So having reached Mexico, where this blog post was manufactured, it’s time to recap Texas a bit. 

  Interim stops on the road in San Angelo and Marble Falls (where we played tennis overlooking the river) were a pleasant enough introduction. 

But first and foremost, Austin. It seems like everyone telling me I’d like it was correct, but the how was a complete surprise to me. 

   
First, the proximity of Hill Country close by gives a huge relief from typical Texas flat. Second, the food scene is incredible, with innovative and traditional food trucks – in some cases growing into full restaurants too. Third, walking or driving around some of the neighborhoods, particularly East Austin, gives a great sense of livability. 

In short, one of my new favorite American cities. (Oh, it doesn’t hurt, either, that practically every great BBQ joint in TX is within two hours drive.)

   
We managed to clear up some outstanding admin and car issues as well – Melanie got an iPhone that works properly after much agitation, and I replaced a few car parts (esp the left rear window motor) that had given up the ghost. Shout out to the fellow 1994 Land Cruiser in the parts yard up in Belton, TX for contributing parts (amazingly, the THIRD donor Land Cruiser of the original same color).

 Edit   
Then it was off to San Antonio. We had a lovely Airbnb cottage there with a picnic table under a grapefruit tree (and fresh fruit in the AM). But the city is still a bit mysterious to us. The downtown River Walk is some kind of combination of Singapore’s Clarke Quay and Disney World, with a bit of what I remember of 1980s Dallas thrown in. It seems like the “cool” there is pretty concentrated in a few spots, and the quality of the “cool” may be relative.

   
No issue to us, though, as we had a bit more admin to power through before leaving, and San Antonio was an excellent place to do that. 

We spent the last night in the US in the border town of Laredo, and had some unusual Mexican delicacies: Kekas, which is kind of like a giant fried empanada. Yum. 

The car importation at the border this morning went smoothly. Big shout to Cheri for her help getting us some interim paperwork sorted!

Greetings from Hidalgo Nuevo León – the mountains are gorgeous.  Let’s see how we like camping…