Ahhhhustin

Ahhhh, how I love Austin! And what's not to love with great food, music, swimming holes and bats? Located about two-and-a-half hours away, you'd think we'd be regular visitors to Austin; however, this is only my third trip to Texas' Capitol. If you look back, you'll see that the very first blog entry on Jeneric Travels, written in 2007, is also about Austin. Hard to believe that it's been six years since we've been back!

The impetus for this trip was a special on PBS about Texas road trips. We learned about a swimming hole in Dripping Springs that looked like paradise. According to the special, after a day of swimming at Hamilton Pool Nature Preserve, a scrumptious BBQ could be had about 20 minutes away. I was smitten, and added this adventure to my ever-growing list, and, now, here we are!

Food
On our first night, We had a delicious dinner at Z'tejas with friends Steve, Karen and their two beautiful children. It was great to hang with them, as we haven't been together since before Christmas. Steve works at Whole Foods and gave us a very educational tour of the store after dinner. We enjoyed sampling gelatos, and in true Eric-fashion, he ended up with bacon-flavored. I had pomegranate-raspberry.


Wanting a fairly quick breakfast before heading to Dripping Springs the next morning, we found 24 Diner and really liked it! Eric's litmus test is a restaurant's eggs benedict. This version was on a homemade biscuit, and included regional ingredients such as okra. He liked it. Although it might sound boring, I thoroughly enjoyed my small bowl of oatmeal with brown sugar and apple chutney. I was saving room for BBQ!

After enjoying an afternoon of swimming (see below) we ventured to Salt Lick BBQ in Driftwood, TX. The food was good, but we were so full that we weren't able to eat much more on the rest of our trip!

Swimming holes
In the shade of a cave, we escaped the triple-digit temperature, and enjoyed swimming in the cool water of Hamilton Pool. While wading, we ran into another couple from Houston, who voiced what we had been wondering ourselves, "Why don't we have anything like this in Houston?" (Probably because of the gators!) It is beautiful, fun and relaxing here!

Bats
Can't get enough of the Congress Street Bridge and its mass exodus of 1.5 million Mexican free-tail bats each dusk.

People lined up on the Congress Street bridge and the hill below, watching the bats.

That black swarm in the middle of the picture is a group of bats!!!

After bat-watching, we met up with one of our former coworkers, Kelly, and enjoyed a little of Austin's nightlife. It was fun to catch up with Kelly, and a nice end to a great day!

We had a fabulous time in Austin and can't wait to go again!

Location:Austin, Texas

Views from the Pacific Coast Highway

Bixby Bridge, the iconic Big Sur picture:

More pics from Big Sur:

Elephant Seals, just south of Hearst Castle:

Moro Bay:

The spot in Pismo Beach where my brother Dan and Kaylynn got engaged. (The tide was out when he proposed):

Solvang, the amazing little Danish town:

Stopping for the evening in Carpinteria. Thai restaurant had an hour+ wait for a table, so we got our food to go and ate at the beach for sunset.

Bay Area Bittersweet

Coming back to the Bay Area always brings a mix of emotions. It's reconnecting with great friends and visiting old haunts. But there's never enough time to see all of the people I miss dearly or go to every favorite spot. It's seeing what's changed, how areas have developed (Lake Merritt - wow!!) It's a welcomed time, but it's also a reminder of a life I moved from. Spending the little bit of time that I can with a few of my friends is so much fun, when we see each other, it's like no time has passed at all. But then it's time to leave again, and the impact of how much I miss these people and places hits hard. I've loved celebrating my eighth wedding anniversary with Eric in this special place with the friends we were able to see. To all of our friends that we missed, we hope to catch up with you next time.

At the Ferry Terminal, SF with Kachina

Lunch with Sarah, overlooking SF Bay

Long walk along the waterfront to get a sundae at Ghirardelli Square. A blanket of fog shrouds most of the Golden Gate Bridge.

More fog at Alcatraz.

Anniversary lunch on Lake Merritt

A big thank you to Mia and Cara for breakfast at La Note, and to Melissa and Alex for their hospitality and all the laughs playing Taboo.

Pictures of the Oregon Coast

Still only halfway down the coast at 6pm, as we keep stopping to enjoy the views.

Cannon Beach

Beautiful lookout

Tillamook cheese factory with Disney-sized crowds

Stopped and watched grey whales

No shortage of beauty!

Catching Up (Jenny)

Taking a break from our adventures to do some much-needed laundry. This gives me an opportunity to blog about the last few days....

Last day in Friday Harbor, finally found those orcas!

I know these pics are ridiculously small, but I was using a cell-phone camera. Regular camera kept focusing on lady's hair in front of me. I spent most of the time just enjoying the experience and not worrying about pics. The best part was watching a mama orca and her one-year old. She would slap the water with her tail when she wanted her baby to come.

Back to Seattle for our "Amazing Race training session". The weather was so nice, we decided to walk the one mile to the train station, instead of taking a cab, up a very steep hill. With 40+ pounds of luggage. This would have been ok, except I was in a turtleneck sweater (from the ferry ride) and overheated to the point of having to dig through my suit case for a t-shirt and change right on the street! After much grumbling on my part, and laughing on Eric's, we made it to the train station and ultimately to our hotel. Total trip time from the waterfront to the hotel, 3 hours. I think we would have been eliminated from the show.

Next, we were off for a tour of K and B farms where we sampled off-the-vine blueberries and learned the intricacies of battling birds, insects, and mold while growing fruit.

Proprietors Kevin and Bryce, love these guys!

From K and B, we took a long drive to Northwest Trek Wildlife Park:

We saw lots of great wildlife!

We finally made it to Portland, and this was our introduction to the city:

Also enjoyed some fabulous donuts:

Today we had breakfast with friends Tiffani, Guillermo and their family, and then went off on our own for a little hiking in the rain:

Gorging on the Columbia River Gorge.
Including gratuitous waterfall shots:

And magical foresty areas

While these experiences and sites have been incredible and amazing beyond words, by far, the best part has been time with friends!

We loved our time with Bryce, Kevin and Kevin's mom. How wonderful it is to reconnect after 20+ years!

And my dear friend, Tiffani and her beautiful family! I actually cried when we left this morning, because I hadn't realized just how much I miss you! So thankful we've been friends all these years! Love you guys!