Camping and bottling

Don't you love how, in the my last entry, I boldly claimed that I was going to start posting on a weekly basis... and then promptly disappeared for about two weeks. My bad!

Actually, I'm blaming summer! Despite the notably lackluster weather, our summer plans have somehow run off the rails, and we've now found ourselves in a situation where we feel like we are playing perpetual catch up. Luckily, a lot of our "obligations" have been fun ones.

For starters, two weekends ago, we made our way out to Lake Kachess in the Cascades for our annual Cancerian Camping Trip with my brother, sister-in-law and about two dozen of our closest friends. Camping with that crew is generally more about grilled meat and warm cheap beer. But, Lake Kachess is still a stunning location.

Travis and our friends look out over Lake Kachees.

Big J plays the guitar... well, until the camp host came by at midnight to tell us to stop singing old Pearljam songs.

In addition to sitting around the campfire, playing cornhole and taking a short hike, we also spent a lot of time just floating on Lake Kachess in our inter tubes. Probably my favorite moment of the weekend was an extend float with Sarah, my brother and another friend where we made our way down the lake from the public park back to our campsite. Floating on a lake, drinking beers and talking to friends is definitely one of life's great pleasures.

Sadly, I didn't get an pictures of us floating on the lake, so here's me sitting in a stump throne.

In addition to it being Shahaf's Bachelor Party, this weekend was also the bottling of the 2007 Ranger Rick Red. As regular reader know, me, Sarah, my dad and several of our family friends have been making our own wine. My dad's college friend, Gary, started making wine years ago, and last year brought Sarah and I into the fold. This year was my dad's turn, and we ended up setting up a barrel in the crawlspace below my parents place.

Bottles drying and preparing to be filled.

Gary fills a bottle from a carboy. To the left of him, you can see the corker.

Since the barrel was a new one, it oaked up faster than usual, so this last weekend we got to empty barrel into bottles.

The barrel... recently emptied.

Another neat thing that happened last week was that we got a package in the mail. A week or so ago, I contacted the Washington State Archive and asked them if they had any photos of our house from "back in the day." As it turns out they did have one on file, from 1950 (the year after it was built), so for a small fee they sent me a copy of it. Here it is...

Isn't it cute! To see it today, click here.

It's interesting how buying a house has made me suddenly and massively fascinated in my neighborhood. I try to chat it up with our neighbors. And find myself reading up on Beacon Hill and Georgetown's histories. And, browsing local blogs. I've lived in a number of Seattle's neighborhoods at this point (The U District, Greenwood, Queen Anne Hill, Capital Hill and Belltown) and while there were things I liked about all of them; I haven't ever felt this compulsion to feel connected to it history.

Maybe its because we own the house. Maybe it's because our trip actual strengthened my attachment to Seattle. Maybe its because I'm getting older. Or, maybe it's because we are having our first child. Whatever the reason, I find myself really intrigued by where we live.

And I think we're framing the picture.

Oh, and speaking of having a baby. Here's Sarah!

(Since I didn't get a post in last week, you get to see a double feature!)

Sarah! Camping at 22 weeks!

Sarah! Back home at week 23! She's definitely grown since I started taking her picture at week 19th!

Yay!

(Complete photos of the Lake Kachess camping trip. Complete photos of the wine bottling.)

Growing season

Since we have started taking weekly pictures tracking Sarah's pregnancy, I've also decided that it would be a good time to dust off Ye Ole Strange and Benevolent, and start posting on it weekly.

I figured, if nothing else, it would provide us with a good forum to record our day to day lives as we prepare for parenthood because, y'know, no ones ever done a blog tracking a pregnancy before. Sort of like how we invented the Travel Blog.

Anyhow, last week was an especially exciting week for us, because not only did we get pictures of Sarah's belly from the outside, but we got pictures of the inside too! This was because it was the week of our first (and possibly only) true ultrasound appointment. Let's take a look at the Tummy Tot™ now!

I'm not sure why he or she looks like they are blowing bubbles. It's probably just a distortion in the picture, but it sort of entertains me.

