Road Trip - Entry 7 - Texas Driving

One of the things we were most excited about on our trip, aside from the many brilliant cities that we were able to embrace, was the driving itself. There's something enchanting about driving along a new road. Especially one lined with beautiful scenery. Which is why when we were planning our route from San Antonio to Austin we were excited to have the opportunity to really take in some magnificent Texas landscape.  

This post will really just tell you about the journey we chose to take from San Antonio to Austin, TX. Our goal was to turn what was a relatively short journey into an extended adventure that really captured some of the scenery in the area, as well as some of the towns that wouldn't typically be on the list if not prioritized.

If you find yourself in Texas with time to spare and a car filled with gas I would highly recommend just getting in and driving. It was truly a fun filled, beautiful adventure! 

Leaving San Antonio

This picture shows what we began to see just ten minutes after leaving the hustle and bustle of San Antonio. It really isn't a super quality photo. As you can see it was taken from the passenger side of our car. But, I do think it's beauty is in capturing the openness that was before us as we began on the next foot of our journey. 

Bandera, TX - Cowboy Country 
     One of the first detours on our adventure was Bandera, Texas. This tiny, one stop town has big shoes to fill. Known as the "Cowboy Capitol of the World," this town has character seeping from every aged board lining its stores. We stopped in with many other travelers just stopping through to enjoy some of its many charms which included cowboy hats and shoes, icecream, indians with their wolf dogs (yep, that's right!), and even some vintage shopping. 

Josh really could pull off the Cowboy look....Couldn't leave my traveling partner in Bandera though

Luckenbach, TX
        Our next stop was by far one of my favorite, most worthwhile stops up to this point. Luckenbach, Texas!! Many of you probably have heard of this dirt path, music venue, one shop town from the famous song by Waylon Jennings. Others, have perhaps had the privilege of visiting. Either way, it is by far one of the most unique places in the world. Which seems appropriate considering that rumors say that it's directly in the middle of the world if you look at a globe. A "gift from God " is how they state it. The moment you walk right into this town you feel a little more at peace, a little more relaxed and a lot more welcome than many other places around the world. Certainly a charm dropped right in the center of it all. One that everyone should take the detour to experience. 

How can a place with this type of simplicity be anything but perfection? 

You're greeted by a Bull

We had the privilege of signing the worlds largest Willie Nelson Mural

We loved Luckenbach!

Other Stops
    While we didn't stop at every single thing we saw along the way there were many more opportunities to stop on our adventure to Austin. Being that it was October, there were many fall themed farm pickings that were packed with eager children going on hay rides and mazes. 

There were also many other little towns along the way.

As we got closer to Austin, but still within a thirty minute we came across a restaurant/vineyard/farm that looked amazing and if we had not been in a time crunch we would have stopped and spent the evening here. Salt Lick BBQ was it's name and just from the line of cars hovering over the parking lot to get in we could tell this place was a good stop. The atmosphere looked amazing just from the outside and it smelled heavenly. Next time around, we will definitely be eating at Salt Lick.

I must say though throughout our entire day of venturing through the countryside of Texas, one of the best parts of the whole trip was just the simplicity and "majesticness" of the open landscapes within this region. We loved having the open road before us, the windows down, some good music playing in the background and just being able to explore together.