Work went well last week and I was able to escape small town Texas for lovely Austin to meet up with a good friend from school. We stayed at the Hardin House B & B about 4 block from University of Texas at Austin. It is a private girls' dorm during the year that is converted to a B & B during the summer. It was a great deal. Hardly anyone was there, the breakfast was yummy, and it was an easy walk from UT.
We got in on Friday night before dark just in time to watch the Redwings get defeated by the Penguins and gorge ourselves on wings. The wings were great...the results of the game were not. : / Saturday was our big adventure day. We walked around UT and sweated out at least 5 lbs a piece. After that, we opted for something with a little more air conditioning and hit up the Round Rock Outlet Mall up in Round Rock about 20 miles north of Austin. We all know outlet stores are a girls' best friend! I managed to find a few good items and so did my friend. She managed to snag a cute fleece shell jacket. I know it's crazy to contemplate buying a jacket when it's 100+ degrees outside, but it'll definitely come in handy when we move back up north in the fall. The other highlight of our afternoon was enjoying crepes in Downtown Austin. If you get a chance, definitely try one of the Norweigen crepes down there! It was fantastic! : )
The last part of our day was probably the most exciting. Austin was completely invaded by just about every avid motorcyclist in the state for the Texas Bike Rally. In addition to seeing bikers all over town, while at 6th Street on Saturday night we got a big 'ol taste of Texan biker culture. There were literally hundreds of bikes up and down 6th Street showing off their LED lights, revving their bikes and riding up and down the street. I figure there were three competitions going on that night. 1) Who had the loudest/baddest bike. 2) Who had the hottest chick on the back of their bike. 3) Who had the biggest differential in attractiveness between the balding, overweight biker dude on the bike and his eye candy holding on for dear life on the back. It was quite a sight. We got a good view of the street at the Iron Cactus while enjoying the boiling heat, the Texas-style crab cakes, and some chocolate mousse. Yum!
After dinner we continued to explore some of the 6th Street culture. It was hot, crowded, and super loud! We managed to find a great club that had a see-through floor and an open air roof. The DJ was great as well. Dancing was a good way to work off all that great food! Needless to say, we returned to our B & B in time to enjoy a midnight snack and pass out cold in our beds.
Sunday was devoted mostly to traveling back across Texas, but before leaving we got a chance to hit up the Austin Visitors Center. We managed to find a Texas patch for our good friend, a Father's Day gift for my dad, and a few cheesy postcards that I could send back to family and friends.
Overall, our weekend was a success. It was my first chance to get out of town since I got here so I was very happy to have a change of scenery. Next weekend I'll heading in the other direction to visit another friend from school who has settled far from home as well. It should be a great time! : )
That's about all for now. I'll hopefully be able to snap a few more pictures during next weekend's trip to post on here. Beyond a few hiccups here and there like having to get my brake pads replaced and rotors turned down because of a little warping, all is well here in the south. Can't complain!
More updates to come...
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