February 3 to February 4, 2023 - After the afternoon at the Fort Worth Stockyards, we drove an hour outside of Fort Worth to the Hillsboro Walmart, for our last night in a parking lot for awhile. In the morning we drove 30 minutes to Waco where we checked out all things Magnolia (the HGTV personalities Chuck & Joanna Gaines). It was set up for LOTS of people to shop and eat. We got there early so we luckily missed the crowds. It was fun to see, but for us, not worth more than an hour.
The infamous silos. I thought there would be shopping inside, but we were told it's only used for storage. Next door was a big old barn that had shopping in it.
food trucks and big open spaces for lots of people to hang out
town square, with shops surrounding it
we stopped for a coffee and coffee cake muffin
and this is our story!
February 4 to February 7, 2023 - From Waco it was a 2 hour drive to our first actual campground. We had booked 4 nights at McKinney Falls State Park in Austin. We spent the afternoon enjoying the sun and checking out the park. The park was a perfect location, as it was only a 20 minute drive to downtown. Sunday we spent the day in Austin, exploring the S. Congress Ave area (SoCo). There were tons of people out enjoying the day after all the freezing weather they've had. It was in the 70s all afternoon and we had a great time wandering through the funky shops. Since Austin is known for its music scene we wanted to find a spot to enjoy some music. The Marshall Hood Band, was playing at the Continental Club, which was a great spot for a few beers while we enjoyed the show. Monday we took our bikes into Austin and rode the 10 mile loop around the Colorado River and Lady Bird Lake. It was a nice wide trail and a great day for a bike ride. Wednesday we went into Austin early to get in line for Aaron Franklin's Barbecue. We got there around 9:30 and were around 8th in line for opening at 11:00. They came out around 10:00 and started to take orders and we were enjoying our amazing barbecue by 11:15. It was a fun experience to get there early and feel like we earned our lunch!
Cool hike under a rock shelter that was used for hundreds of years by Native Americans
the area is covered in limestone and volcano debris from an extinct volcano
the lower falls of Onion Creek (this is a big spot for swimming in the summer)
cool shops in interesting court yards along South Congress Ave
Congress Ave bridge
the view of the Texas state house from the Congress Ave bridge
murals EVERYWHERE
View from above of the Butler hike and bike trail
looks like there are lots of water activities in the summer
crazy shops on S. Congress Ave
everyone was out and about today
nice spot for a rest
The Continental Club
Morning view
a morning hike
can't see it very well, but this is the upper falls
another great spot for swimming in the summer
the Butler Trail
biking under the Congress Ave Bridge. This is where thousands of bats (Mexican Free-Tailed Bats) live. It is the largest urban population of bats in North America. From March through early Fall it is a nightly event to come watch the bats leave their roosts at dusk
stopped for a quick break at the halfway mark
there were great city views from all over the trail
interesting bench for my collection
Franklin Barbecue
the earlier birds
sign saying they were sold out, left over from Sunday
We enjoyed the wait
pretty mural across the street
the menu, posted each day on meat wrapping paper. We ordered 1 lb of ribs, 1 lb of brisket and 2 jalapeno sausages and 2 cheese sausages, a side of pinto beans and potato salad. Looks like we'll have enough to eat for several days!
the seating area isn't very big
we're getting close!
soooooo goooooood!
the line as we were leaving
we see this everywhere, stacked up broken tree branches from the ice storm
