robbo and leeazaa’s travel adventures

Our final weekend was spent in one of our favourite cities of our trip – Austin, Texas. Matt and Lauren (who we met earlier on our travels) invited us to stay the weekend and see some of the nightlife of Austin.

First up was a bit of sight-seeing at Mount Bonnell – kind of like the Kings Park equivalent of Austin. We got there just at the right time too to watch as the sun set. The river is lined with mansions and we were forever trying to spot Matthew McConaughey or Lance Armstrong – but alas, no luck.

How's the serenity

Robster and I

Matt and Lozza

After some dinner we headed out to the Warehouse District of the city. Since we hadn’t been to that part of town before it was great to see what else Austin had to offer. First up was a bar with 100’s of beers available – and even an Australian beer besides Fosters woohoo!

Rob seems to be a magnet for bums bumming money. And this night was no exception. We somehow managed to have a bum serenading us – and he just would not shut up. Finally Rob flipped him a buck and told him to work on his pitch.

Awkward moment with the bum

The next night we were lucky enough to go to Lauren’s dad’s place for a premature birthday celebration for Matt. The food was incredible and we had air hockey and pool to entertain us. We had so many laughs it was ridiculous – Laurens brother in particular was pretty hilarious.

Me being schooled at air hockey

Doubles

Linda, Matt, Lauren and Marty

A big thanks to Matt and Lauren for letting us intrude for the weekend. We had a great time and would love to repay the favour sometime.

So we are off to Japan tomorrow – should be a bit of a cultural change. Lets hope we don’t get lost straight away.

Leeane

PS> I bought an iPod touch (an early birthday present from Rob) and it is awesome!

Tags: austin, texas

We got to scratch off another thing from our ‘things to do in America list’ the other day, which of course means we fired a handgun in a dry creek bed. It feels really strange and highly illegal firing off rounds in the backyard but that feeling disappeared as quick as my hearing after the first shot.

bang!

bang bang!

bang bang bang!

We also managed to drag Clydester away from his endless grazing to pose with us in some pictures. I had a slightly bad feeling that he’d charge off and trample us horribly, but thankfully he just stood there and slept instead.

blazing saddles

giddy up

A couple days later we decided a German food fix in near by Fredericksburg was in order. Conveniently on the way is an old train tunnel which since it’s demise in the 1940s has since become inhabited by tens of thousands of bats. Consequently the bat’s have made it there own by infusing the tunnel with guano, more technically known as bat shit in these parts. The smell is undescribable, to the point where even Duffy was overwhelmed.

the bat cave

The picture doesn’t really do the scene justice as if you look at the far entrance of the tunnel you’ll see black specks darting around everywhere against the stark white contrast of the sunlight. The tunnel also has nightly viewings of the bats leaving the tunnel at sunset for their nightly feed of crickets and moths, unfortunately we were a couple hours early for that one and we had a feed of our own to hunt for.

An outstanding German feast at the Fredericksburg Brewery was in order, topped off with a few fine, german pilsners. Curiosity got the better of Uncle Bob and myself and we ordered a sample of their ‘finest’ bitter…. my oath it was the bitterest thing I’ve ever tasted! For the beer lovers out there, the IBU (bitterness rating) was 100 which may not mean anything to you but compare it to say Little Creatures Pale Ale which I find quite bitter and around 25-30 IBU and you’ll get the picture.

die shintzel ein rueben!

Unfortunately our stay with Uncle Bob and the various critters had to come to an end sometime, I think it was harder to say goodbye the second time but he’ll be in Australia next year so knowing that makes it easier.

Rob

Tags: texas

The challenge of eating a supersized McDonalds meal has been completed. And let’s cut to the chase… I failed.

There could be many excuses – the heat, the fact that we at at 5pm (hardly dinner time!!) or the fact I had stuffed myself with Reeses Butter Cups already etc. But in the end there are no excuses – it was a heck of a lot of food and drink.

Mmmm doesnt that just look delicious!

We were lucky enough to find a McDonalds that actually does the supersizing still. Supersizing seems to be a bit of a dirty word since the movie came out. Of course, everything is bigger in Texas so we were in the right state to find a supersized-enabled Macca’s.

