We entered Texas from New Mexico at El Paso, actually 2 cities separated by the Rio Grande River. One side is the US city of El Paso and the other side is the Mexican city of Giudad Juarez. Whereas El Paso is modern and quite obviously wealthy, Giudad Juarez is a typical third world city which looked quite depressing and third-world.

Our destination was New Braunfels, a town about 20 miles east of San Antonio on the I35 highway. We had booked a RV parking spot in the Hidden Creek RV Park.

Texas is a big state and it took us almost 2 days to drive from El Paso to New Braunfels, and we were only half way across Texas! The roads are excellent and the scenery & vegetation was quite varied, in fact, we were surprised by the number of hills and mountains we had to pass over.

New Braunfels is, as the name may suggest a town of German origin. Population about 27,000 but quite sprawling and prosperous, judging by all the shops. In downtown New Braunfels there are some interesting old houses which definitely have a German appearance. Every year in November, a sausage festival is held here, thousands of visitors come from all over the US to taste & buy the sausages on sale.

Nearby, about 10 miles away is another German town called Gruene (pronounced Green). This small town is on the Guadeloupe river, the water is a beautiful green colour but as its source is an aquifer, the water is freezing cold. The most popular sport in that area is going down the river in large tubes.

A really good restaurant there is situated in the old Grist Mill, which is a cotton mill. The restaurant is actually called the Grist Mill and serves good Texan food. We enjoyed many meals there.

As one walks around this little town with its many stores and historic buildings one gets the feeling of living in bygone times - it is certainly our favourite small town in Texas. It is rumoured that Willy Nelson still performs at the Dance Hall in the main road. TIP - careful, in heavy rainstorms the Guadeloupe river floods very quickly, so if camping nearby, ensure you are on high ground.

We were often told that we had to experience a Texas BBQ - so on the advise of many friends, we went to Luling, a town about 30 miles east of New Braunfels on the I10 highway. Everyone we spoke with said this was the best BBQ to be had in Texas. When we first entered the restaurant we were a little taken aback by what we saw. Lots of tables without any table clothes, people eating with the hands off, not plates, but pieces of paper. Unbuttered slices of bread and big glasses of ice tea and BBQ sauce sat on each table.

At the far end of the main hall, was a cookhouse, the kitchen, which was totally separated from the rest of the restaurant. In here, one lined up and bought ribs, sirloin and pork sausages by the pound. It was a most unique experience but the food was excellent. The meat was so tender and juicy!

Generally we found the restaurants in Texas served excellent food, my first taste of Catfish was in a restaurant on the S46 road from New Braunfels to Seguin. The blackened Catfish was absolutely fantastic, as were the onion rings. TIP - when in Texas, unless you have a gargantuan appetite, always order small portions.

San Antonio is a picturesque city of just under 1 million inhabitants. The main area of interest is downtown, around the River walk and The Alamo fort. We visited the Riverwalk many times, sampling good food from the many good restaurants on either side of the Riverwalk canals. In February each year the canals are drained and people have mud fights. We were lucky enough to visit the Riverwalk a week before Xmas, all the trees were decorated with lights as were the bridges spanning the canals.

The Alamo represents everything Texas stands for, and is well worth a visit. The audio visual presentation is a must - here you will learn all about the early history of Texas. The wars and its personalities. We found it riveting viewing and most informative.

Austin is the capitol of Texas, a visit to the capitol building is well worth it. From the outside the building is impressive but inside it is even more so. The marble floors, with an inlaid Star of Texas is really neat. We were lucky to be able to go inside the House of Representatives hall and the Senate Chamber, both were impressively appointed.

Austin is a modern city with impressive skyscrapers & good roads, so getting in and out of downtown is not difficult at all. It did not appear dirty and it too, had some really good restaurants.



Visit Texas, you are bound to love the Lone Star State.

Since this trip I have been back to Texas on business a few times, we always love it. In 2004 we visited Denton, Dallas and I hired a car for the weekend and drove down to Galveston. It's a real neat town and we had a great weekend there.