You can also see a couple more images here. Honestly, before this, I have to admit that ultrasound pictures didn't do much for me. I had a tendancy to fall into the camp of people who either dismissed them as "not looking like anything" or "looking like an alien skull." But, having one of my own child, I can't believe that I love a pixely image as much as I do. It blows my mind.

But, having the pictures was only half the experience. Actually watching the ultrasound and seeing the baby twist and move on the computer screen was unbelievable. And, I think the only thing that kept me from getting choked up and teary eyed right that was chuckling as the technician wiggled the ultrasound wand up and down on Sarah's belly trying to get the baby to open it's fists so that she could get an image of its fingers.

And, speaking of movement, Sarah's now officially feeling the baby move. In fact, if I press my head hard enough to her belly ("hellllooooooooo!!!!!"), I can even few the occasional shift and wiggle. It'll be funny because Sarah will be in middle of telling a story, and suddenly just sort of break off in the middle of a sentence with a quixotic smile on her face. Then, after a pause, "sorry, the baby was moving." Pretty cute.

But, this week wasn't just babies for us. Trav and Meg are in town to see friends and family, and celebrate their two Birthdays. Also, while Sarah was getting a Baby Massage ("No, the baby doesn't get massaged, I'm just getting the massage."), me, Trav and a couple of friends decided to check out the Georgetown Art and Garden Walk.

While I technically live on Beacon Hill, the neighborhood of Georgetown is just a few blocks away at the base of the hill. Georgetown, which originally grew up as a neighborhood for people working at Boeing Field, is now known as a funky, punk rock enclave. One of the few neighborhoods that is still affordable and isn't in the process of being consumed full-scale by multi-use condos. And, we figured that the art walk would be a good way to really explore it.

The Georgetown "Castle." One of Seattle's most notorious haunted houses.

A makeshift alter built at the base of some massive trees in the Castle's backyard.

Probably the most surreal aspect of the walk is that all the gardens you visit are those of private home owners, so you are effectively spending your afternoon wandering through strangers yards and taking pictures. Not surprisingly, the people who had opened their homes to the neighborhood were all friendly and wonderful, and even those who weren't offically part of the walk were friendly... Such as the gentleman who invited us into his backyard to check out his chicken coop.

"Goldie" and three other chickens in their backyard coop.

Seeing the chicken coop was especially interesting because Sarah and I have talked about maybe setting up and urban chicken coop someday. I'm not sure if it is something we will be able to juggle with a baby on the way, and all the other work that needs to be done around the house, but seeing "Goldie" and her friends pecking around their coop, I still think it would be a great experience.

After wandering around a bit, working up an appetite and then filling our stomaches with burgers at Calamity Janes. We ended our walk by going over to a friend's uncle's house who lives in the neighborhood. There we enjoyed a little wine, watched his uncle's band play a little, and rode their vintage '32 Schwinn up and down the street before making our way back home hot and sweaty.

My friend's uncle's Schwinn (and not a bad photo if I do say so myself). Apparently, when they got it, it was still in the box.

Georgetown is actually know for it's bikers. But, this is probably the closest I'll get to being part of that scene.

Now, one last thing....

Sarah. Week 21. Yay!

The rest of our Art and Garden Walk photos.

"I've never been to Mt. St. Helens"

Generally, when I tell people I have never been to Mt. St. Helens, their reactions range from disbelief to pure confusion. I mean, I've lived in Washington state for the entire 32 years of my life, and its not like I'm exactly a home body. Still, while one of my earliest memories is seeing it erupting in the distance -a mushroom cloud of ash rising high above the tree line, on the distant horizon- I've never actually been to the mountain itself.

And, since Sarah's in the process of celebrating her 10th year in Washington, and has also never been, we figured this 4th of July weekend would be the perfect opportunity to finally make the trek. Historically speaking, 4th of July weekend is mine and Sarah's opportunity to head for the hills. Forsaking fireworks and the usual party crowds, our typical evening of the 4th is spent fireside, quietly enjoying the wilderness around us.

So, with the plan of camping at Mt. St. Helens quickly laid out, we hit the road. The drive south on I-5 is about two hours, at which point we stopped to spend our unborn child's college tuition on a tank of gas, and buy ice and fire wood. Unfortunately, loading the wood into the car, I managed to catch my forehead on the trunk which lead to two lessons learned in quick succession:

1) Hitting your head on the trunk hurts like a mofo. And...
2) If kicked in frustration, the side of the car is stronger than my foot.

