The Adventures of Gypsy-Jackie

Austin, Texas = cold, gray and rainy.  Well maybe not all time...but that's what I've seen while I've been here.  I was excited to see that there are several vegan restaurants in Austin.  But, it turns out that most of them are food trucks (which are very popular here).  That requires me to stand outside in the rain to order and then try to find somewhere to eat...outside in the cold and rain.  Nope! Austin also has a couple of other things of interest...a large homeless population and lots of scooters.  Yup, scooters ( link )!  They are on almost every street corner and available for rent.  I'm not entirely sure how they are rented because they aren't in a rack or other device that requires payment to extract them.  But, they seem to be popular. I spent time yesterday driving around and today I spent some time shopping.  The shops on South Congress Avenue were very interesting! I'd recommend Tesoros Trading Company and Lucy in Disguise with Diamonds.  S

Yesterday was cold, gray and rainy.  Yuck!  I explored Port Aransas and found there wasn't a whole lot to do when I couldn't enjoy the beach...so I spent the day plotting my escape and reading.  Today I traveled towards Austin and tomorrow I'll start my 3 nights in Austin.  Excited to explore a town that has the motto "Keep Austin Weird".

Yesterday I moved from North Padre Island to Port Aransas (a.k.a. Port A).  Port A is about 30 minutes north of where I'd been staying.  I spent most of the day on the Port A beach.  Very nice and no permit required to drive onto the beach like at North Padre.  I had dinner at a sports bar, Giggity's Restaurant.  I hung around to watch the Steelers game and listened to a local band.  When I went outside my glasses fogged up due to the high humidity.  It was such a nice, warm evening that I went to the pool and enjoyed the wonderful weather.  I'm glad I did because I woke up to rain, wind & 59 degrees.  Ugh...Missouri weather has finally found me. So, today is going to be a pretty down day.  I think I'll spend some time planning my next stop.

Nothing new yesterday - beach, watching the waves, reading, disappointing meal at local restaurant, swim, hot tub, sleep.  I think this is the most relaxed I've been in months! I've been staying at a condo just across from the sea ( link ).  I've come to understand that that means you will need to drive to the beach access...because of all the sand dunes!  But, that's not really been a big deal because the beach access parking lot is half a block from where I was staying.   This part of Padre Island is technically part of Corpus Christi and was hit hard by Hurricane Harvey in August 2017.  Several of the hotels and restaurants are still being rebuilt.  I had lunch at the Island Italian Restaurant that had open just this week. Today I'm moving to Port A for the weekend.  Lots of beaches and a few museums to explore on the rainy days we have in our future.  Still rainy and 60 is much better than the snow they are forecasting back home.  H

I'm staying at North Padre Island - near Corpus Christi.  The beaches are amaing, but thhat's about all that's here.  Very few restaurants and NO grocery store!!  Yesterday I drove into Port Aransas (or Port A) and found a small grocery store for some provisions.  I drove around Port A and I think I'm going to spend the weekend there.  I've been told that the beaches at South Padre Island are even nicer, but it's a 2 hour drive further south...I think I'll pass Other than driving to Port A, I didn't do much yesterday.  I sat on the beach watching the waves for a couple hours, read, took a nap, went out for yet another disappointing dinner and then back to my Airbnb for a swim and a soak in the hot tub.  I think I understand the term beach bum much better after yesterday.  It's nice that there really aren't that many people on the beach, at my condo or really anywhere this time of year.  And the weather has been great - high 80's and sunsh

After my trip to New Mexico, I traveled to my nephew's wedding and then back home.  Once things finally slowed down I realized that I was sick...just a virus or something, but I was worn out!  Pretty sure some of that altitude sickness in New Mexico was something more.  So, after 2 weeks at home recovering (and attending another wedding), I'm finally on the road again.  Yes! Yesterday I drove 10 hours to Fredericksburg , Texas ( link ) Fredericksburg is one of several Texas towns that were established in the mid 1800's under the Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas.  I stayed at a small place, the Peach Tree Inn and Suites ( link ), nothing special, but it was clean and right on my route.  I had dinner at The Auslander Restaurant and Biergarten ( link ) in Fredericksburg, and it was...OK.  I ordered the (non-vegan) Bratwurst with mashed potatoes and red cabbage.  The potatoes and cabbage were great!  The brats were nearly flavorless.  Disappointing

So nice to be at a lower elevation! I feel like I can breathe again. Yesterday was just a day of travel that ended about 2AM this morning.  Long day that began by checking out of my Airbnb ( link ).  This was just an OK stay even though I had an awesome space.  My host was kind of loud AND a night owl so I didn't sleep well at all. I went to Santa Fe hoping to see Meow Wolf but the line was still crazy long, even on a Wednesday morning!  Since it was still cold and rainy, I opted to not wait.  Oh well!  There is so much to see and do in New Mexico if I ever go back. Only a few interesting things happened yesterday.  I actually had a tumbleweed ( link ) cross the road in front of me on the way to to Albuquerque.  How authentically Southwest is that! I saw physicist Michio Kaku ( link ) at the Albuquerque airport.  So weird when you see famous people in person...especially when their black pants are too short and you can't stop staring at their white socks.