I started off with the fries – did most of them.. then did the burger… started to hit the wall right about there. After downing half the Coke I tried to go back to the fries to finish them off, but I just couldn’t face any more. I could have taken the drink and fries with me to finish later (after all I had 45 minutes to complete the challenge) but at that stage I didn’t want to be within a 10-foot pole of any food so had to admit failing the challenge.

Stuffing my cheeks - this was before I hit the wall

Big fries and coke. Note Uncle Bobs face in the background.

Of course, 20 minutes later I was feeling better and wished I had kept the food so I could finish it.

The leftover fries that stood between me an victory. Damn them!

Oh well. Next time!!  Not.
Leeane

Tags: mcdonalds, texas

We have been spending the last few days at Uncle Bob’s place having a good relaxation session and feasting on all things bad for us. We have also been working on our tans (or lack thereof) and Rob has been counting the blisters on his hands after chopping up trees with an axe for Uncle Bob.

After spending the day listening to Average White Band on my iPod to gear up for the gig we are going to next Tuesday, I thought I would check my email. And lo-and-behold… an email from Ticketmaster saying the one and only gig in San Francisco has been CANCELLED!

Needless to say, we are absolutely devasted. The only way we could see them is to make a mad rush up to Seattle – but I don’t think thats gonna happen.

We went to an IHOP which stands for International House of Pancakes. So those that know me, know that… well… pretty much heaven. The food was certainly bigger and better than the diner meals we have had, and still very cheap. I wish I had taken a photo!! But maybe we will go back there before our time is up.

Next on our list is to go to McDonalds before we leave Texas. Because I have to get that pesky “Macca’s Challenge” out of the way – else I will never hear the end of it!!

Leeane

Tags: texas

Uncle Bob was kind enough to pick us up from Austin and spare us a seat-kicking, greyhound bus journey. This had an added bonus that he could take us on a more scenic route on the way back to Kerrville and as an extra super bonus he mentioned that he had recently discovered that a international bar called, ‘The Tap Room’ with scores of different tap beers was ‘mostly’ on the route back .

Unfortunately our thirsts were open for business but the bar wasn’t– at least for another hour. Instead, we kicked around the Texas State University campus and watched Duffy chase after squirrels . We were really hoping that the Tap Room would be everything that we hoped it would and like almost everything in America, it didn’t disappoint. The bar had over 40 international beers on tap, including a nice Scottish beer and a couple of nice imported German beers, which we of course consumed. There was notably no Australian beers on tap, which was kind of a good thing since all we ever see here is Fosters and as the bar tender said, ‘It’s not very good’. Well put I thought, especially since there are 40 infinitely better beers on tap.

The Wall Of Beer

Of course, we had a few and Uncle Bob wanted to strike a few poses…

After settling in back at the ranch, I was put to work doing hard yakka. Of course, physical labour always looks manliest when shirtless so naturally….

The Hulk of Hunk

The photo is actually quite a nice one, the dead oak tree in the background makes it look really cool. Well done Leels!

As a reward we were treated to a little chunk of Vegas right in downtown Kerrville, a Mexican joint called, ‘Mama Citas’ ( pronounced: mama see tahs). It has the old “outside-in” feel with a starry night in the roof and a life-size replica of the Alamo and David Crockett. Ofcourse, the food is pretty good as well.

Mama Cita's spectacular

Next we went into the local hardware/everything store called Gibson’s. The motto for the store is “If Gibson’s don’t have it, you don’t need it” and I reckon that’s about true. Naturally we headed straight to the gun area where we found a rather scary but incredibly friendly gun mad Texan salesman. He was telling us all about his time as a paratrooper and how if the USA tried to implement similar gun laws that we have in Australia, that they would have to pry his guns out of his “cold dead hands”. He also was bringing out lots of guns (including pink guns – for the girls of course) and kept asking if we wanted to hold them for some photos. We politely declined as we didn’t want our prints on anything handled by that guy. Another thing which was a bit crazy was 20″ long machetes for sale for $6 – all in a rubbish bin type thing on the floor of the store – and packaged with just cable ties holding them to a thin cardboard backing.

We are heading up to Lake Buchannan to see Aunt Chris and co tomorrow so we will be sure to get plenty of photos and will report back on the weekend.

Over and out,

Rob

Tags: texas

We have spent the last couple days in San Antonio – to get out of Uncle Bob’s hair a bit 🙂 And tomorrow we will be heading up to Austin for another few days before joining Uncle Bob again in Kerrville for some more Texas fun.

