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.