Hasta la vista, Austin

Well, I still don’t know for sure if Texas is considered the south, the Midwest or the southwest. Everywhere we went, we asked people and got varying opinions on the subject. In northern Texas, people were sure it was the Midwest…well, maybe the West. In Austin we got votes from the locals for the West, Southwest, the Midwest—and just Texas (Texans are very proud and don’t like to be lumped in with other folks). In Galveston, folks were adamant that we were in the South. Perhaps it’s a regional thing and Texas is, indeed Mid-Southwest, West and South all thrown into one.

My friend, Susan Heidke called as we were making our way along Highway 71 about half way between Houston and Austin. Susan, who’s from Austin, had been reading our blog. It made her homesick for the Texas Hill country, ice tea and BBQ. She gave us some great recommendations for food and shopping. She also asked if we made it to Lake Travis and the Oasis for Amber’s birthday. We did—and I totally got caught up in the LBJ library and forgot to talk about what a fun experience it was.

Just below the Oasis is a turn off for Hippie Haven, a beach along the lake that in recent years has become a swimsuit optional beach. I think this area was a high school hang out for Susan (prior to the swimsuit optional designation). Maybe she’ll comment and fill us in. : )

Our last couple of days in Austin have been spent exploring some more of the eateries and shops along South Congress, the open air artisan market near the UT campus on Guadalupe, and a few shops along West Sixth. We ate blackened catfish enchiladas at Z-Tejas on West Sixth. Excellent! Thank you Susan, for the recommendation.

Allen’s Boots is an honest-to-goodness western boot and clothing store. Peggy was on the hunt for a pair of Ariat boots to replace her current pair. Hers aren’t western boots, though, so she didn’t find exactly what she was looking for. I saw lots of cool boots that I’d have worn in a heartbeat if I lived in Austin. Rosemary said the most expensive pair she saw was $1,000. I missed those, but no doubt they’d have been on my top 10 list. Marc had a great pair of Justin boots that I bought him a few years back. He’s been to the boot stores in Austin, and as I wandered through this particular store, I couldn’t help but think of him doing the same. Damn. I would have liked to hear his commentary on their impressive display of boots. Peggy and Rosemary both missed one of the sales women. She was dressed in a very short white cotton dress with a full ruffled skirt, and a pair of riding boots with a little dyed leather turquoise trim. Earlier Rosemary and I had been debating whether one could wear riding boots with crop pants and still be considered fashionable. I’m sure you know what I said. But then I saw this young woman and decided that you could probably wear whatever you want and call it good!

Last night Peggy hung out at the hotel while Rosemary and I drove out to Georgetown to see Richard, Amber and Arleen again. Rich is quite an artisan. He’s a journeyman gunsmith and loves making custom pieces for people. It’s quite an art…and I must say, one I know very little about. I understand it more now after he showed me many pieces that he’s made, how they fit together, what they’re used for (competition, police forces). It’s so different than anything in my life. It’s good to stretch my brain.

For those of you who know me well, you know I am less than fond of snakes. Turns out that Amber has 2 ball boa constrictors. Yuck. She says they get about 3 feet long only, and they’re very docile. Yuck. Rosemary held one. I can barely look at them without having nightmares. Yuck. She used to have a monitor. I could handle that…but not the snakes. Yuck. Did I mention that I am not fond of snakes?

Arleen just bought a new computer so Rich and I set up her virus scanner, showed her the blog, and played around with the new Windows Vista.

We put about 2300 miles on our rental car, so even though we flew in and out of Austin, we got in some road miles! I’m not quite done, though.

And now we are at cruising altitude somewhere over Colorado I imagine. We got up around 5:30 after going to bed somewhere around 12:30. I am happy to be heading home to think about it all. I miss my kitties. We’ve got pictures, a little video, and lots of stories and impressions to weave together. I think we’ll have to go back before we finish our Marcumentory project.

Tuesday morning, dark and early, I board a plane for Salt Lake for the annual international woodturning symposium. Salt Lake City was Marc’s last road trip, so I’ll check out a few of the places clubs Hank Williams III and JB Beverly and the Wayward Drifters played then. Stay tuned . . .