Not a zit. The bump on my head starts to swell as we head for the Ape Caves.

With a sore forehead and a tank of gas, we drove another 30 minute or so to our first stop: The Ape Caves. After throwing a fit because I momentarily thought I'd left our camera at home, and after renting a gas powered lantern from the rangers station, we descended into the Ape Caves.

The Ape Caves are a giant lave tube just below the surface of the earth. From the entrance "skylight", the cave extends roughly a mile in each direction. Picking the slightly less intensive route, Sarah set off into the cave. Truthfully, it is amazing. Picture a nearly two story tall tunnel extending through the earth, leading gradually down, with eerily shaped walls that almost look like they'd been hollowed out by some giant worm, or maybe the Midgard Serpent. How could I have never been here before? I mean, it's called the "Ape Caves!" That's like if I found out there was a place called the Ninja Ghost Park in downtown Seattle, and had never bothered to check it out.

Obviously, it's difficult to take good photos in a cave, and even harder still to catch the size of it. But, this photos comes about as close to it as we could get.

Sarah warms her hands by the lantern. It was actually quite cold and drafty in the long tunnel.

Even with a number of other explorers passing us each way, illuminated by their own rented lanterns, it was easy to get caught up in the deep, dark, nearly silent atmosphere of the tunnel. And, slowly, as we made our way towards its end, the tunnel closed around us. At the very end, it became so narrow and low that we had to stoop to continue on. Finally, it grew so tiny that Sarah stopped, but I carried on for a short distance, crawling like an Army man on my belly across the smooth, sand covered floor (no crawling on her belly for Sarah). And, finally, it was too small to carry on, so I returned to Sarah. And, together we made our way to the surface.

Back on the road, our plan was to continue the loop around the south and east side of Mt. St. Helens; until we reached our reserved campsite on the north-eat corner of the mountain. There were only a couple of roads listed on the map, and all of them said "Closed During the Winter," ...but it was the 4th of July -the middle of summer- so they had to be open, right?

Wrong.

Apparently, the especially cold Winter, and almost non-existent Spring, had left the roads still covered in snow. And they were still gated closed. The main problem for us was that this left us stuck on the far side of the mountain from our campsite. And, to get to our campsite, we'd have to drive back to I-5, back north, and then out to it from there... a detour of approximately 120 miles. Whee!

Actually, this cued me up for my third opportunity to throw a tantrum and issue such bold statements as: "If we have to drive all the way back to I-5, I'm going to have an emotional breakdown." Sarah, for her part, noted that I seemed to be a better international traveller than local one, and offered to drive.

Arriving at our campsite a little over an hour and a half later, we were cheerfully, greeted by the campsite hosts, Roger and Sharon, who confirmed the situation with the roads, and also noted that the hike we'd planned to make tomorrow was similarly closed. Still, I was in a better mood by then, so I set our making a fire while Sarah whiped up some huge tacos.

Finally! We arrive at our campsite...

...and finally, we get to relax by the fire!

The rest of the evening was a leisurely affair with the two of us relaxing, reading and talking about our hopes and dreams of parenthood.

The next morning, we awoke late, ate a large breakfast and then took a short hike which looped around the campgrounds. Then, we hopped back in the car and set off looking for an adventure.

Our first stop was the Iron Creek Falls, a short distance up the road. But, while they were stunning to look at, they were literally right off the road, and didn't offer us the opportunity to flex our legs were were hoping for.

Continuing up the road, we finally came to another gate with a sign reading "Road Closed." So, with no hike readily presenting itself, we parked our car, jumped the gate and decided to turn the closed road into the hike. This would have seemed fairly rebellious if we didn't soon encounter several families with small children (and smaller dogs) who had apparently all had a similar idea.

"Road Closed"... that was basically the theme of this camping trip.

