My Van Life: Day 52
Van Life is BACK!
Sunday, October 10, 2021
Austin, TX – Port Lavaca, TX
Van Life is back and it’s like we never even left. While I’m sure you’re slightly confused as to how we magically found ourselves not only in Austin, TX but now in Port Lavaca, TX (wherever the heck that is am I right?!), just know that I may have skipped a few days in the middle. I mean obviously I did. But only because they didn’t technically count. Sure, we drove from Decatur, IL to Austin, TX but we did it in one day (14+ hours) and we didn’t stay in the van overnight at all. We "simply" drove to Austin, checked into an AirBnb and spent the whole weekend there while we attended the Austin City Limits (ACL) Music Festival.
If you’re wondering at all why we stayed in an AirBnb when we have the van, I have one word for you, Coco. But seriously, it’s because of Coco. When we first (roughly) planned out our Van Life adventures a couple months back, we intended on being back on the West Coast for Adam’s sister Celeste’s Bachelorette party back in September where we’d then swing by Sacramento to drop off Coco but as we all know by now Vegas did not happen and thus neither did dropping off Coco with my mom. Therefore we had her with us for ACL and had to think through a back up plan. A dog friendly AirBnb was really the only option. That way we had the ability to leave Coco while we attended the festival where she was comfortable, with room to roam and more importantly air conditioning. Because even though it’s the second week in October, of COURSE it's still 95 degrees in Austin. Can we NOT catch a break??
Anyway, we had an amazing weekend at ACL. A weekend I wish never had to end. It felt SO incredible not only to be back in the city we love, in a house no less, but to be surrounded by people enjoying live music once again. Remember that feeling?! Oh, and not to mention the fashion! I feel most like myself when given the opportunity to dress up and of course that’s really what festivals are all about (in my opinion at least). The music is great but really it’s the fashion for me. LOL.
I’m grateful that Adam surprised me by jumping the gun and buying presale tickets (after significant pestering and hint dropping from me) all those months ago. It was a wonderful way to celebrate and kickstart our dive back into Van Life. It’s really quite a moderate venture back into the choppy waters of Van Life as we’re only planning to be traveling for the next 2.5 weeks or so before heading back home to Sacramento. I think both of us are ready for some semblance of normalcy after traveling since July. That’s a long time! Anyway, we picked up some of our favorite things in Austin this morning – coffee from Summer Moon and smoothies from Smoothie King (a new discovery and favorite of ours) as well as groceries from Trader Joe’s – before driving about 2.5 hours south to Port Lavaca. Adam managed to find a beautiful beach (that’s free!) where we can park and camp for up to 14 days. While we don’t plan on being here that long, it is nice to have the ability to stay somewhere for a longer period of time instead of feeling like we’re constantly moving day after day. It’s been some time since we’ve stayed in the same destination in the Van for more than just one day if you can believe it.
We’re surrounded by at least a dozen or more RVs camped out, enjoying the beautiful scenery and gusty wind right alongside us. It’s still quite warm here (upper 80s) but the wind makes it a lot more bearable. Without it I think we would have immediately taken ourselves to the nearest hotel and checked in. We’re not messing around with uncomfortable heat anymore. We've learned our lesson the hard way. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice...Well, you know the rest. It’s funny because I’ve been checking the weather and it looks like this is really the last week of higher temps (of course). Starting next week we’re finally dipping into the 70s, FINALLY. It’s about time it feels like Fall around here. Isn’t Summer long gone?? Nevertheless, I’m grateful for the wind and the sound of the water at this beach. There’s nothing more soothing or tranquil to me than the sound of waves lapping up against the shore. Mind you they’re battling the random cars driving by blasting their music unnecessarily loud but other than that, it’s nothing but the rockabye of the water. The beach here is made entirely of shells. How incredible is that?! I’ve already started collecting some for our mason jar, to remember this place by, and I even managed to find some sea glass. I’ve only ever seen it in stores, I’ve never found it on a beach on my own. I’m going to scavenge for some more in the morning but for now, I’m going to dive into this new book that’s calling my name before closing my eyes for the night. The first night back sleeping in the Van. After the cardboard box we were sleeping on in the AirBnb the last few nights, I’m oddly excited for this bed. Add that to the list of things I never thought I would say...