The Big Tex... as

Woohoo - - We have hit 40,000 miles!
Let's do some math, shall we?
40,000 - 32,045 = 7,955 miles



Go ahead... laugh. We did.

After 2 days of driving across west Texas and dodging tarantulas, we arrived in Hutto, Texas - just northeast of Austin. It is a town of around 17,000 people - with a Hippo as the town mascot.


We drove south on Highway 183, hopped on the "feeder road" (which is what the locals call it), then north, then south, then north again until we reached the place where Marie takes swimming lessons.


It was a great week.

Paran (as Marie calls Richie) helped Marie get more comfortable on her bike. Hopefully her training wheels will be off soon! We went to "Parent's Day" at the summer camp Marie attends and ate lunch with a dozen 9-year old girls. I fit right in, but Richie and JJ (his brother) looked a little awkward in the mix.


We spent some time with Christy (JJ's sister-in-law) and her 2-year old son, Eddie. He is a sweet kid who adores his dad. In fact, he walked around the state capitol grounds with his hands in his pocket - just like his namesake.


Richie and I did a 10-mile bike ride around Lady Bird Lake Trail (formerly called Town Lake Hike and Bike Trail) in Austin. It was uneventful, but we had the opportunity to see the bridge at Congress Avenue where the infamous bat flight occurs in the summer - boasting over 1 million bats.


And after a BBQ dinner at Salt Lick (Yes, there is a restaurant called Salt Lick. Check out their website here.) we went to a wonderful baseball game between the Round Rock Express and (how ironic?!?!) the New Orleans Zephyrs. Snow cones and caramel popcorn for all! The Zephyrs won - Yippee!


Now, we are off to Louisiana!