Still, if was a pleasant enough walk, winding uphill through the trees. Eventually, as we continued upward, a light misty rain began to surround us. And then, finally, we came to the reason for the "road closed" signs: Snow. Large drifts of it still spanned sections of the road. So, there we were, on July 5th, trudging across snowfields through misty forests.

July 5th! The mist settles on the forest as road becomes more and more covered in snow.

One soggy hiker.

While the atmosphere was addictive, it was also getting cold, and since we'd already hiked a little over two miles out, we decided to turn around and head back down to the car. Snacking on buffalo jerky and cherry tomatoes, and covered in beads of cold mist, Sarah and I were both in good spirits and -content- we hopped in our car and made our way back to the campsite for the night.

Back at camp though, Sarah barely had time to make dinner before the skies grew dark and started dumping rain on us. So, since we are "car camping" we decided to just hop in the car and enjoy our meal of wild rice, peas and chicken in there. Finishing our meal and reading for an hour or so, the rain finally tapered off enough to allow us a little time huddled by the fire before climbing into our cozy tent.

The next morning, we awoke with one goal: Actually see Mt. St. Helens. Up until this point, while we'd driven nearly a full circle around the mountain, we'd never actually seen it. The skies had been to cloudy, and the surrounding hills and trees had blocked any view we might have had.

So, packing up camp, it was back into the car. Another hour and half drive brought us into the "blast zone" and to the Johnston Observatory which finally gave us a clear view of... a cloud bank.

"Oh well!" Our stunning view of Mt. St. Helens.

While it was a clear and amazing view of the surrounding devastated countryside -a desolate moonscape still only covered by a light trace of scrubs, grasses and moss- the actual mountain itself was wrapped firmly in a white cloak of clouds. Sarah and I would have felt defeated if it hadn't seemed so appropriate and humorous. So, shaking our heads back and forth, we wandered through the visitor center, watched a documentary about the eruption, and strolled down a path along the ridge before turning to head back to our car.

But, just as we were about to look, we heard shouting. Racing back to the railing, we saw what people were pointing at: The clouds around the mountain seemed to be breaking up and parting. A dim shape could be seen on the right side of the cloud bank and then a tiny sliver of mountainside. And then... and then...

Nothing. The clouds wrapped back around the mountain as quickly as they had begun to part. Let it be said: Mt. St. Helens is the biggest tease ever.

So, Sarah and I got back in our car, and prepared to make the long trip home. Unfortunately, we hadn't refilled our gas tank since I bonked my head two days previous... and had driven about 350 miles since then. So, the arrow on our gas tank was hovering right above the 'E' and we had 50 miles to get back to I-5 and our nearest source of gas.

Luckily, those 50 miles were mostly downhill. So, inventing our own set of rules for driving on a near empty tank ("Coast downhill only!" "Don't hit the breaks going uphill because that's momentum and fuel lost!"); we boldly set out and joyously made it back to I-5 and a gas station.

Slightly less joyous was our trip back north on I-5 which managed to be stop and go traffic for pretty much it's entire length. This scenario only seemed more bleak as we contemplated the fact that highways and freeways across the nation were probably all in a similar situation. Still, well over two hours later, we finally made it home again.

We were tired, happy, and while we could now claim that we'd been to Mt. St. Helens; we still couldn't claim that we'd actually seen Mt. St. Helens. Oh well, maybe in another 32 years.

Oh yeah, and one last thing...

Sarah at 20 weeks!

So cute! So exciting!

(All the photos we took.)

Domestic Adventures

The last time I posted was September 21st, a few weeks after we'd returned to Seattle. While I had intentions of keeping up with some blogging, I've had trouble actually sitting down and doing it. Tyler and I would agree that we should do something about a recent event. But, eventually--after much procrastination--Tyler would say to me, "Do you just want me to write about going to Austin/Meeting up with Greg from Safari/trip anniversaries?" and I would say, "Yes, please." And I'm not sure why. Given the opportunity, I still love to talk about our trip; I've even been re-reading the blog and love reliving the memories that Tyler and I put to the page along the way.

And it's not that we haven't had news. We started househunting in April, looked at about 20 houses in two days, made an offer and got the keys on my 32nd birthday.