Our hotel here in San Antonio is in a great location – walking distance to all the attractions. But it is on the wrong side of the tracks – literally. They supply earplugs next to the bible in the top bedside drawer because people often complain about the noise from the Amtrak station (train provider) across the street. Rob and I haven’t heard a peep from the trains though – must be because we are exhausted from walking around all day or perhaps it is from the hearing damage we suffered from the Wiley House Jam!

Texas is feeling the aftermath of Hurricane Eduardo at the moment, which makes for very hot/cloudy/humid conditions. Give us the dry heat of Las Vegas anyday!

The main attractions in San Antonio seem to be the Alamo and the RiverWalk. We spent today doing both.

The Alamo is an old building from the 1700’s which was part of a fortification during a last stand battle with the Mexicans in the 1800’s. After being outnumbered 200 Texans to an eventual 6000 Mexicans, the Texans were eventually overpowered and after a 13 day struggle and final 2 hour hand to hand battle everyone inside was either killed or executed. So, it is a bit of a shrine to American history and the bravery of some of the soldiers (Davy Crockett and co). They don’t allow photo’s inside…. but I managed to snap a few whilst the armed guards weren’t looking. Yes… armed guards called ‘Alamo Rangers’  guarding the shrine of liberty… only in Texas.

Rob out the front of the Alamo building

Me out the front of the Alamo

inside the fort is a big garden area

Next up was the River Walk which is right next door. It is a long river system – which is lined by overpriced restaurants ofcourse! It is actually quite picturesque and we opted to jump on one of the little tourist boat cruises to save some walking around.

rob on the river boat cruise

i am trying to copy the pose of the hooters girls (at rob's request)... i think i have to do more practice.

After that we headed up to Market Square – which we heard was a bit of a Mexican shopping area. After making the long walk in the sweltering sun, it wasn’t worth the effort at all. But we did stop in a little cafe where we grabbed a quick bite to eat.

rob eating his manly ceasar salad. this is about the 100th ceasar salad he has had in america.

my chicken sandwhich.. in croissant bread. when she asked if i wanted chips.. i didnt think she meant chips of this type :S

Leeane

Tags: texas

Question. What is the most American thing that we could do coming to America? Buy a gun! So guess what we did yesterday? Well, you have to wait for the answer to that since I need to tell you about something bigger than the American Dream….. Walmart.

We’ve been telling Uncle Bob since we got here that one of the big attractions of coming to the states was to visit a Walmart. Yesterday he dropped us at one whilst he went to run some errands but not before we saw something utterly strange to our Australian eyes, a drive through bank. I’m not sure if we were meant to take photos of this attraction but it sure was taking photos of us so I guess fair’s fair.

 

Then it was onto the big-boy. Walmart is like our equivalent in size to Bunnings but it in terms of content it’s like Coles, K-mart, Big W and Maccas all smooshed together. It’s awesome!

Straight away, after checking the vending machines out front for any bizarre drinks ( cherry coke-zero anyone? ) we headed straight for the gun section. Alarm bells are probably ringing at the moment so you’ll be happy to know they are only air rifles, potentially lethal none-the-less and suitably labelled with a 16+ age restriction. Ours was only $30 too! Bargain!

After picking out a suitable firearm and some booze amongst other supplies, we took our cart to the checkout. I laid out the items on the checkout and the lady behind the counter asked me for ID, at first I thought it was because of the air-rifle but after quizzing her it was because of the 12-pack of Miller Genuine Draft – makes sense to me!

I have to admit I felt a little uneasy pushing a shopping trolley through the car park with a scoped air-rifle jutting out of it, however no one seemed to bat an eye lid so we just rolled with it.

Uncle Bob took us to a pub on the way back called, ‘The Back Porch’. This was a more ‘standard’ pub in terms of layout, however it had a view to match Ol’ Dave’s.

View from the back porch

Two times the view

Here we got to meet Uncle Bob’s ex, Kathy Lou – Kat for short. Let me tell you she is an utter crack up and has the best authentic Texas accent. She says all the things we came to Texas for like ‘Gol Leeeee’ and ‘Sweet Mary Jane’. She’s a fun lady and loved hearing our accents just as much as we loved hearing hers.

