Social Cycling Austin – See The City, Meet Locals & Ride
Jason’s family is very outgoing and active (crazy fun), which is why I love them so much. The only thing is you never really know what you’re getting yourself into with this bunch.
So when Lauren (Jason’s sister who lives in Austin, Texas) invited us to join in on their Thursday Night Social Ride I should have known this wasn't going to be a leisurely bike ride around town.Plus, this is Austin; where nothing is average or normal.
Marfa – New York Chic in the Texas Desert
We were only in Marfa Texas for three days and two nights, but this place is extremely unique. Where else in the world can you visit a small town with a population of 1,900 yet feast on 5 star gourmet food, enjoy world famous art installations, and gaze upon one of the nation’s few unexplained phenomenons?
We parked our RV out at the famous Marfa Mystery Lights viewing area. They allow overnight parking and we stayed for 2 nights. Not sure if multiple nights are ok, but the town wasn’t busy at all during our stay and no one gave us any hassle. We thought about moving to another spot but there’s no BLM or National Forest land, and the few RV parks weren’t too appealing (and surprisingly expensive for a small town in the middle of nowhere).
Here's a few of our favorite spots, a few quotes from the locals, and our take on this cool town in the southwestern Texas desert:
Alpine Texas – There Aint Nuthin Out There
And I quote “There ain’t nuthin’ out there!”
That's what we were told each time we asked about what to do in Alpine. We arrived in Alpine, Texas with only a few hours of daylight on a Monday expecting, well…"nuthin" (we spent most of our day in Marfa, TX). What we found instead was a little microcosm of awesomeness, and we've just barely scratched the surface!
We parked the RV in the middle of town on the main highway, unhooked the Smart car and headed into the visitor center.
Glenrio… So This Is What Killed Route 66
We’ve heard of Route 66 and we get asked all the time if we've traveled the famed highway…but we never really understood all the hype. It’s just an old highway...right?
So, when we noticed that the Route 66 Ghost Town of Glenrio was just a few miles off our route, we decided to find out what all the fuss was about and what killed this Route 66 town.
A Texas Winery that will Rock Your World
After an evening with Monty I’m not sure which is more compelling: The man himself, or his statements...“Wine is the world’s only resurrected beverage” or “A 100% Texas grown, barreled, and bottled Pinot Noir that will knock your socks off”.
To be perfectly honest when we saw Bar Z Winery on the Harvest Hosts website I thought “Looks like a decent place to park but the wines will likely be rocket fuel!” I’m happy to say I was wrong on both accounts!
Cadillac Ranch – one man’s trash is another’s art
I looked around at the scattered spray cans and colored plastic tops and thought to myself, when did littering become participatory art? I really wanted my artistic self to appreciate the chaos and disregard of it all but my inner realist just couldn't let go.
Outside of Amarillo, Texas are 10 partially sunken Cadillac’s near what used to be iconic route 66. Why are there sunken Cadillac’s out in the middle of an empty field?
