Can I be honest? I want a hug from my hubby, a soak in my bathtub, to sit and pet my kitty and to sleep in my bed. I want to keep the lights on past 10 and sleep past 12. I want to be responsible for nothing and no one. But - that is a week or so away still and I am determined to make the absolute most of this so I am setting those wants aside and focusing the now and the great time we are having.
I'll tell you about today, but first I want to make some general notes about the trip that I want to remember.
- Texas Roads are insane. You have 2 lane roads in the country with driveways coming out on to them and the speed limit is 75. In general the speed limit is always 75 unless otherwise posted (which is rare).
- Austin TX roads make the rest of TX look sane. There ramp intersections with the interstate come off of access roads and their are turns every where. I can't tell you how many times I missed my turn due to thinking the GPS was saying something different. They are just not intuitive. Also, I35 S branches off - you go right to go to some road and left to go to another, but both right and left are I35 S... yea I'll let you ponder that for a minute.
- I don't think I was ever young. I am listening to the nieces and I realize how much they do not know of the "world". They talk about the beggars and the homeless - they worry them. The beggars make them feel unsafe and walking in the city causes them concern. Don't get me wrong I believe they should be wary in any surrounding - be watchful and cautions, but I don't think I was ever as timid or as shocked as they are. Maybe it was because I traveled and was exposed to things early on? I don't know.... maybe I was and am just remembering incorrectly. Anyway, I think this trip is good for them and I'm trying not to "mother/lecture" too much, however I am an extremely dominate/controlling person so it's hard some times.
- I love my Mother - beyond reason - but sometimes she drives me insane. I'm sure the reverse is also true. She didn't feel well today and we butted heads quite a bit, tomorrow will be better.
- Kaylee is an extremely sensitive sleeper. She struggles going to sleep with the light on or with people moving around, yet she wants to go to sleep by 9 to 10 every night.... where as I'm a night owl who goes to sleep at 12 or 1 - it's making for a grumpy Kaylee and a grumpy Lisa. I try to accommodate and only leave the bathroom light on, but you can only be so quiet. Amanda sleeps more soundly, but I think I may disturb her as well.... I love them both, but I miss my bed. lol. I really thought I would be the one going to bed 1st with 2 teenagers..
- I miss my Rav4. This truck just isn't as agile as my Rav.
And with that we will move on to today.... Today we got up and ate breakfast at the hotel again. It was free and yummy (though their oatmeal left something to be desired). After breakfast we headed over to the Center for the performing Arts building that Amanda wanted to see. It has a headless statue in front of it that says no pictures... so of course I took one :) We also went to see the TX University tower to take some photos. Once photos were out of the way we headed to the LBJ Presidential museum.
I did not know very much about Johnson so I found it very interesting and found myself constantly lagging behind the others. Of the museums I've been too for presidents I think this was my 2nd favorite with Kennedy being the first. The way the museum was laid out caught my interest and it told a story ... I really enjoyed it and as I said learned alot. A few things I didn't know:
- He pushed through the voting bill that Kennedy was working on when he died.
- He was a huge civil rights supporter after becoming president.
- He didn't want to be in the Vietnam war but saw no way out.
- He passed medicare/medicaid!
- He passed the information rights act we rely on so much today to keep our gov't transparent.
- He recorded his phone conversations and they are now public ...
- He was the one that coined the phrase "we shall overcome"
- His wife loved wild flowers
- She had an office in the museum that is now open to the public
- The white house china had wild flowers on it.
Once we finished there we headed out for lunch. We ate at a sandwich shop that I wish we wouldn't have. It was outside only, the service was horrific and the food just ok. But it filled our bellies.
After lunch we went souvenir shopping and then for ice cream. This ice cream place was so cool! They made the ice cream on the spot using liquid nitrogen. I had the vanilla and it was so yummy. It was super light vs. typical ice cream which always feels heavy to me. Mama didn't care for hers or ours, but ... she was in a mood anyway. I thought it was awesome!
I then stopped by the TX State Cemetery for a few pictures. The tombstones in this cemetery are huge and they tend to tell ones life story. There is one in the shape of the state of TX. Its also interesting that it is a confederate civil war cemetery surrounded by a community that was made up (back in the day) of freed black slaves. It was once in the "rich" area, but when the lakes were created they moved out their and then in the 50's and 60's Austin forced the black communities over to this area by denying them power and other city utilities in the other areas. A dark part in Austin's history, but you have to love the irony of the cemetery ...
After that we were on our way to San Antonio. It was a 2 hour drive and it was full of people driving the TX way - crazy. You go from 80 to 40 constantly... people merge every which way and construction with walls no more than an inch from the lane side. Despite all this we arrived safely.
The hotel we are staying at is in an old jail and the rooms are tiny. I let the bell hop help me load the bags as we had to push them up a hill and then they valet parked the truck... I have no idea where as there is no parking lot to be seen.
Once in the room I pushed the chair into the maids room across the hall as we simply didn't have room to walk. They have since pushed it out and it sits in the hall way... I'm such a rebel :)
We got settled in and the girls went walking as we are staying within walking distance of most things. Tons of historic stuff and they found a mall :) Once they got back we walked over to dinner. Dinner was ok - not as good as I had hoped, but ok. After we ate we walked the river walk for a few minutes... I helped a guy find his way (believe it or not) and then we headed back to the hotel.
Tomorrow is a full day of site seeing and I'm sleep so I'm calling it early tonight. Sleep well blogland.
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