane, put the directional on, and start to slow for the motel entrance up ahead. The car behind you will pace you down to 15 MPH and then do a NASCAR move into the empty left lane just as you turn into the entrance. I’d like to check their TV remotes, I’ll bet the CH button ain’t even half wore out.

Access Road

The Notorious Devil’s Backbone

Devil’s BackboneHere’s how it lookson the map. DRIVE WITH CAUTION it says.

Drive with caution, huh?

How it looks through the windshield

Surprise! The road obviously goes up and down instead of twisting insanely through the hills, hmmm. Not much traffic here, you could double the 50 MPH speed limit without even gripping the wheel with two hands. Makes me wonder what nickname they’d come up with after attempting Boston’s Jamaicaway on some black-ice night.

Texas 1431 Lakes RegionAll around the mulberry bushesthe Mustang chased the Sentra . . .

A perfect 40 miles up and down and round and round. Frisky Mustang GT Coupe shrinks in the mirror through the mid-80s turns then charges hard in the triple digit straights to catch up. Powering strongly out of the corners, the Sentra CVT transmission brings the torque up fast and smooth without that unexpected downshifting that throws the line off. Ride em cowboy!

Biggest Little Town in Hill Country

This building was originally in the middle of the street and was the center of the German community –fort, meeting house, and market.

Took the $1 lecture and tour (really one buck) from an elderly woman who was a descendant of the original settlers. She asked where we were from, and when I told her “Boston,” she gasped, ”MERCY!” as if I had told her we were vampires. She didn’t have any follow up

chit chat comments which was the way everyone responded. When you say Boston, they just mumble, ummm, ummm and change the subject. Why is that, do ya think?

Afterwards, we wandered around the exhibits, and she returned to reading German Life magazine. I wish i had bought a copy of the treaty for $5.

“The” TreatyThe German settlers of Fredericksburg signed a mutual trust treaty with the Comanche in 1847. It’s said that this was the only treaty with the Indians that was never broken. In 1848 the government built Fort Martin Scott nearby to protect the settlers, but the fort soon turned into a flea market for the soldiers, Indians, and settlers. Think “Josey Wales.”

Josey: We'll only hunt what we need to live on, same as the Comanche does. And every spring when the grass turns green and the Comanche moves north, he can rest here in peace, butcher some of our cattle and jerk beef for the journey. The sign of the Comanche, that will be on our lodge. That's my word of life.

Ten Bears:There is iron in your words of life. No signed paper can hold the iron, it must come from men.

Main Street

Sunday HousesTiny houses built by early settlers for use on weekends. From their farms and ranch homes miles away from town, settlers would travel into Fredericksburg for Saturday marketing and church on Sunday.

Road Signs and SuchThe best roadhouses often have signs in the parking lot that say something like:

HARLEYS ONLYAll Others Will Be Crushed

Hill Country deer crossing road signs are strangely free of bullet holes. It seems that there are more bullet holes in New Jersey’s deer crossing signs than all of Texas.

I couldn’t find out if it was because they replace the signs frequently or because people just don’t shoot at them because they have so many real deer here. Counties in this area have a higher deer density than anywhere in the world -5 deer per acre, so maybe the folks just run out of ammo.

This sign was in the parking lot of a psychiatrist’s office.

Standing Room Only

Watch WaterWatch Water signs and flood gauges at almost every dip between the hills in some areas. All damaged Hill Country road dips have been repaved since the recent flooding.

Adios