Keepin' it Weird for Ya

The great state of Texas… We’ve been here about a week, and we’ve been having such a grand time that neither Nan or I have done a blog entry. Truth is, I was working on an entry about our camper biffy (for all the non-camper-owners out there) but it wasn’t coming out very well so I’ll keep working on it, and Nan’s written an entry or two but the campground’s internet connection is slow and she’s having trouble getting pictures to upload. She says she’s going to get one done today, so I'll do the same. Here are a couple of observations as an update...

Yesterday, as we walked up Congress Street in downtown Austin, there was a woman dressed in an outfit appropriate for any beer-filled Octoberfest celebration. She was clapping her hands to the beat of a song she was loudly singing, giving her solo musical performance some real heart and volume. As we approached, she smiled and yelled “Just Keepin’ Austin Weird For Ya!”, then on she sang. We later found out “Keeping Austin Weird” is a campaign the locals have embraced. My own life experience suggests there’s plenty of weird around pretty much everywhere without the need to intentionally create more, but if they think they’re becoming too normal who am I to argue? We loved that lady’s enthusiasm, and we repeated her line often during the day that followed. For instance, while shopping in the Whole Foods flagship store (the thing’s huge), I turned around thinking Nan was behind me and, doing my best Tom Hanks/Polar Express impression, said directly into the face of a long-haired man, “Well? Ya Comin’?” The guy just looked at me for a moment, I mumbled “Just keepin’ Austin Weird For Ya…” and quickly went on my way. Like I said—plenty of weird in this world without intentionally creating more.

We had a great time on our visit to San Antonio. Oddly enough, we found that seeing the Alamo is more educational after you watch a little 15-minute presentation at “The History Shop” across the street. Phil Collins (weirdness returns) narrates the presentation of a scale model of the Alamo, describing the battle and its participants. Later we visited the Hall of Horns at the Buckhorn which features things like 15 foot tall Irish deer (more weird), had people throw beads to us from party-boats on the mobbed Riverwalk in a pre-Mardi-Gras celebration (a little weird), and ate wonderful Mexican food (nothing weird there).

(The most familiar view of the Alamo)


(Kerby meets Jim Bowie)


In Austin, in addition to seeing the lady who was keeping Austin weird we had a nice walk along Town Lake on a path filled with joggers and dog-walkers and cyclists, all there in the middle of a workday. (Who are all these people—academics on sabbatical? Don’t they have jobs? Weird). We rode the Zilker Zephyr, a kiddie-train at Zilker park that we honestly enjoyed (weird family). We explored the Splash! exhibit that explains where the water comes from that feeds Barton Springs, in which swam lots of shivering souls who don’t mind the 68 degree water (cold and courageously weird). And we toured the Texas State Capitol and learned, among many other tidbits, that Texas has been in some fashion part of 6 countries—Spain, France, Mexico, The Republic of Texas, the US, and the Confederate States. It’s the only state to have been its own country (possibly weird…certainly unusual…and it explains at least in part the great state-loyalty among Texans and why students from Texas always have the Texas flag up in their dorm rooms while students from other states often have trouble picking their states’ flags out of a line up). Finally, we did a driving tour of the University of Texas at Austin (plenty of weird there) and ate at Stubbs’ BBQ (not weird, as it’s rated by several publications as the best BBQ in Austin). We also had the chance to spend some added time with Meagan (a not-weird Richmond alum), her husband Richard, and their very cute new baby, Gideon, and we found ourselves as we left feeling a bit like baby Gideon seemed to be feeling—stuffed, happy, and ready for bed.

(Who IS this lady?)


(In the Texas State Capitol...)


We’ve been staying in San Marcos, TX, (halfway between San Antonio and Austin) at one of the nicest campgrounds we’ve found so far. Our campsite overlooks the San Marcos River, and all the amenities here are clean and in great repair. There’s a heated pool we’ve been swimming in, lots of dry kindling around for fires, a great laundry room (in which I’m writing this while our laundry spins), individual bathrooms with continuously hot showers…all of which is unusual in combination. Pecan Park is quite the place! Courtesy of some wonderful friends, we had an amazing tour of the brand new headquarters of McCoy’s Building Supply Company (based here in San Marcos and source of my hat collection), and we took a tour of one of their stores as well, giving me lots of time to grunt like Tim the Tool-Man Taylor (yes, I’m weird) and cook up excuses for buying more tools. We had dinner with the McCoy family and continue to believe they’re the nicest people on earth.

(Campfire Night)


(Honking the Horn on a Forklift at McCoy's HQ)


We could definitely spend more time around here, but all the eating out has been killing our budget (not to mention ballooning our waistlines) and there’s still lots of month left. Today we’re going to work a bit, pack up a bit (the longer we spend somewhere the more our stuff tends to expand), and tour San Marcos a bit more. The weather has been beautiful (60s and sunny), and that’s supposed to continue for the rest of the week. Dallas is next, then we head toward Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands in New Mexico.

So that’s the weirdness update. We've found weird here, but honestly, no more than anywhere else despite at least one woman's efforts to raise the level. Mostly we've found interesting sights, good food, and fun people. And we feel like we could move here...though I suspect in the July heat we'd wonder what we were thinking. Anyway, if I can get the entry on the biffy flushed out, I’m just weird enough to post it.

Keep it weird!