Gol-Lee!

We sat around at the Back Porch for a few hours enjoying the view and the suds and thinking this is a great place to kill some time and brain cells. Uncle Bob told us previously that he hates posing for photos, it turns out after about two or three beers he loves it as we managed to snap this one – which he initiated.

Four Millers

After a couple hours at the Back Porch, Uncle Bob told us we were ready to go see his good friend ( and Kat’s brother ) Wiley for a real Texas experience. We’ve heard he and his wife are great cooks and they certainly lived up to their reputation and were very hospitable which seems to be great Texas trait.

Their hospitality also extends to animals it seems as they have a pet racoon that they rescued three months ago when it was just born. They’ve been bottle feeding it ever since and it seems to be quite a handful, especially when it burrows through the furniture!

The Coon

We ate and drank for a few hours more with Wiley and his kids and their friends and they quizzed us about Australia and we quizzed them about America, in particular guns. Turns out some of the kids here own thirty plus firearms for both hunting and protection. I think we’ll just stick to our air-rifle for the time being.

Speaking of which, the next morning after a big breakfast we started setting up cans around the ranch and testing our aim. The scope needed to be bore-sited so we spent most of the day zeroing it in and now it’s pretty accurate.

Bore-siting the rifle

The target

The plan is to use the air-rifle to scare off wild deer that feed on the horse’s feed. We’ve tested it out a bit so far, when they get close you can send a round into the feed tin and the ‘PITANG!’ sound is enough to startle them and send them bounding away. Uncle Bob should be able to patrol his property more effectively now and keep Clyde’s food safe.

Crack Shot Robinson

Good ol' boy

Redneck Rob

Our parents are probably pretty worried about seeing us holding firearms ( apart from Dad who probably thinks it’s neat) so let me end this post with a nice calming picture of Bert the puppy who lives up the road and looks to be the same breed as Lilly.

Shooo Cute

Rob

Tags: texas

We arrived safe and well in San Antonio yesterday. Walking through the airport with no idea what Uncle Bob looks like was a strange feeling. Then a man in cowboy boots came up to embrace us – Uncle Booobbbbbbbbbby!

His house is on a 5 acre block and is really ‘neato’. So far we have been very spoilt with a seemingly endless supply of beer and wine and a pool to use at our leisure. Here are some pics of the property:

the backyard and porch

the pool

It’s a bit of an animal haven here with an incredibly friendly golden retriever (Duffy) and beatiful Clydesdale horse (Clydester). There’s also a couple cats and wild deer which wander around on the property a fair bit. Uncle Bob is a regular Dr Do-Little I think – he has all the animals ‘whoosed out’ just as much as Don.

MacDuffy

bonnie and clyde

He must have been a bit hungry because he stopped by the kitchen for some drive-through carrots:

Clyde gettin' his drive-thru Happy Meal!

He then got a bit thirsty and Uncle Bob gave him some nutrient rich beer to quench his thirst. You will see a bit of a trend with Uncle Bob feeding animals beer…

Miller beer ofcourse!

Later on we went to a very strange local pub close to home which is a kind of aviary/pub. Very strange but incredibly cool at the same time. Dave’s pub is located just up from the actual riverbank and all the various ‘rooms’ have been built by Dave himself. The rooms vary from a 2-storey greenhouse, the second story of which is hot as hell to a pool room (complete with jukebox) which overlooks the river.

Uncle Bob trying to get Bambi drunk...see the trend??

A stairwell runs down the side of the pool room all the way to the water’s edge and each flight of stairs has a table where you can sit back for a coldie and look out over the river. Probably not the best location in the event of a flash flood.

View from Dave's Pub

As I mentioned to Uncle Bob, a place like this in Australia would NEVER see a liquor license and I think the local council would have a field day with the red pen what with all the illegal extensions and all. There’s also random birds roaming around the pub, leaving their droppings everywhere.

The drinks we bought there were dirt cheap too. I had a couple 20s out after ordering 3 drinks expecting to get some loose change in return but it turned out to be under seven bucks all up. Needless to say I bought the next couple rounds.

So having a great time with Uncle Bob – he certainly has some interesting family stories he is slowly letting out! We will have to keep feeding him beer and getting some more blackmail material.

Rob & Leeane

Tags: texas