Texas

My husband was blessed with a sharp mind & amazing ability to think outside the box. I call him "Boyscout Extraordinaire" bc he's resourceful & handy ---- can fix most anything that's broken. Somewhere along the line quite early on he figured out that hard work, dependability, determination & common sense were the keys to his success - and by the grace of God, he's used those keys along with his God given abilities to open doors to exciting opportunities & experiences that we've shared over the years. The most recent being this trip to Texas where we were invited to Austin for a dinner honoring him as one of three Employees of the Year - chosen among nominees from all over the United States. This is actually the second time my husband has received this award & I am just so proud of him.

The twentieth floor room where we dined afforded splendid views of a Texas style sunset ... a pink ball of fire fading into the night while ushering in countless city lights that sparkled ever brighter as darkness settled in.

We seized the opportunity to be Texas tourists together for a few days by extending our stay a bit.

I thought the hanging tables at this funky taco shop were unique & fun.

Colorful guitars - each one different - are hidden in plain sight throughout Austin

- an eclectic mix of modern & old western architecture, folk art & live entertainment.

The Lady Bird River runs right through town. Wide open spaces, parks & walking trails lined with wildflowers meet up with its banks to provide a sanctuary for city dwellers to escape to & hardly even realize they are still - indeed - in the city.

In the evenings visitors converge here to see the mass exodus of the largest urban colony of bats in the world. The bats make the inside of the Congress Street Bridge their home from about April/May thru' late August/September before migrating back to Mexico. Reportedly there are 750,000 - 1.5 million bats in this colony and they eat aprx 1,000 mosquitos each every day! No wonder there's hardly any bugs in Austin! They poured out after dark when we were there. They're fascinating!

I guess you could say we visited Austin inside & out given our tour of Inner Space Cavern .... a cave discovered in the 1960's. While the interstate was under construction several air pockets were found while taking core samples so it was decided to send a man down on a two foot drill bit to check it out. Low & behold he found himself in one magnificent room of this very large & beautiful cave. What an awesome discovery & experience that would have been!

It was a bit unnerving to realize that we were viewing a fault line here! Yikes!

Soon enough we found ourselves in an historic district of San Antonio. I snapped this pic of an old kiln w/ my friend over at Glassmelts in mind :)

I liked grass steppe seating in this outdoor theater.

San Antonio boasts it's own version of a river walk - this one lined w/ shops & restaurants. Hard to imagine Native Americans camping along here now, isn't it?!

I took this pic from outside a window which created an interesting effect.

Do you remember the Alamo? If you do then you'll recognize this.

And we'd have been remiss if we hadn't seized the opportunity to feast here:

pic via

The Salt Lick

Reknowned for its fabulous open pit smoked bbq

Their slogan .... "You can smell our pits from miles away"!