More Brenham, TX and then on to Canyon Lake, TX

Driving around Lake Somerville, we spotted so many wildflowers.  This patch had those gorgeous, deep red flowers (Wild Phlox) along with the Bluebonnets.

A large patch of Indian Paintbrush.  Even with all the rain, this area is still considered to be in a drought condition.

I guess the tree was too big or too pretty to move, so they just built the road around it.  

  

Downtown Brenham, at the old fire station, they have this steam powered fire pumper.  After the town burnt in the 1880s, the people decided to purchase this fire pumper for $3000 in 1889.  It could pump 600 gallons a minute from any water source.  This steam pumper was used until 1922.

I love the towns who paint murals on the walls of downtown buildings.  This one is so lifelike, that from a distance it looks almost real.
The big rainstorm which moved through the midwest hit on the night before we planned on moving down the road.  We were parked in a grassy lot at the Brenham Elks.  There was 3-4 inches of standing water around my motorhome when I woke up the next morning.  Luckily the area was solid and I had no trouble getting out to the pavement, but I have to say I was a little panicky when I first saw the lake I was parked in.  Driving over to Canyon Lake I saw many side roads which were completely underwater, and many creeks and ponds which had overflowed and turned into raging torrents.  But the storm was moving east and we were driving west, and after about an hour we left the rain behind.

Austin is about 40 miles north of where we were camped.  We made a day trip to visit the capital of Texas.

The famous picture of the surrender of Santa Anna following the Battle of San Jacinto.  I have been to so many historical places in Texas, I feel as if I know Texas history better than any other state.

The original capital building burnt and the current building was built in I believe 1889.  This is the legislative chamber and the desks are original, making them over 100 years old.  The 3 chairs in front are also original chairs, but the chairs the current legislators use are not.

The Driskill Hotel, opened in 1886.  It was built by Col. Jesse Driskill, a cattle king who moved to Austin in 1869.  When it opened at Christmas of 1886, it was the finest hotel in Texas.  It is still a fine hotel today.

Sixth Street, in the downtown area, is considered one of the premier music spots of Austin.  Blocks and blocks of bars and clubs line the streets with live music nightly.  Every type of music is available, jazz, country, rock and punk.   The University of Texas is located just north of the capital, (where 6th street is south of the capital) and Austin City Limits (on PBS) is filmed at the University of Texas.  It is the longest running series on PBS, and some attribute the series to making Austin the music capital that it is. 

We dropped by the Broken Spoke, which is celebrating its 47th Birthday this year.  Several well known artists have performed here, and some say, got their start here, including Willie Nelson.

There is music during the dinner hour in the restaurant area of The Broken Spoke.  The bands which play later in the evening play in the back room on stage in front of a large ballroom for dancing.  We are always going through Austin in the early evening and I have never gone to one of their later dances.  I guess that is something to put on my list for next time.  We didn't stay to long this evening, I've heard better music at jam sessions.  This band was pretty bad.