Saturday 21st January – Circuit of the Americas

Today was due to be just the drive towards Austin and, if we had time, to pop into the information office at the circuit to find out opening times for a visit tomorrow.  Yesterday must have tired us both out as we had no energy this morning.  So, by the time we’d topped up with propane and hit the road it was nearly noon!

We broke up the three-hour drive with a gas and lunch stop.  It was a lovely warm and sunny day.  This made Austin a very popular choice for everyone, as we discovered when we tried to book a campsite!  Everywhere was either full or $45 or more…. Something would turn up.

The Austin skyline

So we drove straight to the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) where we were greeted by a very cheery Texan called Gibb who suggested that we took the tour there and then due to a weather warning for Sunday.  We warned him that we didn’t want to rush the tour but this was not a problem.  In fact we were the only two people there so we got a private tour with our guide, Maria, who was also thankfully in no rush whatsoever.  The other positive for today was that the track was not ‘hot’.  Apparently that means there were no cars using it, which meant that we got to do a circuit of the entire race track….. in a minibus

View of the start line and pits with the main grandstand on the left

View from the grandstand by the starting grid looking over towards the pits

Si at the start/finish line

A couple of shots of the viewing tower

Having missed the opportunity to make it here for the F1 in October as originally planned it was nice to see a smile on Simon’s face as we appreciated getting our behind the scenes tour.  You are probably aware that COTA is the only track in the USA licensed to hold Formula 1 races and it was custom designed and built for the purpose only 5 years ago.  What you can’t appreciate on television is how dynamic the changes in elevation are on the track.  This is all natural, built on the existing contours of the land here to the South-West of Austin.  In addition to the track we saw the pits, the paddock and all of the grandstands but sadly didn’t get to ascend the viewing tower as it was closed for lift repairs and Maria refused to do the 400 and something steps to the top! Lazy… Instead of an hours tour it was over an hour and a half so we were happy we’d got our money’s worth… and some.  We’d tried dropping hints as we passed lots of empty RV sites that we didn’t have anywhere to stay yet tonight.  It didn’t work because neither Gibb nor Maria knew who oversaw those kinds of things.  However, whilst we were out on our elongated tour Gibb had been ringing around RV sites for us, bless him.  At the end of our tour we were overwhelmed with suggestions for campsites and good live music bars in down-town Austin.  

It was gone 5pm by the time we drove into Austin and, as weatherman Gibb had prophesised, the sky had turned ominous-looking!   

The view up sixth street

The plan was to head to 6^th Street, the live music capital, have a nose around for potential parking/overnighting locations nearby and head out for a couple of drinks.  Sixth Street delivered. There was live music aplenty.  Parking on the other hand was in shortage, at least until after 7pm.   

We searched for the nearest Walmart considering parking there overnight as an option that we hadn’t resorted to thus far.  We have spent so much money there this trip they cannot argue – they OWE us! Only 10 minutes away was one of our favourite stores.  It was on a busy and noisy city junction and rammed with people.  We parked up.  I was getting hangry (hungry + angry for those not in the know) so dinner was a priority, for both of us!  Over microwave hot-pockets, instant mash and veg (for me) we both admitted that we were feeling exhausted and maybe wouldn’t be glowing company for each other on a night out.  Plus, here we were three days into the financial week and already over-budget – the sensible option was to pass.  (We’d done some awesome stuff though!)

This Walmart was not an option – too noisy.  Next choice – a State Park very close to the City Centre.  We arrived there to find a ‘sorry, no vacancies, all sites full’ sign outside.  Plan E?! A rest area shown on the map on Interstate 35.  Often they have overnight security and we’d done that once before.  I don’t think we missed it as I drove down the highway, so that had obviously been closed!  Off at the next junction, we were nearly half-way to San Antonio by now, wasting our valuable fuel and both getting fed up.  We identified another Walmart and this won.  There was another RV in the car park, good sign, and it wasn’t next to a main road or any bars/clubs etc.  We chose a spot near the back of the car park, locked up and sat down both nearly ready to collapse at only 830pm!

Having been so tired, imagine our frustrations having wound down, when the wind suddenly got horrendous.  We’d been rocked about by gusts before in Memphis, we knew Harvey could take it but it isn’t very relaxing with the howling wind bellowing about your RV causing the suspension to bend this way and that.  We looked out of the window.  The flags at a nearby car lot were being thrown about as were the lampposts! Luckily we had parked away from any trees or similar so we weren’t in danger of having something land on us, but we appeared to have parked side-on to the worst of the wind which was taking its toll on Harvey.  We persevered, having little other choice.

Almost drifting off, about half past midnight, the gales took things up a notch.  The noise and the violent shaking of the RV was worse than earlier and I was wide awake.  We agreed that, although it was courtesy to park as far away from Walmart as possible, we needed to move and seek some shelter.  A good decision, as when we reached the front seats and set off we found that one of the lanes of the carpark had the metal frame of a trolley park on it. It had clearly been blown there by the gales!  We went to the right side of the building where their auto garage department was and snuck into spaces next to the building.  It was still blustery but the difference was immediate and we were glad we’d bothered to move.  Now wide awake, I researched the storms on the internet (we’d moved somewhere safer AND could now steal Walmart’s Wi-Fi - result!).  The winds we were experiencing were nothing compared to those hitting the deep south we’d only left a week or so ago.  Four people had been killed today in Mississippi by tornadoes and a state of emergency had been declared for almost the entire south-east of America, all the way over to Florida.  Grateful we’d missed the worst of the weather and thinking of people living in RVs in those areas, we eventually managed to drop off to sleep.