The front of our new home on Beacon Hill



Official owners


We've also been on our first hike of the year (if wet):


Tiger Mountain in April, wet but quiet


Visited Santa Monica to see my brother- and sister-in-law:


Meghan, Travis and Tyler in LA with the Hollywood sign, no less


Hosted our friends Silke and Ricardo that we met in India during some of their last days during a yearlong RTW trip:


With Silke and Ricardo in Seattle. We met them during their first week of travel and then again during the last week before heading home


And had our housewarming party:


Tyler, BBQ master



Seeking shade in the "party-port"



The silk lanterns we bought in Vietnam finally get to shine



And we're starting a family, something that travel helped us realize we really did want to do together.



Good news at four weeks!



Week 19 and looking pregnant


Now instead of days filled with sightseeing, travelling from Point A to B and navigating new cultures and cities, we go to work, do yard work, spend too much money at Home Depot, (if you're me, sleep a lot) and generally go about usual daily life. And as much as I've already started thinking about what would be good places to travel to with a baby, I'm pretty satisfied with the domestic adventures we're having right now.

Lost and Found

In two weeks, on April 14th, Sarah and I will have been back home for as long as we were away. Seven months. On one hand, it feels like a lifetime ago, while on the other it's felt like time has raced by since we returned. Cliched, no?

But, while our lives have definitely been more downtempo and domestic since our return to the States, its interesting how the trip keeps popping up in different ways. When we least expect it.

For one thing, its interesting who we've stayed in touch with from our travels. A few weeks ago, a fellow Northwesterner, Greg from Portland came into town (he's the one on the far right in this picture) and we got the chance to hang out with him. He was one of the people we went on our South African safari with, and it was fun bumming around the Ballard Locks, talking about our adventure together and what we'd been up to since then.

Also, we've been in sporatic contact with Silke and Richardo who we met in Leh, and still hope to meet up with when their own round the world tour takes them through Seattle. And, hopefully, they will be only the first of several otehr round the world travellers we met and will later get to show around our hometown.

In addition, it's nice that we've been a positive inspiration for some of our other friends, two of which are now planning their own trip together. We look forward to reading their blog!

We've also had some pleasant surprises recently in terms of finding or recieving things we thought were long gone. For one, we rescued four photos from a damaged memory card that we thought were lost forever. We'd taken some photos of Carnivale in Puno, Peru. But, the next time we'd tried to use the memory card, it came up as unreadable. But, recently, I bought a new tower for my computer -what-do-ya-know- the darned thing was able to read the memory card and retrieve the photos.

Ain't technology grand?! Let's take a look at them!


The streets of Puno, during Carnivale. In the chaos of this photo, you can see one of many roving bands accompanied by traditional dancers. What you can't see is...


...the people spraying foam everywhere. People had spray cans which shot out streams of foam, and were running around shouting and spraying everything that moved. A couple of white tourists, obviously make good targets.


Me on the streets. After dinner, I just had to participate, so I bought a can of foam and joined the melee. Poor Sarah just served as a human shield for me.

Our can of foam. The stuff is probably highly toxic. But, it was also fun. I can't imagine people running around spraying each other with foam in Seattle. So sad.

But, those weren't the only things that showed up that I was convinced were gone for good. We also got out Kashmiri carpets!

As some of you might remember, while we were in Srinagar, Sarah and I decided to buy some carpets. Two large carpets. And, while I woke up the next morning already suffering from buyers remorse, we also had signed an agreement that allowed us to put off paying until we got home. So, we sort of just put the whole episode out of our minds.

But, after returning home and getting resettled, we began recieving emails from the carpet shop and so we began making our payments. And, while I was secretly convinced that we were just giving our money away with each check we mailed to India; we quickly and dutifully paid for our carpets. Then, once we were done paying, the next step was to sit back and wait for them to arrive. And, while we waited, I still thought to myself "well, that was a nice way to give away a silly amount of money." But, y'know what?

They arrived!

Just a couple weeks after making our final payments, my parents recieved to canvas bags on their doorsteps, sewn closed with red wax seals, hand written addresses and countless customs stamps and stickers stuck to them. Crazy. Just the old world charm of these two heavy parcels made the money worth it.

Here's a photo I took of them without a flash. It give you a sense of their warmth.

