Return to Austin

It's been great to be back in one of our favorite places in Texas, the capital city of Austin. We decided to put our soon-to-expire Texas State Parks Pass to work and made our home for the last five nights at McKinney Falls State Park.

This spacious campground offers the comfort of a state park with the convenience of the city. Downtown Austin is just 20 minutes away from our peaceful and quiet spot.

We're certain this park is packed much of the year, but things have been pretty quiet during this December week. Deer have definitely outnumbered the campers in our neighborhood.

Hey! We know those folks behind the empty margarita glasses! We're tailing friends Cathy and Steve through Texas. It was great to see them again before they head for points south.

Cathy and Steve are staying at the same park as our special friends Francile and Gary. We just love it when our friends meet our friends! We all got together for tasty food and drink at a wonderful hole-in-the-wall Francile and Gary introduced us to on our previous visit to Austin.

We met Francile and Gary at this Austin park in April 2010. Our paths have crossed several times since, but it was great to see them again where it all started. We hope they enjoy a warm and wonderful winter stay here in Austin. We look forward to seeing them in Iowa next Spring.

We made a quick road trip down I-35 to San Marcos where we met friends Rod and Deb for lunch. Over tasty German food, we caught up with each other's adventures over the last year. They are hanging out near family in San Antonio for the holidays and then some. We hope they have a great visit, and we look forward to seeing them down the road.

Tonight, we enjoyed a wonderful dinner downtown with Paul's cousin Cynthia, husband Tim and son Ben. Between the good food and fun conversation, we didn't manage to take any pictures. Well, then, we'll just have to come back!

Tomorrow, we're heading east to another Texas State Park. We love 'em!