The planning for most of our tip has been based loosely from stops I had identified months ago, including notable parks, cities and sights we thought we would want to see. Although I identified stops, we didn’t take any proactive steps to book campsites. For the most part this has worked out in our favor, allowing us to stay flexible if we want to extend our stays or add a stop. Austin however, challenged this method of travel.
After leaving the Houston area we knew we wanted to visit Austin, but of course hadn’t bothered to set up reservations. About an hour into our trip from League City to Austin I started looking up places to stay. We got a big surprise when the first RV park we called kindly informed us neither they nor any of the other intown parks had space…it being the week of SXSW, arguably one of the biggest music and film events in the country. Not to be deterred I expanded my search outside the city limit and found a park happy to charge us an arm and a leg to stay the weekend.
Even with the city slammed with a mass influx of hipsters, we managed to have a great time exploring as much of the city as we could. Friday night we walked the hike and bike trail that borders the river to view the famous Austin bats take flight and enjoy a free “backstage” concert with one of the SXSW bands. Saturday, we rose early to hit up the downtown farmers market for coffee and fresh local produce. Then it was off to Ladybird Lake, a portion of the Colorado River that runs through the heart of Austin and is a churning sea of paddle boarders and kayakers come the weekend.
We paddled our canoe down to Barton Springs, an in town oasis with year round 70 degree waters, where we enjoyed frolicking in the water with the rest of the tourists, UT students, and Austin natives. The kids and I took the Zilker Park train around the park before paddling back for an afternoon beer on a patio overlooking the river.
All in all not a bad way to spend 48 hours in Austin, not even SXSW could stop the Silvers.
hihosilvers 