Sun!  I woke to a beautiful, sunny, cold day!  Yes!  I went to the The Taos Earthship colony ( link ) for a tour.  It was kind of disappointing as all there was to see was a Visitor Center.  Tours are only available with 2 week's notice.  I get it, these are people's homes, but still a let down. I then drove on down the road to Tres Piedras to see more of the country.  The Taos area is not as nice as Santa Fe.  Lots of run down homes and dilapidated cars in the front yard.  Once I made my way back to Taos I went to the Taos Puebla ( link ).  It's the oldest continually inhabited community in the U.S. dating backing 1,000 years. When I drove up to the Puebla I decided I just wasn't feeling it...so I went back to town.  What I could see was enough to tell me this wasn't going to be an uplifting stop.  I probably should have stopped...but that's one of the joys of traveling alone!  If you're not feeling it you don't have to do it. After a late lunch

I woke to snow yesterday!  I had about 2 inches on my car to clear off before heading out.  Thank goodness my host left me a ice scraper/brush thing!  I went to the Plaza and walked around until I found a coffee shop.  It was COLD out and overcast so no sun to warm things up.  The Taos Plaza was not nearly as impressive as the one in Santa Fe.  But still worth a stop.  I went into the old Courthouse building to look at the fresco's which are impressive - but a little heavy handed in the way they were obviously trying to influence/manipulate the locals. After a quick stop at the Taos Visitors Center, I drove out to the Royal Gorge Bridge.  Amazing scenery but also a little unnerving when a semi drove over the bridge while I was walking on it.  It didn't take long for me to decide I'd had enough of that! Since it was so cold and overcast it was a good day for a drive.  So I drove the "Enchanted Circle Tour".  This goes from Taos to Questa, Red River, Eagles Ne

Not much to report about yesterday.  I woke up late, went to a coffee shop to write and then tried to go to Meow Wolf ( link ).  I've been putting off Meow Wolf until my last day and when I got there the line was a half a block long - outside - in the rain.  Nope!  I'm really disappointed that I didn't make it there because I've heard so much about it.  I'm now hoping to stop on my way back to the airport on Wednesday.  Fingers crossed! Since it was cold and rainy I decided to just drive to Taos earlier than planned (Ha!  As if I have a plan!).  I'm sure the drive is gorgeous, but the rain and fog hampered my view.  I'm feeling lucky to have had such nice weather so far. Once I arrived in town I was surprised to see the population of 5,763 on the city limits sign.  For some reason I thought it would be much bigger.  A local I meet said "Taos' reputation is much larger than it actually is"  So true.  I wondered around town getting my bearing

The title of this post is a little misleading...it should say Los Alamos - Day 1.  I've always heard of Los Alamos in regards to the Manhattan Project and the atomic bomb and I wondered if there was more to the town.  So I drove the 45 minutes up there and WOW what a drive...such pretty scenery. My first stop was the Los Alamos history museum ( link ) where I lucked out.  There was a 1 1/2 hour walking tour starting 10 minutes after I arrived!  Yes!  The history of the area dates back to natives then settlers and then a prep school called the Los Alamos Ranch School ( link ) and finally "The Lab".  The tour guide was a local who worked 27 years at the Los Alamos National Lab ( link ) and she was a very good guide. At the time the government took over the Ranch School for the war effort there was only the school and about 32 families of settlers in the area.  Apparently the government was looking for a desolate area that had some resources already established.  The Ran

I went to the Santa Fe Plaza yesterday and explored ( link ).  The Plaza is surrounded by shops of all kinds.  Some very high end and some very touristy.  All interesting and fun to explore.  The cool thing about the Plaza (as well as Old Town Albuquerque) is that every small alley opens up to a Piazza ( link ) that is also surrounded by shops and restaurants.  Very, very nice place to amble around and explore.  The altitude in Santa Fe is 7,199 and it's really been getting to me.  Nothing bad, just hard to catch my breath.  While exploring the Plaza I was getting a little concerned about the shortness of breath, but then I checked my Fitbit and saw that I'd walked over 4 miles.  No wonder! I stopped for lunch just off the Plaza at the San Francisco Street Bar and Grill.  Very nice place!  I had the most amazing tostatdas.  I've had awesome food in the Southwest.  Most of it not vegan - but oh well!  After lunch I decided I needed a break from walking so I could catch