Panama Update #65
October 11, 2008
Yesterday we made the driving trip from Houston to Austin in a little over 3 hours and brought Nikki directly to her conference at the University of Texas. While she was busy with that, I explored the town of Austin. It has changed a lot since I had lived there from '83-'85, but of course a lot was still the same such as the State Capitol building. I rented a bike and rode around Town Lake, which is similar to the lakes in Minneapolis that are near downtown. I went to look at Barton Springs, which is 71 degrees year round and fed by a natural spring. It is 1000 ft. long and a lot of people go there to swim laps or for recreation. It is called the "soul" of Austin. I also visited the largest Whole Foods store, which has its headquarters in Austin. The very first Whole Foods started in Austin about 3o years ago before they became a national franchise. Around the corner from Whole Foods was an REI, so we had a chance to do any last minute shopping before returning to Panama. After Nikki's conference yesterday I showed her some of the sites around town and we went to a vegetarian, macrobiotic restaurant called Casa de Luz which we both liked a lot. Today I drove Nikki to her conference again from her Uncle Frank's house. It is in a suburb of Austin and about a 30 minute drive to UT. I saw a matinee movie at a theatre on campus and as I was leaving the theatre I heard a bunch of horns honking. There were carloads of people waving Texas flags and shouting "Go Longhorns." I figured out that the football game with #1 Oklahoma had just ended with a Texas victory. People love football in Texas and were out celebrating. Tonight we went out to eat with Frank and his wife Jessica and daughter Brandee and tomorrow we drive back to Houston early in the AM to catch our flights back to Panama. Another day, another city.
