Saskia and Richard's RVing Adventures

The first thing we did when we had parked Jet, our 5 th wheel, at the Fredericksburg RV campground, was to walk into town and find a restaurant that served German beer, bratwurst and rouladen.  Richard is fond of wurst, I prefer schnitzel.  But when I saw rouladen on the menu of the Auslander Restaurant and Beergarten, I had to have them.  Rouladen remind me of my mother.  They are the German equivalent to Scottish beef olives, but 100 times better. Both Richard and I have German connections and love the food.  Fredericksburg is as German as the States is going to get, and we had been looking forward to visiting.  It's about an hour's drive from Dripping Springs where we have been living since our arrival in the U.S.  I figured it is about time you had a map! Yes, it might be a little kitsch seeing waitresses in dirndl dresses, and it is definitely a tourist destination with overpriced shops along the main street, but many locals ...

No, I’m not referring to the direction we headed on our first trip with Benny and the Jet. That trip (although it was in that direction) went very successfully, with my pride in my husband being 100% justified. In fact, so spurred on by our successful maiden trip (albeit guided by Lee and Carolyn), we booked another trip as soon as we got back – going solo this time, and I’ll be writing about that soon. What today’s blog is in fact about, is our one day trip to Austin, Texas.  I’ve learned it’s important to put in the name of the state, because there may well be other Austins in other states! This Austin however is the Texas capital and is known as the “the live music capital of the world” because of the number of live music venues in the city.  Actually it seems to me that title should apply to the whole of the state, because every town has a dancehall, with couples of all ages dancing the Texas Two step and some form of jive to live music every weekend. But I digress. ...

I can’t begin to tell you how proud I am of my husband.  Not only did Richard uproot his comfortable life and join me on my wild dream to travel the length and breadth of the USA, he has jumped wholeheartedly into the challenge of learning how to tow our 36 feet 5th wheel trailer, the Jet, which is as long as a doubles tennis court is wide.   This is especially remarkable, because, unlike me, Richard has never experienced camping, nor has he ever towed anything.     In case you haven’t read the other blogs, the Jet is not an RV, like a bus, nor is it a trailer/caravan, which is pulled by a hitch attached to the rear bumper.  We selected a 5th wheel in order to gain improved towing capacity. A fifth-wheel hitch located in the middle of a sturdy pickup bed, can support more weight in that area, and allows around 80% turning capacity to the right or the left, which makes it easier and safer to turn in tight corners. To get a feel for that turning ...