Austin

Austin impressions:

Nice, nice city. It was much bigger than I expected, very sprawling. Traffic was horrific. No other word for it and I am not exaggerating. I think nothing of driving into Midtown Manhattan on a weekday and I was still aghast at the traffic on I-35. Sunday afternoon, it was stopped in both directions. Whenever we mentioned it to the locals, their response was identical. "Oh, I never, ever take 35. I avoid it!" We got in Sunday, picked up our rental and headed to San Antonio to see the Alamo.

Most everyone we met was from somewhere else - mostly the northern midwest. I did talk to one person born and raised in Austin and they were not happy with the growth of their city.

People were very, very nice, very friendly. We hit some nice vegetarian restaurants:
http://www.mrnatural-austin.com/
We ordered the chips and salsa here as an appetizer. I could not believe the amount of chips they brought us! I told the wait staff they could take half of them back and we still wouldn't be able to finish the remainder! I love chips and salsa so in addition to my tamale plate (just what do the corn husks add to the dish?) I did my best to tackle that plate and ate myself sick. LOL

http://motherscafeaustin.com/
The husband had the TLT sandwich here and said it was one of the best sandwiches he's ever had. They offered us chips and salsa and looked a bit askance when we demurred (askance and demurred????? How highfaulutin'!) but we learned our lesson at Mr. Natural. I had the tofu enchiladas. Simply divine.

Man, oh, man, how I love mexican food.

I was hoping for nice weather as a break from our usually crappy spring but it wasn't too be. It wasn't really bad weather but it wasn't lay out by the pool, nice weather. Monday was breezy and decent - I did get my 7 mile run in. Hotel gave me a route that took me up and down a couple of canyons. WTH? I thought Texas was flat! LOL It was hard and I did have to walk once for a couple of minutes but I got the job done.