Adult Outing!!!

DH and I recently spent a weekend in Austin, Texas, aka 'Hill Country' to most. We had a wonderful time despite the heat. Our dear friends Mark and Kathy put us up (as usual) and treated us to some of the 'best' sights and activities.



Anyway, they have a lovely home in the 'hills', and the view and tranquility are awesome. Being an early riser I was able to watch the sun come up over the hills. