You might want to check you maps. Remember Texas is a big state, and the maps are smaller to fit them to a page.
The Cabelas is in Buda, on the outskirts of Austin, not in San Antonio. While it is not a far drive (20 miles between the outlets and Cabelas), if the women are planning on going to the outlet malls (yes there are more than one, all connected). The ones generally referred to are in San Marcos,#1 tourist attraction in Texas, by volume of people visiting, which is 50 miles from SA, but on the same interstate. Don't waste your time on the SA or New Braunfels outlets, they are a poor substitute. So you might be waiting a long time for them to come back, and then you would have to retrace your path to get to SA. I would suggest that you all visit Cabelas, then all go to the outlet malls, then drive to San Antonio if you want to see the river walk, Alamo, etc. Otherwise you will probably spend 1 hour as they drive back and forth from the outlets, plus what ever time they spend in the stores, so you could be stuck for half a day there, not bad, they do have a restaurant. If those are the things you must see. From Waco, you are talking about a full day, with lots of driving, at least 400 miles, with traffic close to 9 hours driving total, if lucky. You can get stuck in Austin traffic, and creep through town even in the middle of the day. But the good news, is that the traffic speeds are probably a little faster than you are used to when you get out of town.
You will probably have better luck at some of the Austin gun shops for AR stuff, as you will have to pass through that town. I don't remember much on I-35 between Austin and San Antonio that would suit your interest, and I have looked.
You might find some interesting stuff around Ft. Hood, and in the pawn shops and surplus stores around Killeen, only 60 miles from Waco. Find the places that cater to the troopers. Remember a lot of combat vets go through there, and they sometimes sell stuff for beer money that has been brought back from foreign lands. Plus they have the 1st Cav. museum, and I think the 4th infantry division has it's own museum also.
