Hey Austin!

I got home yesterday from a wonderful weekend in the Lone Star State, Austin to be exact. Me and 8 other of my nearest and dearest went to visit April, who currently lives there. I didn't bring my camera with me on Friday night, but we enjoyed some bowling, karaoke, dancing, and cocktails. I even got up on stage and sang a few songs. Eeek, good thing my mic was off. Here is a recap of our interesting weekend in pictures starting Saturday morning.

We watched some people rallying down the street by our hotel not knowing where they were going. We happened to stumble upon them a little bit later as we visited the Capitol. We weren't real sure what was being protested at first but quickly realized what was the focus as we got closer. Legalizing pot. We watched from afar and got an eye full.

"Keeping Austin Weird"

Just to clarify, it's a skort and a man purse. I asked.

We then went to Zilker Park for a little R & R and some Frisbee throwing.

I want a tree just like this in my yard.

Next stop was to Hey Cupcake, which is in an Airstream.

It doesn't get much better than this right here.

Obviously I hated it. Every last crumb.

I also saw a horse with prettier toenails than mine.

Next stop, Bess, Sandra Bullock's restaurant.

Due to a little delay on the restaurants part we were treated to 2 appetizers. Thanks Sandy! I love you. No really, I love you.

Last stop of the day was the Tiniest Bar in Texas. The bar was tiny, the establishment was not.

Here's where the trip gets really interesting. Lindsey, Meg, Katherine, and myself left Austin around 2:20pm and we had a 45 minute layover in Houston. We were supposed to be back in Birmingham around 6pm. Wellllll, things didn't go exactly as planned thanks to Ole Mother Nature. She brought down her fury on Birmingham during every attempt our plane was making to land. Oh, she's one funny little character. 3 attempts and lots of turbulence later, we are in Jacksonville, Fl (we had already been there once to refuel) and were told that we were getting off the plane. It's about 10:30pm Bham time at this point and we hadn't eaten since noon. Grrrr.

The oh-so-kind Southwest employees had to get each of the 94 passengers new boarding passes for a new flight home at 5:50am. We were just excited that would make it home.

We were also told that there were no rental car places open and all the restaurants were closed. Our only option was to sleep at the airport. Yippee.

Attitudes quickly turned sour when we realized that the only thing to eat was a small cart of crappy vending machine crackers and some Dejablue water. Water should never come in a can.

Dinner.

I was really impressed how some of the passengers really rallied together and helped each other out. I even witnessed one couple offer to pay for a hotel room for a single Mom with her sweet 2 year old son. I boo-hoo'd when I saw this.

After a few more incidents in the airport we were finally able to board the plane and go home. I think I was asleep before the plane started to taxi to the runway. Last thing I remember was telling Lindsey she could lay her head on my shoulder. It might not have been a hotel room, but it's all I could offer.

This was my second time to "sleep" in an airport and hopefully the last. Overall it was a wonderful trip. I laughed so hard I cried, got to see a new city, got to see some friends that I only see a few times a year, and build all kinds of fun memories (even the flight home). Thank you April for having us.