Austin to Ottawa... the scenic route!

Well, we are back "home" in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Despite the fact that we haven't spent very much time here in the last 12 years, we still consider it home.

Let me tell you how we got here...

Reflecting on our Mexico RV Caravan trip

We've had a couple of weeks now to think about this most recent Mexico RV trip. This was the third RV caravan group that we have led through Mexico, and it continues to be a learning experience for us.

Let me give you some background. The first trip we did in February of 2016 was just a trial run. We took over another group for 30 days.

5 Offbeat Travel Destinations To Include In Your 2019 Bucket List

The world is full of mysterious and amazing spots which are waiting to be found by travellers. So, how about making 2019 a year full of explorations and discoveries with visiting some unconventional destinations and experience the rugged untouched beautiful nature!

If you weren't going down... you were going up!

We had read about a good biking road that runs between Bastrop State Park and Buescher State Park. So when we checked into our campsite here, I asked the lady in the office about it and she used the word "grueling".

But, we decided to give it the old college try. First, we made a detour back to the office to check on moving sites for tonight. We mentioned we were off to do the bike road between the parks, and this lady used the word "challenging".

New luggage for our trip!

Yesterday we moved from Lockhart State Park to Bastrop State Park. Along the way, we met up with Tom at his land where he has volunteered to look after Sherman while we are gone. While we were with Tom and his dog Nizza (rhymes with pizza!) Tom presented us with a couple of packages.

We had an offer from a luggage manufacturer to try out a couple of fairly high end carry on suitcases. Our backpack style luggage that we've been using since 2012 is starting to look pretty beat up, and we were getting close to needing something new, so we took them up on their offer, and they shipped them to Tom!

Planning for Australia

I mentioned the other day that I've recently been spending a fair bit of my internet time planning for our upcoming Australia trip.

We bought the flight tickets back at the end of November last year, but other than buying an RV, we had been waiting until our Mexico RV trip was over before doing any more planning. We arrive in Melbourne on May 18th.

Short drive to Lockhart State Park

Strange weather yesterday... a little bit of everything. The day started with some rain when we woke up at the skydiving airport. So we waited that out until 10:00am or so, and then hit the road north towards the town of Lockhart.

We popped into the Walmart to get a couple of things, and we were getting such a good wifi signal in the motorhome that we just stayed put and did some free internet time.

Palmetto State Park and Skydiving.

This area of Texas is so different from the typical scrub brush landscape that you between the San Antonio and Laredo area. Nice and green, with trees!

We had spent Thursday night at Palmetto State Park, and we were trying for the Friday night as well, but they were sold out. The ranger told us to come back to the office around noon and see if there were any cancellations.

Only one week left in Texas

Time seems to be ticking quickly... a week from today we fly to Ottawa.

Yesterday, we made our way from San Antonio to Palmetto State Park.

When I was planning our route, there was no easy way to get out of San Antonio without using the Interstate. We see no joy in driving on the Interstate highways, especially around or through a big city.

18 Miles (30 kms) worth of exercise

We set out on the bicycles early yesterday morning. They were calling for a hot day here in San Antonio, and various reports said the temperature got up to 95F (35C)... so yes, it was a hot one!

Anyhow, we knew to get out there early if we wanted to enjoy the bike ride. We set out at about 8:45am.

The San Antonio Missions

Yesterday morning around 11:00am, we headed out of Choke Canyon State Park, and north towards the city of San Antonio.

With an 86 mile (136 km) drive ahead of us, I figured that we would arrive around 1:00pm, just in time for lunch.

A nice stay here at Choke Canyon State Park, but two days is enough.

Yesterday morning, I took the bikes off and we went for a nice 15 km (9 mile) ride around the park.

We stopped in at the front office to ask about the alligators. There are signs warning of them, but we haven't seen any. The lady said "there's lots of them!", but she also said there needs to be a couple of really warm days in a row for them to come out of the water and sun themselves.

But, we did see lots of different birds...

What a storm that was!

Yesterday morning it rained from around 5:00am to 10:00am. We had been parked up behind the Fairgrounds buildings near the town of George West and we were on high ground so didn't have any problems.

But when we left, and headed to Choke Canyon State Park, we saw that some areas, including the park, did have some problems.

Perfect spot for a night

We packed up yesterday morning and headed out from Lake Corpus Christi State Park. A good visit, but four nights was long enough.

We headed north towards San Antonio. With most people on the I-35, we stayed to the secondary roads.

Private, Keep Out, No Trespassing, Beware of Dog

We went for a bike ride yesterday morning. It seemed like longer, but it was only for an hour. Still, we got 15 kms (9.3 miles) done. It sure is enjoyable to ride decent quality bikes.

From Lake Corpus Christi State Park, we rode outside the park boundaries to the small lake-shore community of Lake City.