The weather lately has been very unsettled. Greater Austin has had a few tornado's, none of them serious, and has also had a lot of thunderstorms. Geoff still had to work quite a bit since my last post, to start with, but that has now settled down thank goodness.
On our 3rd Friday here we went to sign the lease agreement and the get the keys to the house, which was very exciting for me! Then we went to the Social Security office so I could sign up for my Social Security number (which I am still waiting to come through!). Without one of those there’s not much you can do in the United States, except as a tourist!
That Sunday we took a break from shopping. In the morning Geoff went to play football (soccer!) for a team he used to play for when he lived here 10 years ago. You have to apply for papers to play for a real team here and you get an ID card, but Geoff hadn’t got around to sorting that yet. The Coach had a few cards of players that were off etc and between Geoff and himself they picked a card where the ID picture looked most like Geoff, so he could play. Therefore, for the game that day, Geoff’s name was ‘Courtney’ (which I didn’t realise was a unisex name). The funny thing was … the card chosen happened to be the Referees! So we were just praying that he didn’t get booked! Geoff made a tackle, which got called as a foul, and the Referees gave a penalty to the opposing team, but the he can’t have asked for the card as nothing was said. Geoff really enjoyed getting back into football, I met some of his team mates who seemed really nice, and I guess he will be playing regularly from now on, on a Sunday.
From there we went to one of Geoff’s favourite diners for lunch – Jim’s. I hadn’t eaten there before but it’s a typical American Style Diner serving burgers and such, and I was very impressed with the food. And in the afternoon we went to Zilker Park, one of the biggest and most famous parks in Austin. It’s really scenic with hiking and biking trails all throughout, and is home to a nature centre, and Zilker Botanical Gardens. You can also rent 17ft canoes or huge open-deck kayaks at the boat rentals just downstream of Barton Springs, which you can also access from here. Zilker Park is often the centre of a lot of events, and even if there’s not anything happening it’s a great place to visit. There are even endangered Salamanders there - I guess that's why I didn't see any!
A statue in honor of Philosophers Rock
If you can read this it will explain Philosophers Rock!
I just liked this quote so thought I would put it on here!
As I mentioned, the other area that the park provides access to is Barton Springs and Barton Creek Greenbelt. Barton Springs is a 1,000ft-long natural spring pool, and it looks wonderful to go swimming in. During the summer it gets packed apparently, which probably has something to do with it being a constant temperature of 68 degrees all year round. That must be such a relief in the blazing heat! People have been using it to go swimming for hundreds of years, it’s a very Austin-ite thing to do! So I will look forward to that when the weather is a bit warmer. Barton Creek Greenbelt I haven’t experienced the joys of yet, but I have heard paddling in it is one of the highlights of a trip to Austin (!).
Barton Springs Swimming Area to the right (complete with lifeguards!)
And straight ahead
And to the left
After Thomas and Charlotte had run around the playground for a bit, we decided to take a trip on the Zilker Zephyr Miniature Train Ride. This was purely for the kids benefit, and the train takes a 2-mile trip round Zilker Park and Barton Springs. Thomas and Charlotte loved it! But they wouldn’t pose for pictures by it - which Geoff was very disappointed in! Oh well!
An unfortunately not-very-good picture of the Zephyr!
From there we popped across the road to the Botanical Garden which was having its annual Flower Festival. This may sound boring but it was actually quite good. There were loads of stalls selling everything from books, to jewellery, to garden ornaments and plants, to art – and we are not talking cheap tat, it was quality stuff from local businesses, much of it handmade and pretty expensive. There was an activities and craft area for kids, and a band playing (the members of the band can’t have been much older than 14/15, and they were pretty good!). We would have stayed longer but the twins were pretty tired, it was very hot and we had run out of money!
The Band
The week that followed was filled with walks around the lake, trips to Ikea, trying out mattresses and buying beds, more stuff for the house really – nothing very exciting. And then the following weekend on the Saturday we went to Joe’s Crab Shack for dinner with Goreti, Tim and Agnes. The place itself was fun. As we were waiting to be shown to our table the Macarena came on and all the staff stopped working and lined up to do their very own version of the dance - very funny!! The food was good and I had my first American fish & chips (Goreti thought I might cry when it turned up!), though I missed putting vinegar on it! We sat outside where there is a play area for the kids and while we were eating there was a birthday announced. The waiter made the Birthday Boy stand on a table and dance without spilling 2 drinks (one in each hand), while everyone nearby sang Happy Birthday! Joe’s Crab Shack was definitely a fun experience, but I don’t think I would go there for my Birthday, or any special celebration, for fear of humiliation!
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