Austin City Limits

Last time I was in Austin, I looked to see what entertainment was available and saw a Hilary Scott (of Lady Antebellum)  benefit concert at the Paramount Theater that also featured Colbie Caillat, Kelsea Ballerini and others. It was a great show!

This visit, I read that you really should see a show at the Moody Theater, home of Austin City Limits Live, while in Austin. So I checked the schedule and ticket availability, and now I'm hanging out waiting for the Easton Corbin show to start. It's a coincidence that I've seen him perform before. He was one of eight acts that played at the Grand Ole Opry concert I went to last spring.

The theater boasts that no seat is further than 75 feet from the stage. Here's the view of the stage from my 1st row in the balcony seat. Can't wait for the concert to begin!

Batty in Austin

Today's been a day where I've realized how fortunate I am to have a flexible lifestyle. I woke up disappointed that the sort-of-sore throat I've had the last couple days really was a cold coming on. Sometime after noon, I decided to take advantage of yesterday's bus pass that was good for a couple more hours and go up to Hudson Meats to buy their awesome Venison & Pork Jalapeno Cheddar sausages. I'm hoping to be able to spend time in early December at a national park in southeast Texas and will need to be stocked up to stay put for awhile. These sausages will be great to have in the freezer.

So I went and got the sausages and some pepperoni, then stopped by a farm-to-market store to pick up some other stuff and asked if they had fresh or locally made tortillas. They had one brand but said if I really want something fresh and local, go down a couple blocks to Guero's Taco Bar and ask for their handmade tortillas to go. I decided I might as well get late lunch instead of dinner, had two minutes to spare to get their Chile Relleno lunch special, and it was such a good choice. (And margaritas are full of Vitamin C, right?) It's been a nice easy-going day.

Enjoying the sunset's changing colors while waiting for the bat show

Tuesday night I walked down to the South Commerce Bridge to see the famous Austin bats. I'd heard about them when I was here in January, but there weren't any bats that time of year. November is the end of the season to see them, but I'd seen "tweets" indicating they were still around. A couple guys were providing a little bat education and taking donations for an Austin Friends of the Bats organization, and they persuaded me to put my jacket hood up (apparently there are a few cases a year of some yucky scalp disease from getting bat crap on the head and about 5-7 cases of bat poop in the eyes. I didn't come to Austin to get rabies treatment.) Awhile after sunset, the bats suddenly came streaming out from under the bridge, flying down the river. I don't know how long they continued - I watched for about 15 minutes until it became too dark to see much, but they were still coming out. It was crazy, and so were the people watching from on top of the bridge, when some bats suddenly changed directions and flew towards them.

Charley and I are enjoying the dog-friendly aspects of the city. There are two off-leash dog parks within easy walking distance of the RV park, so we've been taking advantage. I like walking along the creek and looking at the birds and turtles, and Charley likes that too, but the open, off-leash spaces are the best.

Itinerary: My Austin reservations are thru Nov 21. I'm hoping a cancellation will allow me to stay thru Nov 23 and watch one more game with the Austin Seahawks Booster club. I'll be in San Antonio Nov 25-29.

What's Shakin', Bacon?

That was the logo on the official tasting glasses of the Southwest Bacon Fest in Albuquerque last Saturday. The "Bacon, Beer and Blues" event sounded too good to pass up. It was a sunny, crisp day at the Balloon Fiesta Park, with the Sandia Mountains in the background. With the sun was shining right on you, it was warm, but by the end of the day I was glad I'd carried my jacket around all afternoon.

The festival was tasty and fun.

On Sunday Charley and I took a drive up to Santa Fe, a city I really like. I love to "window shop" at the street market area where locals sell beautiful handmade art and jewelry. The rest of the time I've just been relaxing in Albuquerque. I was able to get a super cheap rental car for the weekend, and the RV park is close to the Route 66 busline, so it's been easy to get around. Unfortunately it gets dark so early, and though it feels perfectly safe within the RV park, I'm in an area where it seems best to be off the local streets before nightfall.

Itinerary: Today I'm headed east, towards the Texas Hill Country. Not certain yet where I'll spend the next couple nights (but I'll probably stop by the Salt Lick Bar-B-Que place in Driftwood before I get to Austin). I'll be at the Pecan Grove park in Austin from Nov 15-20. I had hoped to be there Nov 14-23, but they didn't have openings for all those dates. If they have cancellations, I'll stay since it's so centrally located near the busline, the downtown area, a great park for walking the dog, and a cluster of restaurants and food trucks. After that, my next reservations are to spend Thanksgiving in San Antonio at Travelers World Nov 25-29.

Utah Rocks

Skyline Arch, Arches National Park

For many years, I've wanted to visit southern Utah because I've seen beautiful photos of rock formations and wild river scenes. This time of year river rafting isn't on the agenda, but I have been able to indulge my thing for big red rocks. Yesterday I visited Arches National Park, one of my goals. It was a beautiful day! I bought an annual National Parks pass and headed up the hill.

Today I went through Canyonlands National Park. It was stunning in a different way. At times it almost reminded me of the Grand Canyon. But compared to yesterday's 72 degrees, today's 42 degrees and raining at times, I was lucky to see as much as I did. At first the sun was shining and the viewpoints were amazing at Island in the Sky, a large mesa overlooking canyons of the Green and Colorado rivers. But as the afternoon went on, the clouds and rain came in, and the views, lighting and shadows weren't as spectacular. I did enjoy many rainbow sightings, and the views and lighting of the troubled skies were pretty interesting. Capped the day off with a super-cheap, yummy happy hour special at the Moab Brewery, and my short visit to SE Utah has been great.

Tomorrow, headed south for a week in Albuquerque.

Southeast Utah

It's Sunday night and I'm in Green River, Utah. I've pretty much just been driving and haven't even taken pictures yet to post. Both last night and tonight have yielded beautiful sunsets, and today's sunrise was great too.

I had to choose whether to stop for the day in Provo and watch the Seahawks game or just keep driving, and I thought I might as well drive and listen on the radio. I hadn't thought through the terrain, though. Driving through Price Canyon I only had reception for a very small portion of the game. No cell signal to get it online, either. I got settled in at Green River in time to watch the last 14 seconds, but from what I can tell, it was probably a rough game to watch. Glad they got a win, though.

No big adventures yet, but I'm going to slow down now and enjoy some scenery. I'm hoping to spend the next two days at Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, and then head down to Albuquerque in time for the weather to start dipping down below the freezing level. No reservations yet, but I think I'll probably stay there a few days.