Austin, Texas is Green?

Day 8: Farewell Dallas! But, before leaving the parking garage the windows needed to be washed badly. Hall the car is a filthy little bugger. Chad and I worked on scrubbing off the remains of our Minnesotan winter weather and had also applied Rain-X. It’s spring, so there could be rainy weather along the coast.

Next stop, Austin. I have a friend who recently moved there and we arranged to meet up for dinner. The three-hour car ride from Dallas went by quickly. With each passing mile, the sun beamed down hotter and hotter. We were being cooked alive (or it felt like it), because the car dash read over 80 degree! Holy catfish, that’s hot for these northern pale-skinned folks!

When we were pulling into the outskirts of Austin, it was my turn to drive. Somehow, I had made it an entire week without driving lol. Awesome, right? Crazy Texas traffic, watch out for me!

While I drove into the city, Chad was very quiet. He then presented me with the phone and said, “follow the map!”. He had researched and mapped out places to see in succession without spilling the beans as to where we were going. How cool! It was like a little scavenger hunt without knowing what you were looking for or where you were heading to.

To get to the first stop, we weaved in and out of very hilly neighborhoods. Chad had found a little hiking trail on a rock face bordering the Colorado River. I parked the car and we stretched our legs climbing the rocky staircase to the top. What a sight. The river was expansive and made the homes on the shoreline look really small. But, upon closer inspection, these homes were massive mansions along the water front.

When the trail ended, we turned around to take it back up and I started to hop around on the stone-spewed path. This led to jogging/hopping the rocks all the way up hill to the place we’d come in. The heat was extremely noticeable when we stopped and it had felt great to move again. Next stop, somewhere!

The second place Chad found was a beautiful botanical garden tucked into a hill and surrounded by massive trees. The guy at the gate even gave us the local’s discount for parking ($2), thank you Sir, and the park stayed open longer than what the sign read out front. We were obviously meant to be here and soak in the greenery.

The different garden spaces were so refreshing after just having spent the weekend in the concrete jungle of Dallas. Who knew Austin had so many green spaces? My favorite sections were the Asian gardens and the section where all of the plants looked like something out of Jurassic Park.

The aromas of all of the blooming flowers was thick in the air, bees and bugs were humming around and it was absolutely pleasant to be a part of it. Having grown up on a farm and spent numerous amounts time gardening (flowers and veggies), I have a tendency to touch the plants as I pass. Side note: I often find myself plucking sprouting trees and weeds while in public, I’m working on it lol.

While reaching my hand out to touch a plant, I asked Chad “what’s that one?” for like the millionth time.

Chad looked at the plant, then to me while smiling, and back to the plant while light-heartedly saying, "it’s a 'don’t-touch-that' plant.”

I hadn’t realized, but I had literally had my hands brushing leaves, branches, petals, you name it the entire time we had been walking. Who knows if I would have accidentally brushed a stray itch weed, harm a plant by mistake, or touch something I wasn’t supposed to. Just a little nature lady, hmm??

We dinked around walking the gardens and wrapped up around the time the park was closing. It was exactly what we needed after a week on the road to recoup and relax.

Time was flying and dinner was approaching, so the surprise museums on the list would have to wait until tomorrow. I drove us around and around looking at the local spaces and used the time to catch up with some friends over a phone call. By the time our conversations wrapped up, it was time to head to dinner.

My long time friend Brianna and manfriend Nick met us at a local taco shop and we were able to catch up. We sat outside, enjoyed the hot weather and lost track of time while telling about our latest adventures. It was so good to see them and talked about maybe seeing Brianna in the morning for coffee. If it was meant to be, then it will be. Tasty tacos and quality conversations are the best.

Chad and I retired for the evening at the local Costco parking lot which was decked out in greenery. They had trees littering the parking lot, making it feel more sheltered and homier. We parked the car near a clump of trees right off the highway and made camp.

The night hadn’t cooled off yet and we were still roasting. No blankets, no sleeping bag, no extra clothing fabric (as much as you can spare without being indecent) and no air flow. That’s a lot of no’s. If we opened the windows too much, all the little bugs would come in. We will have to start putting up our bug-proof window screens at night.

I cuddled up on my pillow palace chair and Chad nestled into his space for rest. Night night Austin, your greenery has made for a great day with great company.