Drive Friendly....It's the Texas Way!

Day#5-Austin, Tx

    What should have been an 8 hour drive from NOLA to Austin turned into a 10 hour drive because of lots o' traffic. This was a rough car day in general because of the delay and because of some tension that had built up between us gals. We had a brief come-to-jesus meeting in which I played the role of Oprah. There were tears, there were ah-ha moments, there were favorite things...well not really that one, but it would have been nice. Once all of our issues were resolved, it was time to enjoy Texas!

     After nearly being crushed into a micro-machine by a few "Texas sized" trucks, flicked off, and honked at, we quickly realized the slogan on the Texas state sign that reads, "Drive Friendly, It's the Texas Way," is more of a strong suggestion than any indication of the way Texas actually is. After we got away from the death trap that is the Texas highway, we arrived at Meredith's friend Tara, her husband John and their 2 kids house where we planned on staying while we were in Austin. Tara and John were such great hosts, we really enjoyed talking with them about the trip and we also really enjoyed that they let us crash with them for an extra night!

We stayed in the finished garage area, which only had outlets on the ceiling, so I made due with what I had and hung my cell phone from the ceiling... I call it resourceful, Allison calls it creepy. Muhaha. 

The next morning we got up at 5:45 am (And most shocking of all, I was the one who woke everyone up-MADNESS I tell you!) to go to Mt. Bonnell, which is the highest point in Austin, to watch the sunrise. After climbing the 100 stairs to the top, we were greeted with a beautiful Austin sunrise, and a really creepy couple standing near us in silence. 

Our next stop was Kerby Lane Cafe to grab some breakfast. Meredith found this place on her Yelp app and it did not disappoint! The food and the atmosphere were excellent. To quote Meredith herself, she said "I shoveled that food in as if I was going to work in the fields."

Next stop was the 10 mile Lady Bird Trail that runs through downtown Austin. We decided to be ultra-touristy and rent bikes to ride around the trail, and in case we didn't look touristy enough, we got baskets on our bikes too. Ballers. (all joking aside though, those baskets were quite handy!) 

Scoop that poop Austin!

The Lady Bird trail was really cool because there was this huge open area right across the bridge from downtown where you could bring your dogs and let them run around off-leash and swim in Lake Austin. Unfortunately, I think the dogs have to be well behaved, so don't think Dallas would be coming here quite yet : ).

      After riding around for a while and working up a sweat, we rode our sweet bikes over to Barton Springs which is a natural spring pool that stays around 68 degrees year round, but it feels MUCH colder. It was the kind of cold that takes your breath away when you hit the water...unless of course you get in downstream of "pees-a-lot" like I did.

I really wish we had a place like this in Raleigh, it was really cool place to go and hang out on nice days in the summer. Can't say I'd have any interest in going there any other time of year. Brrrrr.
Stay tuned for Austin part 2!