Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Heading North

November 16, 2011
Abilene TX
            Seems that I’m challenged trying to depart a place L.
            The plan was to load up the trailer and truck Tuesday morning and be on the road by noon..HA!  Never happened.  There was laundry to do, gear to organize, pictures to download, bllls to pay online, blogs to finish up, yadayadayada.
            It was 7pm when I was strapping Sophia down that I released the wrong strap and she toppled over inside the trailer.  Got her up and properly strapped when Harley (My son’s sweetheart) called to check on me.  She suggested that I just spend another night and depart the next day in the daylight.....made sense.  So I locked things up to finish in the morning’s daylight.  Why is it that girls have a way of putting some sense into a fella’s head??
            Wednesday morning I decided to have a good exercise before departing.  When I went out to the trailer to finish strapping things down I found a green fluorescent tag pasted to the ramp warning me that the trailer would be towed away by 1700 that day!  Zach and I had already worked this all out with the office administrators twice, so it was very upsetting to see this a second time. I finished strapping things down then went to the office to complain about the defacing of my private property. Bottom line is that there was a lot of miscommunication.  Oh well, I will not be staying there again…the administration is a little too uptight for my “live on the road” lifestyle!
I enjoyed the run to Abilene listening to music, stopping occasionally to check the load, and viewing the countryside.  I like the way this part of the country rolls with gentle hills and how it is host to some unique looking trees.  The most interesting ones are probably oaks, seeminly smaller than the typical oak I am familiar with….I’ll have to learn a little about these trees for my trip out here next year.

Luckenbach Texas

November 15, 2011

Luckenbach Texas

            Can’t believe it !  I was looking at the Hill Country map to figure out where I would ride to on a gorgeous day and couldn’t believe my eyes….right below Fredericksburg is the town of Luckenback!  Is this the home of the famous Waylon Jennings song?  Oh man, I gotta go there.
            Weather is looking good so…..rolled Sophia outa the trailer and headed out for a ride to Luckenbach.  It was a perfect day for it…and I was anticipating catching some great views of the country.  

Monday, December 5, 2011

Salt Lick BBQ

November 13, 2011
Driftwood Texas


The best Damn BBQ in Texas ! 
Zach, Harley and me drove out to Driftwood to meet with Zach’s friend  Mike1 in red Tshirt, Mike’s aunt-forefront in blue, his aunt’s fiancée Mike2-forehead behind aunt, and Mike2’s niece-Mike1’s future cousin when Mike1’s aunt gets married to Mike2.  (I am having sooooo much fun trying to write this after losing my notes with everyone’s names)
The destination in Driftwood is this ranch style restaurant out on CR170, about 20 miles southwest of Austin.  Best route from Austin is to take TX1 south to TX45 then south on County 1826 til you intercept CR170.  It's the only place all lit up along that country road.
When you pull into the 2 acre dirt parking lot you’ll need to find a dirt spot to park at a hitchin post then walk in to the BBQ ranch house.
There’s quite a few unique aspects of Salt Lick BBQ.  First of all, you can BYOB in a cooler and sit n drink all nite long.  2nd, you can either sit inside or outside.  If inside, you get to savor the aromas of the BBQ’ing of ribs, beef, pork, chicken.  If outside, you get to sit under the stars at big ol’ picnic tables, and listening to a local band playing some good music while drinking your BYOB.
We ordered the family style fixings which costs $20 a head and is all you can eat…including take home if you ‘d like to.  All the BBQ is served with beans and potatoes.  I stuffed myself silly….which sez a lot cuz I don’t particularly go outa my way to have a BBQ.
It was a wonderful evening with great company and interesting conversation, sure hope to meet all these wonderful folks again in the future.
I wish more places had a BYOB policy…..kinda like being part of the family J.
C ya mañana,
Gonzo
twitter: @GonzoCrossUSA
email: GonzoCrossUSA@gmail.com