Hangin’ out in Austin

above: Notice our new wardrobe, shorts and sandals as opposed to coats and gloves.

 

The minute we entered Texas, our year long holiday from allergies was over. With the exception of the Lil’ Dude, the rest of us became sneezy, sleepy, headachy and wheezy. Welcome back to the South! So, it’s a good thing that the only activity we had planned for in Austin was to hang out.

 

…. even swimsuits, yeah!

The Hippygeek used to live Austin and still has friends there from years past. My stint in Houston many years ago also led to contacts in Austin and the cousins also live there so we were looking forward to a big hang out with the friends week.

 

Amy’s Ice cream with the cousins, mmmmmm good!

 

The Hippygeek’s friend James was gracious enough to let us park our behemoth in his driveway, at Lake Travis, for the week. It turned out to be a wonderful camp spot except for the feral chickens roaming the neighborhood. Two of the roosters would start their wake-up calls at 3:00am (a little early, I would say!) and continue for most of the day. By the end of the week, I started to get used to it. But, despite the racket, it didn’t get our allergy weary bodies out of bed any earlier.

 

The Big Dude tests out a hammock at Whole Earth Provisions.

 

My pictures are limited from the week mostly due to headaches and lethargy but the following are a sample of our activities despite our allergy delirium.

 

 

 

left: Backyard fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

right: The peanut gallery at Cousin Calvin’s baseball game.

 

 

 

 

 

left: Cousin Calvin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

left: Viewing Cousin Sierra’s art at the school art exhibition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

right: A volleyball game with old friends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

right: A visit with friends, Marvin and Josie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Josie, the “crafter”, introduces the Dudes to “Zentangle”.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

left: The drought was quite evident at Lake Travis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

….. the Dudes still made use of the water that was left in the lake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a fun “old home” week for us and a big thanks to James for letting us use use driveway and keeping us well fed with his gourmet cooking! Now it’s time for us to head east, deeper into pollen land, wish us luck!

 

above: A trip to Austin wouldn’t be complete without some music. We met up with friends, Brad and Shay, to see Yonder Mountain String Band at Stubb’s.

 

 

“I think I’ve discovered the secret of life – you just hang around until you get used to it.” Charles M. Schulz