Exploits in Austin, Texas

Man, I really enjoy a turkey pot pie fresh out of the oven. And an ice-cold can of coke is the perfect chaser. Coldplay's latest album is exactly what I want to hear right now. Something smooth, something cool; but more than anything, something that makes you feel your heart in your chest.

I've settled in my chair, thanks to a broken spring or two. I'm happy now that my apartment is no longer a refuge for flies. The dishes are done, the trash taken out, the laundry in the wash, and various surfaces shine gloriously. There's nothing else I'd rather do than tell you all about Austin, Texas; and the adventures of two wily kids, Jennifer and Josh, during their stay there.

The recording of the vacation is over due. A week and two days have passed since we returned to Boise. We've been back in town long enough to engage in other blog-worthy activities like hiking through the colorful fall foliage of upper Hulls Gulch, consuming fantastic Italian food at Louis', enjoying time at the Flying M parking Garage in Nampa, tasting wine at St. Chappelle and Sawtooth Wineries as part of a road ride near the Snake River, and shaking our collective booties at the Balcony's Halloween party. The "tour de wine country" and Halloween party were the highlights of the weekend for sure. Wine buzzes make any activity better, especially bike rides. Thankfully, traffic was almost non-existent, the sun shone like it was April, and the scenery was simply amazing (despite several layers of Canyon County smog). That night, Fern and I became "Purple Vixen" and "Scary" respectively, and proceeded to "raise the roof" and "burn down the house" on the Balcony's dance floor. We had a great time. Given the scene and company, I don't think it was possible not to have too much fun.

Speaking of fun, did you hear that Jennifer and I spent a week in Austin, Texas? We totally did! The first awesome thing you've got to know is that Fern kept the destination a secret for months before telling me in the airport on our way to the gate. Kudos to her for being such a great secret keeper! I don't know who doesn't like surprises, so if you've never done anything like this for someone else, I'd highly recommend it. Handing over all decision making authority to your significant other allows you to feel what its like to escape yourself, so to speak. We're so much into individual autonomy in western culture that some of us rarely get to experience the joy of giving up control.

The decision to go to Austin doesn't need to be explained. Its a hip, liberal town in the heart of Texas. I think most people know that. Its the live music capital of the world. If your favorite band hasn't played Austin City Limits, your favorite band probably sucks. Lance Armstrong lives there, its warm, its bigger than Boise, yada yada yada. What is most significant about Austin is that before two and a half weeks ago, both Fern and I had never been there. I simply love the feeling of getting "lost" in new places. Feeling far from home is one of the best sensations I know. I suppose I'm not the only one who thinks so.

The flight to Austin was bearable. I actually paid $5 to watch TV on the plane. VH1 was available, and they were playing videos from the 90s, which got me feeling all sentimental, so I paid the big bucks to have the privilege of watching artists like Tori Amos and the Counting Crows and Depeche Mode sing my favorite songs; but as soon as I settled into my seat, VH1 switched programming to something lame like a music game show, and that really sucked. We had a layover in Denver for an hour. There, we enjoyed Quizno's sandwhiches and some luke-warm brocoli-cheese soup.

Walking off the plane in Austin reminded me of walking off the plane in Honolulu. It felt like walking into a tropical rainforest the humidity was so high. I loved it. After finding out that nobody seemed to know anything about their own inexpensive mass tranportation system, we managed to hop a bus into town. The bus delivered us to the State Capitol, several blocks from the Super 8 motel in which we were booked for a week. The walk to the hotel was a slippery one, as the sky was full of low, feathery rain clouds which had recently let off some moisture. We made our way past the capitol building. It didn't impress us much, having read earlier that the capitol was one of the biggest and best in the country (like everything in Texas), but in person finding nothing about the building that set it above Idaho's own Statehouse. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful buidling of pinkish granite, and the grounds were full of big, black, twisted oak trees. Apparantly Texans take homeland security seriously. Police cars were parked at every gated entrance to the capitol.

Our room was very clean and came equipped with a mini-fridge, microwave, and TV. The king-sized bed was large enough to allow two finicky sleepers several good nights sleep. After stocking up on supplies at a drug store conveniently located across the street, and after zoning out on the bed for several minutes to rest our travel weary bones, we walked outside, ready to embrace the city of Austin.

Our wandering took us down Congress Avenue from the Capitol, past the city's most impressive sky scrapers, into the warehouse district where we decided to take a break at a Halycon Coffee/Alcohol house. There I had the first of several mediocre to poor mocha's I'd experience on the trip. Keep in mind, a mocha has to be very poor for me to NOT enjoy it; so all in all, my mocha experiences were good, despite the fact that they didn't match those of Boise.

After Halycon's, we walked down 6th street and marveled at the seemingly endless strip of clubs. At one point, what I saw in the window of a club stopped me in my tracks. Inside was nearly a dozen table hockey tables. Of course, we took advantage of their drink special and engaged in some furious competition. It was a lot of fun. This left me satisfied except for a rumbly in my tumbly telling me it was time for supper.

Soon after we hit the streets again, we approached an establishment that displayed a sign listing upcoming shows. My excitement quickly grew as I realized that the bands listed were indeed playing this small venue in the next few days. Built to Spill, Ani DiFranco, and Dwight Yokum were all slated to rock the house. I could care less about Dwight Yokum, but I was amazed that such big names, including two of my favorite artists, were going to be there. Upon entering the establishment, I quickly arranged the purchase of two tickets for Built to Spill on our last night in Austin, Friday night.

So, it was an amazing night for several reasons. I found out that a favorite band of Fern and I's was going to play less than a mile from where we were staying. Also, that band, Built to Spill, is from Boise.! And finally, the venue was a restaurant named Stubbs, which is the birth place and source of an excellent BBQ sauce that my friends and I have glorified (jockingly) for years. It was like visiting Graceland! I took several pictures of posters of Stubbs before sitting down to eat a juicy chicken sandwhich smothered in the sauce.

The evening ended rather badly for Fern. She tripped and fell down some steps at the restaurant while a private party was going on downstairs. While telling me about this trauma, she swung her head back and hit the wall. Finally she stubbed her toe (again) on the step leading up to our hotel room. We were both glad to get horizontal on our beds. Gravity would play no more dirtly tricks on us that day.

On Monday morning we woke up, had a bowl of cereal, and headed out in the rain with our umbrellas in search of a bus that would deliver us to a coffee shop somewhere north of the University of Texas. After waiting in the rain for some time, we finally caught a free ride on a "dillo". It took us about 5 blocks further north. From there, we began walking on Guadalupe, or the "strip" as UT students call it. We quickly spied a bike shop. Inside, we inquired about renting bikes for the week. The helpful salesperson offered us a great deal on an older, cheaper, Giant mountain bike and a bran-new Specialized with a front shock. We said we'd think it over (we wanted to see if we could get a better deal somewhere else first-and we were desperate for coffee).

Up Guadalupe we walked, passing all kinds of promising-looking clothing stores. We missed seeing one coffee house and another no longer existed. Finally, after several blocks of walking, we came to the Spider House.

Ah, the Spider House-our home away from home. It was so eclectic and funky and expansive and, yes, weird (people say Austin is "weird"). Most importantly, it was a hip, comfortable hangout, with good coffee and good food.

More to come...