Lady Bird Johnson Day - Austin, Texas

Sunday Oct 7
While having breakfast, I reviewed some of the information on nearby towns I read about some weeks ago. I decided the town of Fredericksburg looked interesting. Shelia and I agreed we would leave Austin two days early and head out for Fredericksburg the next day. We will find lodging when we get there. I did not share with her that I had read about The Full Moon Inn because winging it seemed like a good way to go. That worked for me and Tammy  in Oregon last month.  But today! We have declared today Lady Bird Johnson Day . Lady Bird was dedicated to the environment and did much to make the world a more beautiful place.  Decades ago she began an effort to help preserve and restore the natural landscape. Today her Center is one of the country's most credible research institutions for native plants. Van Morrison's voice was in my head...let go the mystery. That is what we did as we entered the gardens where we would leisurely explore for the next few hours.

The weather was unbelievably beautiful and below Austin's normal hot. That  made for a most pleasant outdoor day for this mountain girl.

At 3:00 we had a late lunch.  We seem to find the best food. Rested, we headed toward the city and made arrangements for a sunset bat cruise. (That has to be a separate blog.) Shelia and I had to wait a while to board, so we settled on the patio at the Hyatt with our good friend Cosmo. 

 

First Day in Austin

After that delicious BBQ in San Antonio, Shelia and I headed for Austin.  We checked in to our hotel, unpacked and headed downstairs for a drink and some probing about where to go. Jordan suggested we go to the Continental Club  on Congress Street.  We took a cab and found Doc's where we had a nice dinner on the patio at Doc's, a very dog friendly restaurant.

 

This was fun, but we decided we were too tired for the 10:00 show at the Continental and took a cab back to the hotel. I had been up since 4:00 AM and Shelia since 3:00 AM. (Tammy, we did that in the same time zone. :)  )  Tomorrow will be Lady Byrd Johnson day.

VAN MORRISON WANTS ME TO LET GO THE MYSTERY

Let go into the mystery

Let yourself go

You've got to open up your heart

That's all I know

Trust what I say and do what your told...

You've got to to dance and sing and be alive in the mystery

Let yourself go.

And that is what I am going to

TRIPPING TO AUSTIN AND SAN ANTONIO

GETTING TO AUSTIN

October 5, 2013 9:56 AM
Up again at 4:00 AM to make an early morning flight out of Shenandoah Regional Airport in Weyers Cave, VA.  Leaving I81 to travel a few miles out in the country was a white knuckle experience in the fog.  Thank goodness for that car ahead of me because I think I would have missed the turn onto the dark country road leading to the airport.  Once again I got the complete pat down because of my artificial hip.  A lovely experience that definitely feels like being gropped.  The short flight to DC wasn't long enough to get in a snooze.  The plane goes up, the plane goes down.  Right, Tammy...I don't care what time zone you are in!  (I know Tammy is laughing as she reads this.)  A text from Shelia, who is meeting me in San Antonio, tells me her flight out of Louisville will be late leaving due to weather.  I assure her not to worry because I am not going anywhere without her.  I am now on the plane from DC to San Antonio, about a 3 hour flight.  I did the obligatory study of the SkyMall catalog and actually noted a couple of items I may purchase.  I had no idea they made those.  And now I think I need one. Honestly that catalog is the best place to go to find out what is going on in the world of technology, things that make you feel good or look thinner, wall and yard art...and on and on.  Well, for me.  I was half way through the SkyMall when the flight attendant delivered cranberry juice.  With juice now lining my stomach, I decided it was time for breakfast so I broke out that granola bar I brought for my breakfast. I am not full, but I am no longer starving.  I wonder what I should eat for lunch? Right now I am wondering if I should eat that other granola bar. To take my mind off food, I think I will read for a while. No, not more of the SkyMall.  I downloaded When Mockingbirds Sing, so I am going to read Billy Coffey. I have to do something to take my attention away from the constant parade of people to the bathroom for their morning constitution as I sit in the very last row. Oh my.  Wait!  Let me take a picture of my juice with this ipad since I need to play with the camera feature.......That was entertaining!  I kept recording a video of the cup, but finally figured out how to take a simple photograph.  Although watching three videos of the cup did start me laughing out loud.  Right, Tammy?

Sheila's flight was on time.  We met at Enterprise to pick up the SUV for the week. By now I really need something to eat so we followed the suggestion of the too-cute-to-resist-guy that checked us in at Enterprise and headed for the best BBQ sandwich is San Antonio.  Dang he wasn't kidding. The all-to-cute guy that waited on us also gave me a free taste of their ribs.  I was in heaven as Shelia and I sat in our loaded up SUV and plotted our tip up to Austin. By the way, here is where we found that fabulous BBQ.