Houston to Austin
162 miles
We woke up early on Saturday morning so we could get to Austin around lunch time. I was so beyond excited to get to visit with my family in Austin.
My aunt, uncle and cousins live in Austin. Alex and I stayed with my cousin Stephanie, her husband John and their son Brock, who happens to be one of the cutest little kids ever, as a matter of fact.
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| John, Steph, Brock, me and Alex |
As soon as we got there, Steph and John took us downtown for some delicious pizza (my kryptonite) and we strolled along south Congress street, going into some of the coolest shops I've ever wandered into. We visited a great costume shop- not one of those party stores that has pre-packaged Halloween costumes for $100, but a shop with character costumes, period costumes, wigs and any accessory you could imagine. We browsed antiques, went into a candy store, and of course, tried on some cow boy boots and hats.
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| I think I could totally be cow girl Jessica |
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Alex and I loved Austin. It was interesting, artsy and had a ton of green space! After shopping, we hopped back in the car, and Steph and John took us to Zilker park, a really cool park in Austin with a damned up river for swimming, walking trails, and the best part of all, the Zilker Zephyr.
The Zilker Zephyr is a little train that takes you on a ride through the park. It's a fun, relaxing way to see the park, and my cousin Brock loves trains! Win Win!
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| Alex, Brock and I on the train |
A cute note about Brock: He loves all sorts of trains. One of his favorite are the steam-engine trains. He first saw them in the Polar Express (I don't remember if he watched the movie or was being read the book) and has associated them with Santa. As such, he refers to them as the Ho-Ho Train.
I didn't get the back story until later, so the first time Alex and I heard Brock ask to ride the Ho-Ho Train, we were a little confused!
Brock also refers to everyone as either a mommy, a daddy, or a baby. As in, instead of saying, "what's that lady doing" he'll say "what's that mommy doing" because everyone must be someone's mommy or daddy, right? He called Alex and I "the other mommy and daddy." He calls his fingers diddily dees, so when he wanted me to hold his hand, he would say, "I want the other mommy to hold my diddily dees." Cutest. Sentence. EVER.
Steph chauffeured us around for the rest of the day, giving us a tour of downtown Austin and taking us to visit my cousin Jason. Jason was bar tending at this really cool bar in Austin and hooked Alex and I up with a delicious (and strong!) drink. It was awesome.
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| Alex and I outside of my cousins place. As you can see, I was really impressed by his garden! |
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That evening, we met up with my aunt and uncle to go out to dinner at this place called the Oasis. This is actually the restaurant where my Stephanie and John had their rehearsal dinner, and it's views are stunning. The restaurant sits high up on a hill and overlooks a gorgeous lake. We enjoyed a beautiful sunset (and a big margarita) and had such a great night catching up. The day was over all too soon and Alex and I had to hit the hay so we could wake up and make the long drive from Austin to Las Cruces, New Mexico the next day.
Next Up: Murder in Las Cruces! Alex, Andy and I dine a haunted room where a double murder had taken place!