This second photo is taken from the same position as the first, but with a flash. It gives you a better sense of the detail, and also some of the shine of the silk.

I love our carpets. In fact, whenever I'm feeling grumpy, Sarah can pretty much tell me to lie down on one of them (just unfolding one in our tiny apartment is a feat), and I can feel my mood improve. Nothing beats a good carpet.

So yeah, we might now be seven months away from our trip, but its funny the way it continues to pop up in our lives and inform our actions. Whether it's catching up with friends we made while travelling, giving advice to others who are setting off themselves, finding long lost reminders of our travels or just knowing more about the places my new employer, the Gates Foundation, is trying to help. Even as one memory is lost, another is found.

The stars at night, are big and bright...

Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Deep in the heart of Texas!

OK, so Austin, Texas, might not have the same mystique as, say, Easter Island or McLeod Ganj, but since it's been slightly over a year since we departed on our original journey, I figured that our trip to Austin last weekend would be a good opportunity to dust of Ye Olde Strange & Benevolent and do our first post-RTW travel entry. So, from here on out pretend that the subhead above reads:

"Chronicling Sarah and Tyler's 2007 Round the World Adventure ...and beyond!"

Sarah actually went to the University of Texas in Austin for her undergraduate degree, so for her this was a bit of a homecoming. But, when she had to travel down there last week for business, we decided it would be a good opportunity for me to join her for the weekend, so she could show me her old college town.

This seemed only fair since she's been drug up to Bellingham once or twice since meeting me, so that I can show her to such scenic locales at the Ranch Room and the Beaver.

Anyhow, when my flight got into Austin on Thursday night, it was actually the same night that the Democratic debates were being held there, which just reinforced the idea that you see emblazoned on T-shirts across the city: "Austin - A small island of blue in a sea of red." Futhermore, after securing a rental car and making my way to the the Hyatt where Sarah was staying at, it turned out that the Democratic after-party was being held at that very hotel. So, reunited with Sarah, she led me passed milling, half-drunk Texan Democrats to our room. I was starved from the flight down and not having eaten since before noon, but our mutual fatigue won out and -after a snack pack of cheese and crackers- we crashed into bed.

The view from our room at the Hyatt... yep! That's Austin! Bats apparently fly out from under the bridge on the right, but it wasn't the right time of year to see it.

Then next morning, Sarah had one last business meeting to attend to, so she got up early and headed out, while I wandered around the room, enjoyed the view and pondered lunch. After she got back, we checked out of the Hyatt, hopped into our rental car and were off. First off: Tacos!

El Chilito was a great place to satisfy my hunger with loads of cheap, delicious tacos. Sarah often raves about how Mexican food is just better in Texas, and after three tacos here, I was ready to believe her. I'm not sure if its the most authetic mexican food, but while eating the fresh tortillas and sucking down my giant horchata I was happy.

Sarah sips her horchata at El Chilito. Yum!

(Remind me to never use the phrase "sucking down my giant horchata" again.)

After lunch, Sarah took me on a tour of her old college neighborhoods and the UT campus. Sadly, there is so much development going on there that even Sarah often seemed lost. But, while one of her old dorms was apparently knocked down, she was able to point out one of her old houses, and we spent a good deal of time walking around the campus just soaking in the afternoon.

UT's clock tower, which sadly became imfamous in 1966 when a student barricaded himself inside it and killed 14 people by shooting the with a rifle from the top of it.

Probably the coolest thing about the campus.... the turtle pond!

When you think of of a "turtle pond" (which, admit it, you often do) you're probably thinking of one or two turtles swimming around in a large pond. But, that's not the case here, the pond is literally silly with turtles. And we enjoyed relaxing and watching them clamber over each other trying to find the best sunning spot.

Turtles! (I took, like, ten pictures of the turtles.)

In addition, to the turtles though, we also saw a couple of things of interest, namely The LBJ Presidential Library (the first Presidential Library I've ever seen), a copy of the Guttenburg Bible (one of only six complete copies in the US) and the first photograph. Ever. It's just amazing to see the first photograph that was ever taken. Crazy.

Stuff like that just knocks me over. That, and turtles.

