Hill Country, Texas, USA

Last week was winter break here in the North East. Not only do schools dismiss for a Spring Break which is in mid-April, but also a winter break in February. It's the long, endless cold winter- it makes one need more breaks. It's also the reason school rolls on until the very last day in June each year.

So, last Friday, Feb. 18th, Chris headed to Texas where he spent time loving on and being loved on by his family in East Texas, until we met up in Austin late Monday evening.

Texas is a big place and even though I'm from there, I've only been to Austin a handful of times:

1. There was the 8th grade day trip to visit and tour the capital building. This was when Ann Richards was governor.

2. Sometime in my early teens my family took a long weekend trip there, as I recall. There are two things I really remember: hiking and climbing around the rocky edges of the Colorado River & eating at County Line Barbecue.

3. Needing a road-trip and to wallow in our new found freedom, my two best friends from high school, Lora and Alaina, and I drove to the UT campus when we were 18 or 19 to visit some other HS pals. From this trip I remember: visiting a friend in his co-ed dorm, finding what I remember as the best patchouli/ almond fragrance I've ever owned, and something about being scared to death of the nutria we saw on the UT campus late at night. I also remember how on our drive back home we completely missed our exit off of I-35 and didn't realize it until we were just outside Fort Worth.

4. And lastly, a long weekend with an ex-boyfriend where we did go out for some live music, have some amazing brunch and slept on a hide-a-bed where I was awaken with a start each morning by a huge bull-mastiff named Dillon.

SO.... With minimal experience in Austin, and a wealth of knowledge about Austin, Chris and I decided it'd be a wonderful place for us to check out.

And, we had a marvelous time, walking the UT campus, watching the sunset over Lake Travis, laying in Zilker Park, vintage clothing shopping, eating authentic barbecue and Tex-Mex and visiting the Whole Foods mecca.

I think I'll dedicate my blog entries this week to our experiences there, because truly, we were impacted on so many levels.

It's a good city. It's good living: Austin Texas. It feels right.