I'm glad she came because she forced me to get that guest room somewhat finished. I say somewhat because there are some things I still want to do in there, but at least it has a bed and no boxes. I also got most of the house finished, and now that she's gone, I'm starting to feel normal now. Before I felt like a freaking unpacking maniac. To be honest, the time FLIES by when you are home all day. I thought it would be the opposite, but I just can't seem to slow the days down at all. Anyway, I'm getting off track.
On Friday, I drove to the airport for the first time on my own (and I'm proud to say that I didn't get lost) around 2pm to pick up Rachel who was right on time. We headed back to the house to wait for Mr. Hunt to get off work. It was about a 45 minute drive back to the house so she got to see a lot on the drive back. When we got back to the house I gave Rachel the tour of our home and we let the fur babies go crazy on their first visitor. Soon, Mr. Hunt got home and wanted to immediately leave to head downtown, so we did. Right now in downtown Austin is the South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival. Its been going on for a few weeks now. We somehow got very lucky and found a perfect parking spot right in front of the capitol building.
We started walking around to see what was going on. The strange thing about SXSW is that they only announce some of the bands or groups on the website beforehand. All the bigger artists won't announce anything until about an hour before they go on stage. I guess you just have to be ready to go at any moment.
The motto for this city is "Keep Austin Weird" Ive actually seen and heard people say it everywhere, and SXSW wasn't an exception. Ive been to a few music festivals in my life, but this one was different. I'm pretty sure I looked like a small child in a museum of half human half horses that were rainbow colored (or something else really weird). I caught myself looking around a few times with my mouth wide open and also pointing out things to Rachel and Mr. Hunt who were a few feet in front of me because I would slow down to look at everyone. I think next year, Ill just to go people watch, I love people watching. I also remember thinking that I was sure people were probably looking at me wondering who this "normal" girl walking through the crowd is. Anyway, getting off track again.
All of the sudden while we were walking down the street, some random drummers came and made a huge circle in the middle of the street and danced around. Don't ask what or who they were.
Then we saw thees guys who were playing some music. They also had some herbs and veggies growing in a little pot next to them. They were basically saying you can never be starving, you can grow your own food. Food is free!
We ended up making a big circle around the blocks and ended up back in front of the capitol building, and stopped at an Italian restaurant for dinner called Quattro Gatti (or something like that). All three of us loved whatever we ordered, we even got dessert. Yum! Then we called it a night.
The next day we headed over to the outlet mall and all three of us spent way too much money, but hey, this was a rare occasion. We went back home and played with the fur babies for awhile and rested up before dinner. We headed to The Saltlick restaurant which is a popular barbecue restaurant here in Austin. There was a small wait when we got there so we sat at the outside bar and listened to the live band.
Then we headed inside to be seated and that's when we saw all the meat! Wow!
Our meals didn't disappoint either. I'm not sure who they thought we were, but they thought we could eat enough food for 5 people each.
Below are Mr. Hunt's ribs. Ive never seen ribs like this.
Rachel and I got a pulled pork sandwich. I'm also pretty sure that people were staring at me taking pictures of the food. They probably thought I was a tourist. Don't be fooled fellow diners at Saltlick.....I live here now!
So, after we stuffed our stomachs so full we were uncomfortable, we headed home again. Mr. Hunt's allergies were starting to act up again and Rachel was starting to get a sore throat so we just took it easy for the night.
Saturday night was a nightmare for Mr. Hunt and I. He was up all night coughing, tossing and turning. He finally got up at 4am to take a shower and use the neti pot. I made him swear he would go to the Minute Clinic as soon as he woke up in the morning and he did. We finally got back to sleep around 6am and slept until 10am. Mr. Hunt headed straight for the Minute Clinic while Rachel and I got ready for the day. He ended up having really bad allergies and from the allergies he got bronchitis. Yikes! The doctor gave him a bunch of orders and one was not to be outside too much. Our plans that day were to go to the Domain which is another outside mall, so he couldn't come. He also wanted to get some rest anyway because he had to go to work the next day and he had no voice.
Rachel still had a sore throat that morning, but put it off as allergies, took medicine, had some hot coffee, and we were headed out the door for another day of shopping. We enjoyed the Domain. There were a lot more expensive store there like Louis Vuitton, Lily Pullizer, Nieman Marcus, Coach, Burberry, etc, so thankfully we didn't spend as much money. I could tell Rachel wasn't feeling very well and towards the end of the shopping trip she informed me that she was sure she had strep throat. Apparently she gets it a lot a knows when she has it. We left the Domain and I took her to the Minute Clinic (same one Mr. Hunt was just at), and yes, she had strep throat. Oh boy.
We got home and Mr. Hunt and I cooked steak, shrimp, backed potatoes, and veggies for dinner. Then we had brownies sundaes for dessert. I was sad that they both were sick, but Mr. Hunt had to go to work the next day anyway, so again, it was a slow night.
The next morning I knew Rachel and I had plans, but I wasn't sure if she would be up for it still since she was sick, but she was. We packed her up and headed back downtown. The first thing after grabbing a quick lunch was to tour the capitol building.
This is the biggest capitol building in the US and it didn't disappoint.
This has nothing to do with the capitol building, but this little squirrel let me get so close to him...it was fun!
Looking out to the street
See the little lady at the top?
This is looking out while I was standing on the building steps.
Proof that the police in Austin wear cowboy hats....all of them.
This building was amazing. Look at the detail looking up.
Look at the detail!
Even the door hinges had writing on them.
All the lights said Texas on them.
Looking down at the floor.
I may have gone a little overboard on the pictures, but it was fun.
After we left the capitol, we drove around the campus of University of Texas. I forgot that it was a Monday and that everyone was in class. We must have been driving through right in between classes because there were students everywhere. It was a little hard to drive. I obviously couldn't take picture since I was driving, but Rachel took some.
After that it was time to drop Rachel off at the airport. I think she had a good time, even though she was sick. I hate that they both got sick, but it didn't seem to put a dent in any plans so that's good. I'm glad she came because I'm sure we wouldn't have done half the stuff we did while she was here if it were just Mr. Hunt and I.
I like having visitors. My little brother Davis is next and we have a lot planned.
Love,
Jennifer
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