January 17 – 25, 2017 – 101 Miles
We left Mississippi (Jan. 16, 2017) and headed for Galveston Island, Texas to get a few days of rest. Going into Louisiana I actually saw a sign at a small store that read, “fresh coons”. Yuck!!
Had a good time on Galveston Island. Flo loved running on the beach. Rode our bikes to dinner, to the grocery store and to the end of the island. What a great way to tour the island. Fell asleep each night to the sound of waves on the beach. We had the motor home washed and waxed at the campsite. Our next stop was Padre Island National Seashore. We were very fortunate to get a campsite there for only $4.00 a night. It was very secluded with miles of beach to walk. No internet, no phone service and no satellite TV.
We left Padre Island after a two night stay as they were expecting heavy winds. We had our sights set on the San Antonio River Walk and were fortunate to find a campsite right on the trail. The trail follows both sides of the river and travels through San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. Our first day on the trail took us past 4 missions. It is a wonderful trail, well maintained and lots of history. We road as far as Mission Espada. On our return we rode into the wind. Exhausting! Walking around the missions was a great way to catch our breath.
Our second day on the trail we rode to The Alamo. We were surprised that the city is build right around the Alamo. Also, it was much smaller than we had anticipated. The trail was nice, smooth and looked new in many of the areas.
We actually rode our bikes on the River Walk along the canals in San Antonio. Don’t think we were supposed to be there on bikes …….. we got a little lost. The people riding on boats in the canal seemed to enjoy seeing us.
Our next ride in Texas was on the Leon Creek Greenway on the west side of San Antonio. It was one of the hottest days of riding so far. Nice concrete trail with lots of hills and zig-zags. Dinner at Chuy’s Tex-Mex, huge servings and excellent Margaritas. We were really tired after our hot day of riding so it was off to bed early. Headed for Austin in the morning to ride the Ann and Roy Butler Trail which is a loop along the banks of Lady Bird Lake and the Colorado River. It’s right in the heart of Austin. We always say it’s the city where no one works. It was a Wednesday afternoon and the trail was so crowded in some places we could hardly ride. Pedestrians have the right-of-way and in Austin they stand their ground. That said, there was wonderful scenery along the river, long board walks, great views of the city. We parked in Zilker Park which had a huge off the leash dog park. Lots of happy dogs in Austin.
We then headed for San Angelo, Texas to visit 4-wheeling friends, Carl and Glenda. Spent the afternoon and evening with them. Lenny enjoyed seeing Carl’s large shop. We visited Fort San Angelo, learned about “Buffalo soldiers”. Carl and Glenda treated us to a great Mexican meal. Yum! Yum! Flo enjoyed chasing and being chased by their dog Bonnie. On our way to San Angelo we saw many fields with large rolls of cotton. We were both surprised that Texas had such a large cotton industry.
We decided to visit Big Bend National Park, costs for us seniors $0 to enter. We saw a coyote and a roadrunner on our way. The wind was really blowing by the time we arrived in the park. We camped in the Rio Grande Village Area. There was Wi-Fi at the store but no phone and no satellite. Sunset was beautiful but the wind was brutal. We put the slide in on the motorhome because of the wind which blew through the night. In the morning the camp host told us we had experienced a “west Texas wind storm”.
We took a side trip to Boquillas Canyon. You can cross the Rio Grande at Boquillas Crossing to visit Mexico.
Texas is as advertised – BIG. There is so much to see. We both agree that a return trip is in our future.
- Galveston Island
- San Antonio River Walk Bike Path
- Leon Creek Greenway
- Ann and Roy Butler Bike Trail
