Wide shoulders on side of road - beautiful scenery ahead too!
Great pull outs for parking on either side of road
Tarantula Migration
Murray's Chili Bean dinnerOver our three trips to Texas, we have pretty well crisscrossed the state. From Galveston across to Corpus Christi in the south, then further down and across the Rio Grande into Mexico. From San Antonio through Austin, Waco & Dallas across into Tulsa, Oklahoma. Back across to Wichita Falls and down to Abilene, and on this trip we traveled from Nacogdoches in the East over to the Hill Country west of Austin, then West to Fort Stockton. A separate trip a few years ago took us into El Paso on the extreme West of the state. We have seen Texas in winter, spring & summer and we were fortunate that our visit this summer ended with a dry break with minimal humidity.
The majority of our recent visit was spent in the hill country NW of San Antonio and W of Austin. Thankfully we were far away from South Padre Island which took a hit with the recent hurricane, and we had no rain at all the time we were in the hill country.
Most of the Texas roads had shoulders adequate for us to pull over and allow faster cars to pass, and for the first time, drivers signaled thanks. This was especially appreciated on minor roads that have only one lane going in each direction - we usually like to get off the main highways, so we get to drive many minor roads in our travels. There were also Parking or picnic areas every few miles which we haven’t noticed so prevalent in other states. They sure make it easy for us when it is time to change drivers.
The other thing we noticed, especially in the city of Fredericksburg, were the number of coffee shops. Always a nice place to call in for morning tea! Apart from Starbucks and the lovely coffee shops in the book stores, we don't usually see many on our travels.
On our last day in Texas as we were heading north from Fort Stockton to the New Mexico border, we passed lots of oil fields and noticed frequent sightings of large black spiders crossing the road. All going East to West. We stopped to take a photo of one for you. I found several internet stories about tarantula (listed as the largest & hairiest spiders in the world) migration in the area around Fort Stockton and one reason they do this is to escape rain filled gullies. I also ran over a thin light coloured snake as it was slithering across the road. Ugh.
Given its border with Mexico, it is not surprising that many Mexicans live in Texas. Consequently, Mexican restaurants are a common sight, and the food is delicious. Murray has perfected his own chili bean recipe and it beats anything I have had in a restaurant.
The majority of our recent visit was spent in the hill country NW of San Antonio and W of Austin. Thankfully we were far away from South Padre Island which took a hit with the recent hurricane, and we had no rain at all the time we were in the hill country.
Most of the Texas roads had shoulders adequate for us to pull over and allow faster cars to pass, and for the first time, drivers signaled thanks. This was especially appreciated on minor roads that have only one lane going in each direction - we usually like to get off the main highways, so we get to drive many minor roads in our travels. There were also Parking or picnic areas every few miles which we haven’t noticed so prevalent in other states. They sure make it easy for us when it is time to change drivers.
The other thing we noticed, especially in the city of Fredericksburg, were the number of coffee shops. Always a nice place to call in for morning tea! Apart from Starbucks and the lovely coffee shops in the book stores, we don't usually see many on our travels.
On our last day in Texas as we were heading north from Fort Stockton to the New Mexico border, we passed lots of oil fields and noticed frequent sightings of large black spiders crossing the road. All going East to West. We stopped to take a photo of one for you. I found several internet stories about tarantula (listed as the largest & hairiest spiders in the world) migration in the area around Fort Stockton and one reason they do this is to escape rain filled gullies. I also ran over a thin light coloured snake as it was slithering across the road. Ugh.
Given its border with Mexico, it is not surprising that many Mexicans live in Texas. Consequently, Mexican restaurants are a common sight, and the food is delicious. Murray has perfected his own chili bean recipe and it beats anything I have had in a restaurant.
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