Day 31- Austin 47 miles

 Texas must have had some kind of break up last night because her hissy fit was epic! We noticed thunderheads and sheet lightning in the distance and were sitting around a picnic table talking and minding our own business when all of a sudden the temperature dropped about 10° and the wind picked up to about 30 mph. It blew cups and cans off the table and leaves were flying everywhere. We grabbed our stuff and made for our tents just in time for her to hurl rain, thunder, and lightning at us. The rain was short-lived but the wind continued and included gusts up to 50 mph. My tent did an admirable job but there was a fine layer of sand over everything this morning.

And it was cold! 51° as we huddled around the coffee.

The wind finally let up by the time we were packed up and we were on the back roads to Austin by 830. Not much to see on the way – a little yard art and some truly over the top sized homes, narrow winding roads and of course, hills.

Carl, Jack and I rode as a group today and agreed that the PB&J we packed for lunch wouldn’t cut it. We found Sundance Barbecue, really just a roadside shack, and ordered barbecue sandwiches with brisket. Great decision! The owner’s been in business nine years and we could see why. Dee- Lish!

At that point we were only about 10 miles outside of Austin. Traffic picked up but we were able to ride a great bike path across the Colorado river and jumped right into downtown. Austin has fabulous bike lanes that are separated from traffic with poles, making you feel very safe. 

We waited for Carl to pick up his ballot at the post office and saw this REV vehicle with a handler on a scooter. It’s a robotic pizza delivery service! The vehicle looks like a tiny street sweeper. I had to look it up to figure out what was going on.

We’re on our own for dinner and have decided that food truck food is what we have to have. Plus it’s only two blocks away and we don’t have to ride there.I can’t decide if it will be tacos or tortillas or brisket again because it’s all good. 

It was better than good!

We’ll then be relaxing here at the Super 8. It’s already a much better experience than we had in Mesa Arizona. Tomorrow’s a rest day but I hope to explore the city and replace a tire that has a slit in it.