frEEzing OuR asSes off iN aUstin

anne:  we left new orleans with time to visit aunt cornie in baton rouge.  we had a short visit and enjoyed coffee with her while exchanging travel and family stories.  it was the very first time rudee has ever pee'd in someone's house - right on the dining room table leg!  anyway, after the visit we were off on the long haul to austin.  jon and i had our first argument in the car when he wouldn't let me unwrap his burrito for him while he was driving.  we're okay now though.

 

we arrived in austin first to a parking lot so jon could ride flatland with some notorious dudes.  it was pretty cool - but FREEZING!  oh my gosh, austiners are even shocked the weather is this cold!

finally, when my fingers couldn't mash the shutter anymore b/c they were frozen, we left for stu's house, our very sweet and accomodating host with a wonderful smile! we met dave thompson, one of stu's current subjects, and his roommate pat.  also, we were lucky b/c stu had just turned on his heat the day before! the next morning we ate breakfast at this awesome place called magnolia's.

after breakfast stu took us to empire bmx where i got to meet tina and check out the store - then jon and i took our bikes from stu's van and rode bikes for the rest of the afternoon with rudee (by the way - i'd like to give a shout out to sara  at z-dog for her awesome treats - keeping rudee very happy : ) ) first stopping at the 9th street dirt jumps so jon could shred them on his mountain bike, then through the park along town lake trail by congress avenue bridge.  we headed home when we couldn't take the cold any longer but found several places to take pix along the way. later we ate dinner with stu and his friend billy at a wonderful place called mother's cafe and garden - jon had the veggie lasagna with a house salad and i had artichoke enchiladas with a guacamole salad, both with the most awesome cashew tamari salad dressing. this place was awesome and even had someone playing a harp!

tomorrow we're moving on to carlsbad caverns to experience our first night of roughing it in the car or tent.  did i mention it's very cold?

Jon: Yesterday was spent largely driving from New Orleans to Austin with a brief stop at Anne's Aunt Cornie's house, in Baton Rouge.  Aunt Cornie was a interesting lady with many stories of oversea adventures her and her partner had taken over the years. It was delightful meeting her. Sorry Rudy got excited and peed on the floor :) First time she has ever done that?

Finally we made it to Austin's flatland spot in a parking deck. I was surprised to see so many riders present on a bitterly cold night! Thanks to everyone who showed up. Good times even if I was riding terribly :) Even rode with Jon Yaul from Homeless Trash!!! Just started riding again after a 15 year hiatus. Awesome!

 

After a couple of hours of not pulling tricks I said goodbye to Rad Dad the locals and made our way to a grocery store and then Stew Johnson's house.

Today we woke. drank coffee, took showers and went with Stew to eat at Magnolias Cafe. Met some of Stew friends Chunk and his lady Sara. Thanks Stew for buying us Breakfast!

After we went to Empire to spend some money and from there to 9th street to check out the famous dirt jumps! From there we found a bueatiful bike path along the river and followed it through town. Eventually we decided it was too cold and pedaled back to Stew's to warm up and drink some hot coco: ) !

Tonight we are going to eat at Mother's? Bet it will be good?