Austism

Monday evening I met up with Maggie and Steph, and we went to the Congress Street bridge to see if we could gander the Mexican Free-tailed bat nightly show of them leaving their roost. We're pretty sure that only happens in the summer, because all we got was cold. But then we went to Magnolia for dinner, which was excellent.


Tuesday I got some work done, both to my car, and to my future life for when I get down to South Florida. It was pretty memorably uneventful, except for the Pad Thai that we made for dinner. On Wednesday, Maggie took the day off so we could have fun. We went to the Zelker Botanical Park to look for the recently seen CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD, but had no luck. Then she showed me Barton Springs and we headed to McKinney Falls State Park to see what Rosana had in store for our upcoming camping trip there. Out last nature adventure of the day was at Mount Bonnell which is a good vista of the city and river system. We ended early to allow time to drink some beers at Posse East with Steph.


Thursday, besides waiting for Rosana to fly in, included some other things. I got a bunch of job applying done, looked for the CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD with no luck, and made sushi with Steph and Maggie. Rosana flew in on time, and we stayed near the airport. The next morning we ate at Boulden Creek, which was incredible, then checked out the Congress St. part of town. We got some records at Antone's, and then went to Posse East where Maggie met us. We had a few beers, which made us less inclined for the super-dinner we were going to get, so we had Kerbey Lane instead, which was fantastic.


Rosana and I stayed at Mag and Steph's that night, and in the morning made soem breakfast. In the afternoon, we all went out to Mother's, which was the excellent place that grows their own herbs in the back. After lunch and stocking up at Central Market, Rosana and I headed to McKinney Falls State Park where we camped. The weather was awesome, and allowed us some good times at the falls, as well as playing frisbee, hackysack, and having a fire.

The next day, Rosana and I walked around Congress St. again, and then checked into the nearby Austin Motel, which was a cool little place close to downtown. We got cleaned up here, and then went to 6th St. downtown to a couple of bars. Monday morning we went record shopping again and had breafast at Boulden Creek again, and a drink from Daily Juice. I dropped her off at the airport in the afternoon, and then met up with Mag and Steph in the evening. We got Baby Acapulco's for my final Austin meal, and in the morning yesterday, I left town.


I made two stops (besides gas and peeing) on my 9-hour drive to Bay St. Louis, Mississippi yesterday. The first was at the Atwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge looking for its namesake. Apparently they are not often found on the publicly accessible parts of the refuge, and I had no exceptional visit. I did however get to see my second ever CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONSPUR along the road.


My second stop was by a Texas State Police officer, apparently for driving in Texas with MA plates, which I think is a felony. He gave me two warnings, one for speeding (going 70 in a 65 zone) and following too closely behind the car in front of me (about 20 feet behind). He had a few questions about my binoculars on the passenger seat, to which I told him the incredulous story of me birdwatching. Eventually, I got to Matt's house at about 6pm, and we made some dinner, listened to music, and headed to bed pretty early as he had to work today.