The In-Betweens

So in real time, we are already back in Oregon for the 3rd day, but can we all just agree to pretend that I didn't let this go quite so long unattended? K. Thx.  :D

Our very last morning in Dallas, we packed up and hit Fort Worth again on our way to Austin. Robbye agreed to meet up with us for breakfast since they were officially back from vacation, and we had both been bummed about missing each other beforehand. She took us for breakfast tacos (which I think is a very Texas thing...), and we had a nice visit regaling both our trips and recent adventures. But we never had quite enough time anywhere, so we soon parted ways, filled up the tank, and headed south!

I think we rolled into Austin about early afternoon and headed straight to Sara's place. (Sara and I met in Costa Rica last summer on our study abroad, so this was an awesome reunion!) She met us and helped us unpack for our glorious 2-day stay in her cute casa. By that time we were pretty hungry AND tired, so we walked down to the Co-op for lunch and shortly back to her house to just chill inside while in the heat of the day.

Towards dusk, Sara took us to the UT-Austin campus and gave us a really great tour of the different old buildings and stuff. I was really happy to get to see it all, but I didn't have the guts to tell her how tired my feet really were, so sadly,  I think that distracted me from taking it all in. We did get to see a big fancy library (apparently there are several different libraries scattered across campus), the union, the shops on Guadalupe, a statue of Barbara Jordan (who was really awesome...you should check!) and...the gloriously large and beautiful chemistry building (!) even though we only saw it from the outside.

We headed to dinner and a movie at the Alamo Drafthouse where we saw "Bridesmaids" (the funniest movie I've seen in a looong time), snacked on pizza, and guzzled down water (hydration was VERY key in Texas). It was such a nice night, and seriously...that movie...! But we got back to Sara's eventually, arranged ourselves for sleep, and sleep we did! So much so that when Sara came in to wake us for a morning walk we had agreed to, she decided that if we were THAT passed out, it was worth it to let us just rest.   :)

By the time we did get up and moving, we decided to head to the Whole Foods megastore/headquarters for brunch. That place was super huge, complete with chocolate displays (including a chocolate handlebar mustache on a stick!) and like 6+ food counters. It took us a long time to pick out what we were going to have, but once we did, we took it to the roof-top patio and ate in the quickly-evaporating shade. Once we ate our fill and reloaded our water bottles with ice, we were off to Barton Springs!

It took me awhile to get my head around Barton Springs because it reminded me of a cross between a community pool with the steps, diving board, and lifeguards and popular swim spot on the Molalla River with the slippery rock bottom and the plethora of aquatic plant life (and supposedly fish as well). But it was a chill (crowded!) place with plenty of opportunity to people-watch. :D  Sara and I went for a dip while Aparna went to meet to guys with bongo drums sitting on the ledge above the spring. She was up there my herself by the time we got out, so I went over and pretended that I could keep up with her beats for a while. It was fun though...definitely a unique experience.

Our next adventure was a grand search for food carts! Our timing wasn't great, so of the few we found first, only a couple were already open for the night. But we settled on tacos, and the place had a big hula hoop/sign out front that said "Hula for 5 mins and win a prize"...so we did! Unfortunately, the guy working the stand had no idea where the sign came from or what the prize was supposed to be, so I convinced him to give me a free glass-bottle coke with my food. Aparna followed suit, so we celebrated our winnings over fried avocado tacos!

We then drove up to South Congress to what I imagine is Austin's food cart central, caught sight of Leslie on the way, and ended up walking down to the Congress Bridge to watch Austin's bats...home to the world's largest urban bat colony...as they took off down the river for a night of hunting. Before that, I had no real concept of how many 1.5 million bats IS, but I can now say that I have at least some better idea. :D  It was really cool to see them flow out from under the bridge as the sun set over the city, and they just kept coming and coming!!

After, Sara took us on a sweet downtown driving tour (she is the BEST tour guide!), and we met up with my old roommate, Ish, (and his adorable lady friend) at Austin Java for a nice catch-up chat and tea til about mid-night. ...It was so good to see him agian!...

Ok. More to come later :D
lovelovelove!
-Alia