After that, we checked into our new hotel, the Habitat Suites. The Habitat Suites bill themselves as a cutting edge green hotel, and while their heart is in the right place, and they are making a good effort, let's just also say that there was a large painting of a fairy behind the check-in counter. Still, their rooms were downright palatial in comparison to 90% of the places we stayed over the last year, so I wasn't complaining... especially as we accidently treked red paint from their newly painted sidewalks all over the rooms new white carpets. (Sorry Habitat Suites!)

Checked in at our new room, we headed out to meet Sarah's friend, Amy, for dinner and drinks. But, not before stopping at the Waterloo Icehouse for some chips, salsa and beer. With salsa and beer in our guts, we wound our way through downtown marveling at the flocks of black birds that must have been migrating through, and were perched on nearly every flat surface and powerline.

Mysterious black bird filled the skies of Austin during sunset on our way to meet Amy.

After meeting up with Amy, and checking out her new condo she was in the process of moving into, we headed out for, suitably, BBQ. Artz BBQ which several people had recommended to us and wasn't too far from Amy's place. Sadly, I left my camera in our car (we took Amy's) because Artz -like pretty much every place we visited that night- would have made for some great photo opportunities. As far as the food itself went, we all agreed that while the sides left something to be desired, the plentiful meat was both tasty and left us so full it was diffcult to think straight.

After dinner, Amy and Sarah decided it was time I saw Austin's famous nightlife. First off was magaritas at another taco place with outdoor seating (under heat lamps as the night had gotten cold), where we listened to a giant woman sing bluesy rock, and watched big haired women talk to their biker boys.

Then, it was off to what was probably my favorite bar of the evening: The Mean Eyed Cat. The Mean Eyed Cat was a small shack on a dirt lot wedged between the river and a highly trafficed street. It was a Johnny Cash themed bar with spicy wasabi peanuts that cleared our collective sinuses.

Wandering on, we walked a couple blocks down from the Mean Eyed Cat to another bar that seemed to be a restuarant that had grown cancerously from an abandoned boxcar. Inside, elderly Texans danced to a live band while young college students flirted and bummed smokes off each other on the front deck. A surreal scene to say the least.

Finally, we stopped for some late night ice cream at Amy's (no relationship to our guide for the evening), where we watched our server toss scoops of ice cream over his shoulder and catch them in a paper cup. After that, tired, half drunk and still full from our ribs, we called it a night.

The next morning, unsurprisingly, we slept in a bit. Eventually we got up and Sarah drove us out to the edge of the city to check out the view from a bluff next to Austin's 360 Bridge. The giant iron bridge spans a section of the Colorado River, and a short "hike" (Texans use the word liberally to describe anything that involves getting out of the car, I believe) allows you an impressive view of the surrounding area.

Me standing in front of the 360 Bridge just outside of Austin.

Next, we followed a winding road to Mt. Bonnell. "Mountain" is another word that Texans use loosely. I'm not exactly what constitutes a "mountain" in Texas, but as near as I can tell its everything that exceeds the altitude gain of a large speedbump.

Mt. Bonnell towers 776 feet above sea level.

Still, a quick "hike" takes you to several amazing view points of the river, where you can peer down on mindboggling ginormous mansions which appear to almost float on the waters edge. Plus, it also bears mentioning that the road itself is quite scenic.

Below Mt. Bonnell you can see a number of small, rustic bungalows. How quaint!

After that, we grabbed sub sandwiches at Thunderbolt Subs and then headed back to the room to meet up with Sarah's dad, Bob, and stepmom, Dixie, who had come into town. Both sides of Sarah's family live just outside of Dallas, and both were planning on meeting us this weekend, first Bob and Dixie on Saturday afternoon, and then later Sarah's mom, Cindy, and stepdad, Don, that evening.

Meeting up with Bob and Dixie, they suggested that we go out to Pedernales Falls State Park, about 30 miles outside of Austin. Pedernales Falls is a chain of pools connected by shallow, broad falls that rather reminded me of naturally made waterslides... though I personally wouldn't be eager to try sliding down them. While the trail out to falls was pretty much on par with the other "hikes" we'd done that day, scrabbling around the falls and over the dried river bed terrain proved to be a solid workout. Not to mention leaping across a narrow patch of rapids... that looked narrower than it apparently was.

