Wimberley to Austin, TX

Wimberley to Austin, TX

1/31/10

Day 88

40 miles

Sorry we don't have any photos, but it was too cold and wet for us to even want to get our cameras out. We would have had to take off our gloves (that's right, gloves in Texas) to get at the cameras. Anyway, sorry for no photos.

Last night when we set up our tent in Wimberley, it was below freezing and 100% humidity. It felt incredibly cold. We had high hopes that we might wake to a nice warm day, but when we rolled out of bed around 8:00 it was still very cold. Grey clouds hung low in the sky and the temperature was not much above freezing. We noticed a doughnut shop last night, so we decided to head there this morning for breakfast. It was such an odd doughnut shop. The owners were Asian, and they sold everything from doughnuts to spring rolls to burritos. The small bakery smelled of doughnuts, Chinese food and incense. But hey, the doughnuts were pretty good. We then found the only coffee shop in Wimberley, which is also the only place with wireless internet. We spent a good two hours catching up on our blog posting.

We headed back to the Emergency Services building to pick up our tent, and got sidetracked talking to the Ambulance crew inside. They were so friendly, and, as we have learned, you can pick up some really great advice about traveling from locals. We chatted with them for quite awhile. By the time we finally got all packed up and head for Austin it was past noon. We figured that if we waited around this long, the temperature would go up some, but as soon as we started riding, we realized how cold it really was. The air was so damp and a slight breeze in our face combined with the wind caused by our traveling speed made our get cold to the core. We are from the West, humidity has never been our friend. The air was actually so wet that my beard filled with moisture and started dripping as we rode.

We made it about half way to Austin and we were so cold we stopped at a gas station for some hot chocolate. As we pulled up, we found some Girl Scouts selling cookies in front. We were so excited! We have been looking to buy girl scout cookies the whole trip. I think I might have scared the girl a little by how excited I was to buy these cookies. Gotta love the Thin Mints.

The ride into Austin was much more painless than we thought. Traffic was not bad, and we were actually enjoying riding in a city again. We were so surprised at how much Austin reminded us of Portland. Maybe it was just because it was misting and rainy and humid, but the houses neighborhoods seemed similar. We couldn't believe we were in Texas. We had called a friend of a friend the day before in hopes of finding a place to stay in the city. Lucky for us, Katherine called us back and told us we could stay at her place. We navigated through the city and then realized her house was only two blocks off of our planned route. It is amazing how most people we have stayed with are almost directly on our route. We arrived at Katherine's place and she welcomed us right inside. The neat old house is in a really cool neighborhood. Katherine lives with 8 other people in this house and it is a bit of a community of its own. They share communal suppers and chores and seem like a great bunch of people. We felt right at home, and it was so nice to be in out of the cold. Katherine made a great supper with salad, mashed potatoes, and a salad with a crème brulee for dessert. Amazing! After supper we had such a great time telling stories and just talking in general. Tomorrow we will explore Austin a bit.

Greg