A period spent working at the University of Texas in Austin in the autumn of 2009 gave me a chance to get in a three-day tour over the Thanksgiving holiday at the end of November. Central Texas enjoys a beautiful climate in autumn, not unlike late summer in the south of England, although I would not want to be in Texas in summer when, as a friend of mine put it, it is “hot as the hinges of hell”. It was bright and sunny if still a bit chilly when I left Austin at 09.00 on Thanksgiving Day, heading east. A pleasant morning’s ride entirely on tarmac saw me crossing the Colorado River into Bastrop at about 13.00