In New Orleans, a friendly chap named Dennis had told us about flooding in Texas. As we were on route to Texas, we thought we’d check out the weather situation. We traveled as far as Liberty, TX from New Orleans where we called it a night and stayed in by far the worse motel of the journey. It was called the Scottish Inn but you wouldn’t know the name passing by as for some unexplainable reason, the motel sign was missing (that probably should have been our first clue). In Liberty, Taco Bell was one of the top restaurants according to Trip Advisor- never a good sign. Upon checking the weather that evening, the forecast called for more severe flooding in Austin, TX where we were headed to. We set the alarm the next day for 6am to try and make it to Austin as we only had about 3 hours to travel to reach our destination.

We lucked out as we arrived in Austin just as our phones began receiving emergency flash flood warnings. About an hour later, more emergency texts called out to tell us Tornados were touching down. We may have sold out a bit with our above our means Sheraton hotel stay, but even Downtown flooded (see pictures) so it was a good shout to stay somewhere safe. Also, Tim was able to work his accent superbly here as a lady at check-in gushed and gave us complimentary wifi (who charges these days? Is that a business hotel thing?) breakfast tokens and upgraded us to preferred member rates – nice work Tim, I’ll let you do the checking in from now on.

We ventured out onto the streets of Austin later that evening not knowing whether anyone would actually make it to work. Thankfully, a few brave Austin-ites (I just made that up) made it in and we had a nice Indian meal at G’Raj Mahal cafe before exploring the area on Rainey St. which I highly recommend. The bars were a lot more hip than those on 5th and 6th St. It’s also here that we collected what would be our 4th amateur cd of the journey. I feel horrible if I don’t tip or buy a cd from the musicians.

The next morning we did some more exploring and went on a run around Lady Bird Lake which is a huge lake in the center of town. After the run, we had a “New Liver” power juice on East side on called Cezar Chavez St. It seems the hip side of most cities is to the East with the high end stuff on the West. Juicing seems to be all the rage in Austin. As does the competition to be be the scariest Vagrant. Keep Austin Weird is the slogan and some sights you will see certainly fall into that category. We saw one guy literally bust out of the hospital in his hospital robe and still hooked up to all sorts of shit (It was very surreal).

That night we had tried to hit up Franklin’s BBQ as it’s considered to be one of the best in Austin but were unaware that it also only sold during the day. They Barbecue a set amount and when it is gone it is gone. So we headed downtown to Lamberts Downtown BBQ. Tim and I both agreed it was the best meal we have had yet on the entire trip- quite a statement!

There was a Jimmy Buffet outdoor concert at Stubbs BBQ & Bar. We didn’t score tickets but lucked out by listening to some of the classic hits at a restaurant across the street.

Austin is a vibrant city at odds with much of the rest of Texas. It has some rough edges for sure, but we loved it. There are lots of cool areas (not just the bars between 5th and 6th street which like every big city focal point is a magnet for the less appealing locals and visitors alike). The music scene and trendy looking bars and coffee shops throughout really give it a cool vibe. We could have spent a lot longer there without really scratching the surface.

More flash flood warnings came the next morning as I cheat and fly to Cali (which was always in the plans) while Tim and the Trans Am make treks to Cali to meet me several days later. I am slightly worried about the flooding, but then again, the TA made it to Denver during their worst flooding in Denver’s history, when the National Guard was brought out so I’m confident it will float along nicely again.

Dione, May 27th, 2015