Tuesday, October 2, through Monday, October 8, 2012: In Austin:
Tuesday morning, we made the 139 miles from Whitney to Austin with no problems, arriving just before noon at La Hacienda RV Resort, where we’ve been before.

It’s a very nice place, well-located in the north Austin area adjacent to Lake Travis.  Our reason for being here is, of course, to visit our son Rick and his family, Joell, Jake, and Beck.

The first order of business was to get the outside of the trailer cleaned.  (Weeks of bugs and dirt had accumulated.)  Becky located a detail man who talked us into washing and waxing the beast (at enormous cost, of course).  We scheduled him for the next day.  Late Tuesday afternoon, we went to Rick’s house.  Joell had just arrived home from a business trip to Dallas. 

Rick was on his way home. They are 95% finished “doing” their back yard.  The project involved construction of a pool and spa, a covered cooking/eating area, an outdoor lounging area, and landscaping.  It is truly spectacular.

After cocktail hour, we all headed for Cho Sushi, a local Japanese sushi/fusion restaurant. Delicious.

The detail man, Kurt Priebe, arrived early Wednesday morning and did a great job. 

We don’t know if it’s related, but while Kurt was power-washing the rig, our refrigerator stopped working.  It involved a repeat of the breakdown of a safety gizmo that we had to replace in Bemidji, Minnesota, in July.  The manufacturer referred me to a local mobile RV repairman, Dan Bailey of TD RV Repair, who agreed to come by on Thursday afternoon. 

In the meantime, I bypassed the safety gizmo with a jump wire---as I had been taught in Bemidji---so our refrigerator was working again.

Wednesday morning, we took Becky’s bike to a local bike shop (Southwest Cyclesports) to have a flat fixed.  I decided not to fool with trying to fix it myself, since I no longer like getting my hands that dirty.  The tech, Todd Driggers, fixed the tube merely by inserting Slime, but noticed that the seat seemed awfully high for Becky. 

He had Becky get on the bike, and confirmed that it was too high, and that he couldn’t lower it because the stem had become frozen-in-place in the 20+ years she had owned the bike.  He advised her that the excess height could lead to knee problems because of excess extension of her legs.  He proposed that she consider leaving the bike for them to try some serious attempts at un-freezing the stem.  In the meantime, he suggested she take a quick ride on a bike with a properly set seat, to feel the difference.  She did so, and ended up buying the test-ride bike. She donated her old bike to the local Goodwill Industries place.

Wednesday is Rick’s weekly volleyball day, and we went to Aussie’s Grill & Beach Bar in downtown Austin Wednesday night to watch him play. 

He used to play there when he went to grad school at the University of Texas in the late ’80s, and rekindled the relationship when he and Joell moved to Austin a few years ago.  We had fun watching him.  (His team won its match, incidentally.)

Thursday morning, we returned to downtown Austin to take a bike ride on the trail around Lady Bird Lake, which was called Town Lake when we were last here.  (According to Rick, it seems the name of everything is Austin is being changed to “Lady Bird” something or other.)  We only rode about 6 miles, but it was fun.

There is an area on the trail where dogs are allowed off-leash.  It was hysterical.  The dogs were very well-mannered, and seemed to have lots of fun.  One lady, with two retrievers, kept throwing tennis balls into the lake, and the dogs dutifully chased them down and brought them back enthusiastically.

On the way back to our truck, my chain became tangled between the gear sprocket and the rear wheel, and was not easy to untangle.  So, I got my hands dirty after all.  We stopped at the bike shop on the way home and dropped off my bike to have the derailleur repaired.  Todd was happy to see us again, and didn’t even try to sell me a new bike.  Wow!

Thursday night, we returned to Rick’s house for dinner.  While we were there, Joell’s parents arrived, much earlier than expected---they had driven all the way from Grand Island, Nebraska, that day.  It was fun seeing them again.  Una's sister Meryce was with them.  We'd never met her before.  Nice lady.

The Texas Longhorns are playing the West Virginia Mountaineers on Saturday---at Texas---so the University of Texas Golf Club, of which Rick and Joell are members, was holding its usual pre-game party on Friday night.

We attended with the rest of the Ebberts and Von Behrens.

It was great fun.  There was a live band that played the kind of music I'm used to, and Becky and I actually danced a little!

On Saturday afternoon we went to Vandegrift High School in Austin to watch Jake play in a Pop Warner football game.  His team lost, but it was fun to see the boys play.

They take football very seriously in Texas, and the facility at the high school was very impressive.

Saturday night, we went to Rick's and watched Texas lose to West Virginia.  Too bad.  We also had dinner and drinks there, with everyone present---the Ebbert and Von Behren clans.

Sunday night, we all met for dinner at the nearby Flores Mexican Restaurant, a local chain.  The delicious food and tasty margaritas are probable reasons for the restaurant's success.  The place was mobbed, but Rick said the crowd was not as large as usual because it was Sunday.  The Von Behrens were leaving early the next morning for Grand Island, so we said goodbye to them.

Monday was a day to return to normal---Rick went to work and Joell spent the day with her principal client.  After I got a haircut, Becky and I just relaxed, getting ready to head for Fredericksburg on Tuesday.  We decided to return to Cho Sushi for our last sushi fix for a while.

Rick joined us there, and we said our goodbyes.  Our stay in Austin had ended.  We had a lot of fun there.