Great Outdoor Day!

Today was the last day of Dan's parents visit. We saved up all of the outdoor activities for today it seemed. We checked out the Barton Springs Pool/Barking Springs area. They are dog owners and Looooooved the doggy swimming area. Who can resist smiling there? After a fresh, healthy lunch at Jason's Deli, we went to the Zilker Botanical Garden (Dan likes to refer to it as ZBG and consequently I like to cringe). The beautiful gardens allow you to meander as you wish and daydream. We passed through old buildings based on Swedish settlers from years ago, through butterfly gardens, rose gardens, prehistoric gardens, Cacti/succulent gardens and finally into my favorite part - The Japanese garden. A worker was tying cables and ropes around a rock and over a tree branch. I stopped to ask him what he was working on. "I'm trying to get this rock back up the hill - restoration". I said to him "Wow, restoration looks like hard work!" His reply: "Well, the man who built this garden was 70 when he started it, worked for a year all by himself, and only got help in the last half year before he finished". He said this as if to say 'Anything I do is nothing in comparison'. He may be right. The garden has a continuous stream that wanders underfoot many times, and finally into ponds which empty into more streams and more ponds. The koi seem about a foot and a half long and oddly enough I think I could eat one. Anyhow, following the garden we went to the Zilker Nature Center (don't think that is the right name, but it approximates it). There we saw many of the native Texas creatures, from skunks, to red-tailed hawks, to coyotes. The bobcat was fed while we were there and I watched as it gobbled up baby chicks that were already killed. It gnawed and gnawed until most of the body could fit in its mouth...and then the chick head fell out on the ground. Do not worry! Nothing was wasted. The bobcat carried on with the head and the rest of his bowl of chicks.

For dinner, we went to the downtown location of The Alamo Drafthouse. It is housed in the former Ritz Theatre. We were there for the opening show of Tropic Thunder. I wasn't too hungry, but I ordered a pizza and somehow finished it. The movie was pretty good, pretty funny. I was most surprised by Tom Cruise and Robert Downey, Jr.'s acting. I haven't seen many Tom Cruise films and abhor him as a human. He gained a little acting credit in my book in this show. That doesn't say much - I am far from a movie buff. RDJ's character was played perfectly. That is all I know how to say in reviewing movies. As we walked back to our car, I spotted a comedian we saw last Saturday night - It was Justin Scales! We chatted real quick about how we really thought he was funny, that he was playing another show tonight north of the UT campus, he was impressed that I remembered he was from Oakland and not anywhere local, Dan left him with words of encouragement. I think he felt good about himself after we left; I know I would! So that was our day, lots of sun and fresh air and now we are tired just after 9:30pm. That's a good thing.

We've been busy!

Goodness, as I look back on the past few days, we have done a lot! It doesn't seem like we're moving very fast, minute to minute. But it adds up quickly. Part of the reason I wanted to start this blog was to remember everything. It hasn't been working. I need to post in order to remember it; the problem is nothing seems memorable or note-worthy until later on down the road. Anyhow, I had to refer to my dad's blog in order to recall everything. It turns out that we've recently visited botanical gardens, devoured some of the best Texas BBQ (Iron Works) I've ever had, visited the state history museum, browsed the Austin Farmer's Market, and watched the 4th of July fireworks display with music accompanied by the Austin Symphony. Check out the other site for pics - I've been lazy about carrying my camera around. What a busy few days. We recently planned the next coming week's list of activities/food venues. Stay posted.