Austin, Texas, day one continued

At the Spider house, after spending some time marveling over our new surroundings, Fern dove into her enormous turkey sandwhich and I enjoyed one of the best grilled cheeze sandwhiches of my life. We shared a piece of decadent carrot cake while sipping a coffee and mocha. Fern worked on a new knitting project (a messenger-style laptop bag) while I read a book which I had aquired a couple of days earlier at one of Nampa's expansive used book stores. The book was called "Above Liberalism", or something like that. It was destined to be the single item I lost in Austin; which is a shame, because I was enjoying the author's blatant conservative prejudices and paranoias.

After an hour or so, we left the Spider House feeling reenergized and whole again. We had decided to march back down Guadalupe to take advantage of the bike rental offer we received that morning. Back at the shop, we were able to procure two capable steeds and a Kyrptonite U-lock for 5 days at the reasonable price of $150.

We were free at last, rolling along at speeds that our little legs could never hope to sustain. We explored the sprawling campus of the University of Texas; stopping for photos of a family of moss-covered turtles, the UT Tower building, and a fountain. Getting somewhat lost among the light orange brick buildings of the campus was an enjoyable experience.

Next, we meandered past Longhorn Stadium, made our way back towards the hotel, but continued south along Redriver and the poorly maintained haven for the homeless-the Redriver greenbelt. Once we made it to the Town Lake (river) greenbelt, we turned right and opened up the throttle. I managed to hang onto Fern's wheel as she zipped around runners and sped past dog-walkers. Our wandering took us south across the lake on a pedestrian bridge that ran underneath the freeway. After a few more miles of rolling greenbelt, we stopped at a pedestrian bridge that spanned Barton Springs to take a few pictures. We wandered to Barton Springs itself and checked things out. The area was rather dead, save for a couple of leisurely swimmers and several hundred pigeons. I imagine that Barton Springs is really hoppin when temperatures push past 100, as they regularly do in Summer.

According to our map, on the opposite side of the springs was some sort of sculpture garden. Our search came up empty. We became desperate for cold beverages and a sit-down. On Barton Springs Road, a sign advertising 15% off for cyclists got our attention. We pulled over at a juice shack of sorts that sold expensive fruit juice and smoothie concoctions. Inside, I couldn't help but join an employee and customer in anti-Bush barbs. The experience afforded by the establishment's fine beverages was one of the best experiences of the trip. My smoothie was worth every one of the six hundred and fifty pennies it cost me.

Next, we came upon Austin's largest bike shop. Inside, Fern gracefully and patiently waited as I wandered the entire store, including the backroom, talking to an employee and taking photos al the while. It was the nicest shop I'd ever seen.

Then, Fern and I continued wandering the town on our bikes. We passed a neighborhood that reminded us of Portland. I declared that I would live there, if I were to live in Austin. Soon we entered a part of town that reminded me of Fairview Ave. There, where one might expect to find a K-mart or Savers in Boise, was a "Department Store". (See Fern's blog for a hilarious recounting of this episode of our wandering). We each ended up buying a pair of shorts.

The ride back to the hotel took us over some steep hills, through a pleasant neighborhood or two, past a dog park, and back through some of the seedy Redriver blocks. At the hotel, we took showers and collapsed on the bed.

The first full day was not over...