The flight time was 11.30am and we boarded around 11am, it was one of the new Dreamliner planes and there was plenty of room in premium economy. I had no one next to me, so moved to the window seat, although it was very cloudy and you couldn't see much, apart from a wing, which is good news as if I couldn't have seen that I would have been slightly worried. The stewardess were saying it is not a very popular flight and often half empty. I watched the Steve Jobs movie, rubbish, in fact so boring I snoozed through parts, then watched Spectre again. This was better second time round. The flight was just under 10 hours and we landed around 4pm Austin time. It is 6 hours behind England.
The immigration system is strange but involves a lot of queueing. You queue to use the automotive machines, which in my case didn't work, so you then have to queue for the normal immigration part. However, the luggage collection is in the immigration hall and you need to wait for your luggage before you can queue for the second part. As my luggage was in the last bundle, I did a lot of queuing.
Having cleared all these hurdles and I went to the car rental centre and guess what queued again! I finally got my vehicle and headed for the hotel, a Best Western in Austin. It was a 15 minute drive and then I checked in, have a room by the pool.
In the evening I used the fitness centre to keep myself awake. I then went for a snack in the restaurant and did some reading. I managed to stay awake till about 2100 when I finally crashed out. I woke several times during the night. It did not help having noisy drunken neighbours, three girls who returned at 3am worse for the wear, shouting, slamming doors for about 30 minutes.
I drifted off to sleep and finally got up about 7am on Monday morning. I then went for breakfast which was self service and very nice. After this I sat by the pool and did some sermon preparation.
Today I am going to run round the sights of Austin. I left about 0930 from the hotel and ran down the road, it is late 60's with clear skies, but there is a slight northerly wind, but definitely shorts weather. I have my running backpack with my change of clothes, shades and Ipad in it. The first stop was Texas State Capitol, the biggest (of course it's Texas) just under 4 miles. I had a look round took some photos and then got back to running. Today is Presidents' Day and so it is a bank holiday which means everything is closed, apart from Starbucks. Although like most American downtowns there isn't much to be open in the first place.
Lady Bird Lake runs through the middle of town and has several trail runs along The river bank, so it was rude not to try them out. I did stop for coffee on route and admired the view, should have put sun cream on! I stopped for lunch at a Taco food-truck, the latest craze in America. It was very nice, I then went to a local coffee shop and enjoyed an after dinner cappuccino. It was still sunny, so I ran back to the hotel. A total of 12 miles completed. I then sat by the pool for a couple of hours and did some work on leadership
In the evening I went to the local restaurant for a bite to eat and then worked on the timetable and ideas for the teaching session in Kenya.
On Tuesday I woke up at 4am and couldn't get back to sleep, so read my book. I did doze off eventually, but then woke up just before 7am I decided to go for breakfast before packing my bags and loading the car.
The first stop was San Marcos about a 30 minute drive from the hotel. There was a Nike store there and I wanted to look for some different trainers, you can never have too many pairs of running trainers. It was difficult without my assistant as I had to carry the boxes and look after them myself, but I just about coped. There were assistants everywhere asking if I needed any help with the shoes, but they all disappeared when I wanted to use the fitting room to try a top on. I was in the shop for over an hour and then visited a couple more sports shops, before it was time for a Starbucks.
I then had a 80 mile drive to Kerrville through the hill country. It was a slow, scenic, bendy road unlike the straight Interstate. This is ranch country and they are big. I didn't see one Starbucks on route. The road was called 'Farm to Market' and would have been where they did cattle drives. I arrived in Kerrville just after 2 and checked in at the Hampton Inn Hotel. I decided to go for a run around the town. It was about 80 degrees and sunny. The hotel is about 2 miles from Main Street. It was a gentle jog, having as look in a couple of shops, a jog along the river and then stopping for coffee, before running back.
In the evening I found the local Walmart and did some shopping, a nice salad for dinner. The hotel has a laundry room so I did some washing and now I have some fresh running gear.
Although I was tired when I went to bed, I was still awake at 5am on Wednesday and got up and did some reading. Breakfast doesn't start till 6am but at least I have a coffee machine in my room.
