Texas...blah

Okay so back to Texas. The first stop in Texas was in Fort Worth to see Troy and Taryn. The sights of the city were not the intended focal point of the stop. She has a city hall that was in Walker Texas Ranger, some stockyards, a cool place to get beer and a surprisingly good vegetarian restaurant called the Spiral Diner, but none of these were the main attraction. This part of the trip was for me. I got to see my best friend. I have a lot of thoughts of moving to Boulder, but hanging out with Troy and Taryn often just makes me want to move into their house. I mean, their tv is huge! I love you guys!

On to Austin…There was a lot of hype surrounding Austin before getting there. Everyone talks about how cool it is, the music scene, the vegetarian options, the river, the capital, blah blah blah. We got to see a lot of that and hung out with good friends, some mine, some Fred’s, but overall I was underwhelmed.

The first thing we saw was a Round Rock Express (AAA Astros) baseball game. The stadium was one of the finest minor league parks I’ve been to. Nolan Ryan and some other guys invested a whole lot of money in the team and things seem to be working out real well. Speaking of Nolan Ryan, it was Nolan Ryan Statue night so we got the ever so cool free figurine to put on display when we get home. Good game. They won with a walk-off homer.

Next up in Austin were the restaurants. We went to some good places with a lot of veggie options and even found one that was all veggie, but overall, I would say Athens has them beat. I mean how do you beat The Grit? That being said, the eating was good…and I may just be out of money now. One of the things that was bugging me about Austin was how spread out everything was. I feel like we drove all over the place (though that may be due to a lack of free parking). I must be a small city kind of guy.

Next up. The music scene. Though we weren’t there for Austin City Limits or South by Southwest, we were still able to see a great show at Stubb’s BBQ. We ate there and stayed for the Grand Archives show. We lucked out with a table looking over the relatively small stage and caught the surprisingly good opening act Sera Cahoone as well. Whistling, harmonica, steel guitar, and harmonizing is a great formula for a band. I highly recommend it.

Oh and Houston…baseball game was okay, but when they offer a free t-shirt, they should really tell you before hand if there is only going to be one size (XL). That way those waiting around for almost an hour won’t be so disappointed. I must have been in the minority though cuz almost everyone I saw in Houston probably wore an XL or larger. We stayed with our aunt and uncle. We had two excellent (free) meals, which is no doubt a luxury as I am out of money. More of that should be coming in Shreveport.

So that was Texas. This post sure hasn’t been insanely detailed like some others, but we must hit the road and get out of this freakin state. The G-rents are the next stop, which will mean lots of Blue Bell ice cream. Hooray. I miss you Chester.