Mr Scott pays us a visit

November and Mr Scott has come over to Austin to pay us a visit for two weeks, its great to see him.

We took him to the Alamo and enchanted rock.

Not going to say a lot just a few pictures of the occasion.

Trail of lights Austin Texas

Its that time of year and now that Christmas has hit, a lot of the houses are putting up their decorations, ourselves included, it really is very festive and some of the houses go way over the top.

Austin has a tradition of setting up a christmas tree in Zilker park which we visited on December 1st, then a week later they start the Trail of Lights, it runs for about a mile and a half and companies sponser the light displays. December 15th and we decided to pay it a visit

We paid for the car park and advanced tickets, that meant we could access the park before all the crowds.

As expected throughout the walk it is broken up with retailers selling everything from burgers to popcorn and funnel cakes.

Zilker Park Christmas tree

December 1st and it is the Zilker Park Christmas tree lighting in Austin, Jessica is over with us so we all head off to see the event.

Before we go to the park we take Jessica into Austin so she can have a look at the Capital building, which is open to the public.

We arrive at about 5:30 with the lighting scheduled for 7 o'clock, all the normal stalls selling kettle corn and funnel cake, everyone congregates in a large circle with 3000 lights above us.

7 o'clock sharp and the lights are switched on. In a weeks time it is the Trail of lights that will be lit.

Enchanted Rock State Natural Park

This past summer we were toying with the idea of going on a road trip to the Grand Canyon - and how lady luck shines on you when you least expect it! It would have been Horrendous (note the capital H) in the intense heat the region experienced. I digress, the reason I mention this is because a pit-stop would have been to the Enchanted Rock State Natural Area.......

It is an enormous pink rock (like to keep topical it being breast cancer awareness month) just outside Fredericksburg, Texas.  It's the largest pink granite monadnock in the US.  The climb is 425 feet and takes you to approximately 1825 feet above sea level.  It's not a hard hike but it's no jog either - alternatively there is a walk around the base of the rock - we're going to check that out later.

Do not be fooled by the calm exterior of C & D..... they were huffin' an' a puffin' like a goodun!!! Once at the top, there are a couple of little oasis type rock pools mit tadpoles, an array of cacti and other flora and fauna and the most spectacular views of Llano County....

Well worth a visit... take a picnic or camp (beware of the enormous ants though)!

There are lots of myths, legends and magical mysteries surrounding the rock:

• Named “Spirit Song Rock” for native legends
• Revered by native tribes as a holy portal to other worlds
• Anyone spending the night on the rock becomes invisible
• Spanish priest fled to the rock pursued by native tribes, disappeared, and returned to tell a mystic tale of falling into a cavern and being swallowed by the rock, encountering many spirits in the tunnels, eventually to be spit out two days later
• Haunted by spirits of warriors of a now-extinct native American tribe who were slaughtered at Enchanted Rock by a rival tribe
• Haunted by a native American princess who threw herself off the rock after witnessing the slaughter of her people
• Alleged sacrifices at the rock by both Comanche and Tonkawa tribes
• Believed to be a lost silver mine, or the lost El Dorado gold
• Bad fortune and death will befall anyone who climbs the rock with bad intent
• Footprint indentations on the rock of native American chief who sacrificed his daughter, condemned to walk Enchanted Rock forever
• Woman’s screams at night are of a white woman who took refuge on Enchanted Rock after escaping a kidnapping by native Americans
• Spanish soldier Don Jesús Navarro’s Enchanted Rock rescue of native maiden Rosa, daughter of Chief Tehuan, after her kidnap by Comanches intent on sacrificing her on the rock. 

Hmmmmmmmm.............

Homecoming Parade

So yes, it does really happen and EVERYONE whoops it up a storm and it really is quite fun... honestly, it is!

The parade is basically the high school and middle school football teams, cheer teams, dance teams, volleyball teams, basketball teams and any other sport team you can muster together parading in front of their proud families on a trail from the school to the football stadium (which, by the way, is humongous!) and not forgetting the band -which looks as though it's every other member of the school NOT in the sports teams!