I did some reading and then took an early breakfast. The bagels were very nice. I then packed up the car and headed for the next destination, Bandela, Cowboy Capital of the World. It was about 30 minute drive across scenic country and very little traffic on the road, very relaxing. The town is very basic, one man road, called, Main Street and a few shops. I had a wander around the shops but didn't buy anything. There was a coffee shop so I stopped, used the wi-if and drank my coffee. It's about 70 degrees today. Disappointingly I didn't see any Cowboys or Indians.
I am staying at West 1077 Ranch for a couple of days, about 10 miles for the town, in the Hill Country. I booked in and was shown to my room, I am the only person staying here as it is the off season.
In the afternoon I went for a run around the national park trails, around 5 miles, I didn't want to go too far as it was hot and also didn't want to get lost as there are very few sign posts. It was a gentle run and I saw some horse riders out in the park, all wearing Stetsons, not riding helmets here.
On Thursday I got up just after 7am and breakfast was at 0830am so plenty of time to shower and tidy up. Breakfast was eggs, pancakes, bacon and coffee. After this I sat outside on the rocking chair and admired the view, whilst reading my book. I did venture into town again, had a coffee, used the wifi to download the paper and then meandered back to the ranch.
Lunch at the ranch was a burger and fries which tasted good. I sat outside and enjoyed the view drinking my coffee. Around 4pm I drove into the national park and left the car at the car park. I decided to go for a trail run and route 5, it was described as the most difficult and it was. It was a very hilly route and necessitated walking at some stages, otherwise I would have fallen over and potentially hurt myself, and there is limited mobile signal.
I reached the top of the hill and it was a good view, I had a phone signal so iMessage some photos to Linda, so she could share the view. The temperature was around 80 degrees, compared to the few degrees back in the UK. I am sure Linda was really happy with me constantly reminding her how hot it is here.
I found a more stable route back to the car, so was able to run on the trail. I covered around 4 miles according to the watch, but I am not sure how accurate it was, and I kept forgetting to restart it after I stopped to take photos.
On Friday was rather overcast when I woke up and there were a few spots of rain. However, it was still warm, I left the ranch after breakfast and enjoyed a leisurely drive towards San Antonio. It was still scenic, although after about forty five minutes I was back in civilisation when I spotted a Starbucks. I stopped and had a coffee. I arrived in San Antonio about midday and left my car at the Best Western Hotel.
I then went for a walk, following the map, and found the famous Alamo. Remember the Alamo' the cry of the Texan Army as they overcame the Mexican Army on March 11 1836. It has only been 5 days earlier that the Mexicans had surround the outpost of the Alamo and overrun it, killing all within the walls. As depicted in the John Wayne films, great leaders like Bowie, Travis and Crockett were killed. The last few survivors had sought sanctuary in the church which became a place of death rather than life. The Alamo was a strategic location within the Republic of Texas, but according to history the right resources were not left there to defend it, although its downfall would be the spur to the defeat of Santa Anna's Mexican army.
It was free entry to have a look around, although most of the old site has been destroyed and only a few bits remain. It was interesting and gave me some illustrations for the next sermon on Isaiah 8. Although the picture of Davy Crockett didn't look anything like John Wayne.
After this I went to the post office as I needed some stamps. I had to go through a metal detector to get to the counter, so take everything off, put through the machine and then put it all back on again, just for a few dollars worth of stamps.
The San Antonio river runs straight through town and there are restaurants and shop that run along it, known as the river walk. I had a nice walk along the banks, watching the people eating and drinking. The temperature had now risen to 82 degrees and I was in my shorts and T shirt, it was hot! I stopped for a steak on the way back and enjoyed the views over the river. There was a sports shop called 'Finishing line' which had a few nice items inside.
I then walked back to the hotel, checked in and sorted my clothes out. I think I will need to do some more washing. The room was rather large and is probably a suite, you could swing not just a cat, but a lion in here, although the lion (or the cat) might not appreciate it. Listening to the news it appears some lions have escaped from Nairobi national park and making their way downtown - could be interesting.
In the evening I went for another walk, but it was still rather warm. I did FaceTime Linda and had a chat, updated her on my travels, was able to show her the room, and of course had a chat with Mara.