A view of the Pendernales Falls... though falls doesn't seem to be quite the right word for them, "tumbles" maybe.

So, yeah, this narrow stretch is a little wider than it seems. And, it seems wider still when you don't quite make the jump across and nearly topple into them. And it seems EVEN wider still, when you watch your wife almost do the same thing.

A little more sweaty and exausted, we all piled back into the car, and headed back to Austin, the day was getting on, but we still made it back into town with enough time to check out the capital building. Texas' capital building is an enormous and imposing building (even if its, well, pink). Because of it's unique status when it entered the union, there are a number of things that make it unusual. For one, its the only State Capital which is taller than the National Capital. And the only one who's statue of the lady liberty faces away from the national capital.

The Texas State Capital, a massive "sunset red" building made of the local granite.

Inside, we explored the massive halls, experienced the unique echo of the domed center room, and followed a tour group into the rooms where Texas' State Legislature meets. After having wandered its halls and explored the Capitals grounds a bit, we then needed some dinner.

Dinner was more meat... and good meat too. We stopped at a favorite steakhouse where Sarah and I each had excellently prepared steaks, the best I'd had in a long time. After that, Bob and Dixie dropped us off at our hotel, where we met up with Sarah's mom and stepdad.

After running around all day, Sarah and I were more than happy to relax a bit, sip wine and get caught up with Cindy and Don. Eventually, though, Don suggested that we go CD shopping. Don's recently gotten into music collecting, and was eager to check out Austin's CD stores; and I was excited to second his suggestion. Even though I understand the advantages of digital music, there's part of my that still finds flipping through used CD racks sort of meditative and relaxing.

So, an hour or so later, we all emerged from the Waterloo Music Store (right next door to the Waterloo Icehouse) with handfuls of new, used CDs. Then Don noticed the Amy's icecream shop we'd been to the previous night, so we ended the night with another round of ice cream.

The following morning, Sarah and I arose early and made our way over to Cindy and Don's hotel room for a breakfast of eggs, bacon and coffee. Then, we said farewell to Sarah's mom and Don and they headed back to Rockwall, as we set out to get in some last minute sightseeing before heading home.

First off, Sarah took me to the Oasis, a large restaurant perched above Lake Travis. There we had a drink, enjoyed the sun (we had to get it while we could, its still cold and cloudy most of the time here in Seattle), and chatted about how the old Oasis had burnt to the ground and only been recently rebuilt... in stone this time.

The view from the deck of the Oasis. My brother, Travis Hill, said "Hey Ty, you should come visit!" And I got lost and somehow ended up on Lake Travis, in Hill Country. Go figure. (Hey Trav, don't worry, we plan to visit soon!)

After that, we headed to South Congress Street to do some window shopping. When Sarah had lived in Austin before, there apparently wasn't a lot to see and do on South Congress Street, but recently a number of quirky antique shops and boutiques featuring work by local artists have cropped up. Also, the had "Hey Cupcake!" an airstream trailer which sold delicious cupcakes. A tasty way to end our mini-vacation.

When you think of Texas, you think of cupcakes, right? Well you should!

After we headed back to the airport to drop off our car, and catch our flights, Sarah commented on all the things I still needed to see, and how we could have easily spent a week in Austin sightseeing. And, I had to agree. But, isn't that the thing with travel, there is never enough time.

On a final note, I thought I'd mention some of the posts I've made recently over on my "other blog," General Admission, if only because in some ways, they almost feel like they could have been posted here. First off, I did a list of my Top Ten Favorite Cities, which include a number of the places Sarah and I visited on our trip last year. In addition, I've been doing an ongoing project I've dubbed Commuter Cam. As a way to keep myself looking at life with a "Traveller's Eye," I've been occasionally taking my camera with me on my commute to work, and taking pictures of the things I see along the way (and encounraging others to do the same). Again, it might not be the Taj Mahal, but it's been interesting looking at my home city of Seattle through the viewfinder of a camera.

EDIT: You can see all our photo here.