My Trip to Austin

OK, so back on 8/9/08, Shawn and I went to Austin, TX for the night. The main reason was to see our friend Laura from high school. You see, back in school, I was a member of a little circle of friends that, up until the second half of our senior year, was inseparable. We would spend every weekend together, all weekend long. There was Laura, Jerry, Shawn, Kathryn and myself. This is the same group of people that were together the night of the bellybutton piercing incident. Anyway, so I get to Shawn's house at 9am on Saturday and we head off on the 3-4 hour trip to our state's capital.

Here is Shawn driving to Austin.

Once we got to Austin, we went to the hotel, but sadly, it was too early to check in. So, we did what any couple of people going on a very short road trip would do...We found a bar.

This is Shawn and me when we first got to the bar. (Sorry, I can't remember the name of the bar.)

We got to the bar around noon, ordered a couple of pints then at about 1:00 we decide to start doing shots. I would not advise doing shots of jager at 1:00 in the afternoon. Since Austin has a no smoking ordinance, we move our party of two to the patio, and drink more. We called Laura and she said she knew where we were and she would be there within the hour. So, we drank more. Laura arrived at the bar around 4:00pm, by this time we were sufficiently drunk. But did Shawn and I decide to stop...NO! We drank even more, but I was the smart one and stuck with beer, Shawn decided he wanted and actual drink....Double shots of vodka with soda and a splash of cranberry. (Please note: I have not mentioned anything about food at this point. This is because there was not food by this point....we did all this drinking on an empty stomach. You would think two people in their 30's would know better, but we were out of town...and when you're out of town all logic goes out the window.)

This is Laura, Shawn and me. (Look closely and you will notice that my eyes are slits at this point in the afternoon.)

This is Laura and me. (This is proof that I was slightly inebriated...when drunk I often pose for pictures with my tongue sticking out of my face.)

Here is a picture of Shawn after several of the vodka drinks he had consumed. I like to call it "Shawn the Diva!"

Unfortunately, Laura had to work that evening. But, luckily for us, she had enough time to drive Shawn's car back to the hotel, around 6pm. So, we were drinking for 6 hours straight, and neither of us had eaten anything...that's talent! I would like to say...THANK YOU LAURA FOR TAKING CARE OF US!!! So, we said goodbye, checked in to our hotel room and we decided that we were going to take about a two hour nap, then get up, get ready, call a cab, go out, and then drink some more. (It sounded like a good idea at the time.) So, I set my alarm for 8:30 pm and we both passed out. I woke up and thought to myself, "I guess I woke up before the alarm went off." I rolled over and looked at the clock and said, "There's no way..." Shawn popped out of bed like a meerkat and said, "What, what's wrong???" I looked at him and said, "Dude, it's midnight." We both jumped out of bed, and started getting ready...then we decided we didn't really want to go out, so we went to IHOP. After IHOP, we decided to go back to the hotel and sleep some more. You know, when you're 20 you can start drinking at noon and then drink well into the next morning, then go to bed around 3 am, wake up at noon and do it all over again. Not so much when you're in your 30's. I was still feeling like ass when I woke up Sunday morning.

Sunday morning we wake up and call Laura and meet her and her super cute boyfriend for breakfast. After we eat we go back to her apartment so Shawn and I can change, because we were going to Hippie Hollow for a little bit before we headed back to Houston. Before the trip, Shawn asked me if I had ever been there. When I told him no, he said that we must make a stop there. For those of you not from Texas, Hippie Hollow is a "clothing optional" park and apparently predominately homosexual. This was not only my first time at Hippie Hollow, it was also my first time around nudists. I do have a piece of advice for nudists....when you are nude, please be courteous to people around you, bend at the knee...not at the hip. This was also my first time in a lake. There is one thing you should know about me...I can't swim. So, since it was my first time in a lake, I just assumed that the bottom got gradually deeper...kinda like the beach. Well, not there. So, Shawn had to find a rock for me to stand on. We decided next time we go, we're going to take a noodle for me. Anyway, Hippie Hollow is absolutely beautiful. It's all limestone, so I had to do some slight rock climbing. Here's some words of wisdom for you if you decide to go...Do not try to climb slabs of limestone in Old Navy flip flops. I almost broke my neck a couple of times. It was so worth it though, that place is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! Oh, and the answer is no...I didn't take my clothes off.

The limestone you had to climb on.

The lake and limestone.

A very cute nude guy. (I couldn't take a good picture, apparently it's rude to photograph nudists without their permission.)

Lake Travis

Shawn, looking very hot!

So, there you go. A trip to Austin in 24 hours. We are going to go back. Hopefully, Laura won't have to work next time and we can go and sing some White Trash Karaoke.

Until next time...

Mandy