Austin, TX

Since three of the four recommendations for travel destinations were for Austin, TX, I couldn't help but stop by and check it out. I had actually been to Austin once before with Amy (no, not that Amy, the other one) for the South By Southwest music festival. I expected a few bittersweet memories but actually I haven't recognized a single landmark from the previous trip.

Today I went to the Barton Springs pool which is basically a stretch of spring fed river they dam up slightly. The 68 degree, crystal clear water felt wonderful on a hot day, if a bit shocking at first. Toward sunset I went to the Congress Avenue bridge to watch 1.5 million bats pour out from the rafters. It was amazing to see them keep coming and coming.

Tomorrow I plan on stopping at Big Thicket National Preserve at the eastern end of Texas before continuing on toward New Orleans. In New Orleans I'll be meeting up with a surprise third travel companion. Heather recently quit her job and decided a road trip sounded good to her too. She'll be driving separately from North Carolina and we're leaving it open how long we travel in the same direction. Welcome aboard, Heather.

Perhaps I need to come up with some kind of application form for women to fill out if they want to join me for a segment of my road trip. Who knew I had such game?

One last request - I know some of you out there are fascist about grammar but nobody has yet pointed out any problems in my writing. Sometimes I read an article a week later and notice something glaringly wrong. Please send me a note or leave a comment (which I can delete after reading) if you think something should be fixed. Thanks!