Day 120: Austin,TX to Jennings, LA

We got almost no steps today but covered many miles. Our first stop in Brenham, Texas was to visit the Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory. We toured the visitors centre and observation deck and asked the guide about a million questions about the ice cream production process. We saw the flavouring vats, the freezing containers, where and how candy is added to the ice cream and all the packaging. Today they were making chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and rainbow sherbet. Yum! The tasting parlour was awesome too. There were sixteen flavours to choose from for $1 per scoop. Cheapest ice cream around! We each tried two flavours (as well as taste testing each others’ choices), except Ian who was done after a single scoop. His tummy is just not built for ice cream. This was the boys’ favourite activity in recent memory. We all agreed that the ice cream was incredibly good. Double yum!

With tummies full of ice cream, we drove. We passed by Houston (hello…goodbye), lots and lots of oil refineries, and eventually Port Arthur to arrive at the Gulf of Mexico.

Houston.

A bayou with shocking green algae.

The gulf!

Upon entering Louisiana we learned that our plan to cross on the Cameron Ferry was not going to work. The ferry had stopped running 45 minutes prior to our arrival at the port due to unforeseen “mechanical issues”. We pivoted, heading back through Holly Beach to check out all the cool summer houses on stilts. We stopped at a roadside shrimp shack hoping to score some tasty dinner but the owner was not on site so that didn’t work out either. We cooked up supper at a picnic table at the Sabine National Wildlife Refuge. We didn’t see any wildlife here but did see three alligators in the creeks running alongside the road during our travels. Just their eyes and sometimes snouts were visible above the surface of the water and they slowly sank down below the surface once they realized that they’d been spotted.

Boo for a closed ferry.

Closed shrimp stand despite all the open signs. Double boo.

Our last stop of the day was at In-Laws Cajun Specialities to pick up boudin and cracklins. Ian has been dying to try boudin, which is a meat and rice filled sausage. We picked up packages of regular (pork) and crawfish boudin to try out. We sampled a prepared boudin ball which was delicious (salty, spicy and yummy) and received an enthusiastic thumbs up from the boys.

Our sleeping spot tonight is in the company of alligators at the Bayou Nezpique Boat Ramp near Jennings, Louisiana. Our plan is to stay inside and leave all the outside for the gators. No gator snuggles for us!

Day 119: San Antonio to Austin, TX

 We started our day with a drive to New Braunfels, Texas, the birthplace of the wire fence. An odd claim to fame but there it is. We are well acquainted with wire fences on our farm back home and so, are grateful for this invention.

New Braunfels is also home to the Comal River, the shortest navigable river in the USA. Today we did the longest float down the shortest navigable river - another unusual claim to fame. On this real life lazy river, we floated downstream for close to three hours. We saw birds, ducks, turtles and fish - really up close! It was amazing to us that the river water, which flowed right through the heart of the city, was clean enough to float in and was clear enough to see the bottom. We even saw people swimming laps right in the river. Imagine doing that in the Rideau Canal - ew!

Some sections of the river were connected to each other via a water chute. We navigated the chutes successfully but I capsized at the bottom of the largest one, sadly losing my left flip flop to the river. I am now sporting a mismatched pair since I broke the right flip flop from a different pair at Arches. At least I still have two functional shoes in my possession despite them being different colours.

There were huge beautiful houses lining the river built up on gigantic stilts.

The hot sun and lazy river wiped us out. After lunch the boys were exhausted. Car nap!

After a rejuvenating afternoon snooze, we headed out to explore the Hamilton Pool Preserve in Texas Hill Country. This was a short hike (though it required a timed entry reservation) to a grotto with a waterfall. Unfortunately, the waterfall was nonexistent during our visit - wrong time of year, perhaps. However the pool was the most fascinating shade of vibrant mossy green. We also got to see a water moccasin (poisonous snake) and big catfish! We didn’t swim since we were all watered out from our long tube ride earlier but we had a snack on the rocky beach before heading back to the truck.

Coiled up water snake. Ew!

Catfish swimming around.

Before heading out to supper, we stopped in to visit Jester King Brewery. This company used to be a driving force in the sour beer industry about a decade ago and so was on Ian’s radar. We stopped in for some beer samples while the kids enjoyed home brewed lemonade and hibiscus mint iced tea. It was a cool place with major farm vibes and a relaxed atmosphere.

Sadly we visited on the wrong day/time for goat tours. That would have been right up my alley.

We had the opportunity to experience authentic Texas BBQ for supper with a colleague of Ian’s from work, Andrew and his family. We feasted on brisket, smoked sausage and all the sides with spicy BBQ sauce. It was delicious and the company fantastic. Yum! It was nice to share stories and food with friends.

We are camped out at Bastrop State Park tonight with electricity, water and showers! Life is good and it has been a wonderful day.