It also includes the current year's homecoming king and queen nominations - they're now calling them dukes and duchesses (hmmmmm..... I wonder why?) and there are at least two nominations per grade.

This year they had a procession of vintage Corvettes and Harleys too, which was noisy but really cool, and a bunch of local sponsors throwing sweets at the spectators from a variety of vehicles including monster trucks!

Here's some of the parade....

There's also the local cadet squad (girls and boys) putting in an appearance.

Thereafter, it's onto the field where the cheer team welcome the football squad (aaahhhh) and the band strut their stuff, in formation, to some really good tunes whilst also playing for the dance team to put on a display and the cheer team (again) to show us what they're made of.....

I was really impressed with the complexity of the tunes and moves the band displayed - nothing for You've been Framed here!

To end the 'Pep Rally' (no idea why it's called that) the homecoming nominees were introduced to the spectators. There was a lot of audience participation and it was a fun couple of hours. Also, the kids got early release from school that day..... it's serious stuff folks!!!!

Pecan Festival

The Pecan Street Festival came about because a local bunch of people decided to try and re-vitalize 6th Street and its surrounding area and businesses - known primarily nowadays for its music - about 30  years ago and has since become the largest arts and crafts festival in central Texas. The people who run it are a non-profit organisation and donate a substantial amount of the proceeds to both the City of Austin and local non-profit organisations alike.

It comes about twice a year - May and September - and is FULL of interesting art, sculptures, leather work, jewellery stalls to margarita and beer stands, tacos and burgers, live music in several locations and fun things for the kids to do and watch.

Take a look.....

These were all made from scrap metal and were FANTASTIC and very inexpensive!

They even catered for the animals in your life.......

........ and the sign next to the doggy chair reads Sit Means Sit!  The green chair is an average size camping chair - so this really is for the animal lover!
  
The local shops on 6th were open too although the majority of the bars (of which there are plenty) weren't until the evening as this is the major music scene for Austin and doesn't start 'jumping' until at least 10pm!

A good walk round, albeit a tad on the warm side. However, there was plenty to see and buy!

Day Trip back to Austin

Tuesday 13th and time to head back home, we had a great few days  in Corpus Christi but time to get back home, we looked around on the internet for some things to do and came up with some caves just out side San Antonio, the drive to Austin is around 260 miles and the caves where 160 miles so it meant we would do most the driving and then stop for a walk around some humid caves.

The Caves are called the Natural Bridge Caverns, due to the forming of a natural rock bridge. When we arrived it was right next to a safari park, we decide to give the safari park a miss as a lot of the reports on the internet where not good, so we headed off into the caves. Guided tour and it is about 3/4 of a mile walk and down about 180ft.

An hour later it was all done and we headed off home, got back about 16:00 - If you want to know more about the caves they are here:

Corpus Christ - Day 3

Monday 12th August - Today we decided to head into Corpus Christi itself and visit the science museum, it is right next to the USS Lexington aircraft carrier. First stop was in the harbor area, really nice place.

After walking around for 30 minutes and burning in the heat we decided to head off to the Science Museum. Well just our luck it, or should I say the girls luck, it was closed on Mondays!

Next door to it was a small water park, all the brochers we had seen said it was closed, hence very few people at the place, so we decided to stop there for the day, the girls had a great time.

 

Click on the pictures to enlarge
- USS Lexington

 

Corpus christi - Day 2

We arrived in Corpus Christi on Saturday 19th, we checked into the hotel and then headed out for a quick look around, we found the beach on Padre Island, it is a sandy beach and runs for a mile or so, you can also drive and park on the beach, which we did.

Sunday we got up early and purchased a sun shade 10x10 figured we may need it with temperatures up in the 100's, grabbed some lunch and ice and headed off to the beach, we parked in the car park - which was free - I found out that if you want to park on the beach itself you need a permit.

 The beach was pretty quiet and was windy but other than that it was great, the girls got some body boards and spent most of the day in the water.

By about 15:00 we'd had enough and headed off the beach and stopped for some crazy golf, Cae won as normal with the three of us coming in a close second. Great day had by all and on arrival back at the hotel I realized how much the wind can burn you, my face was bright red!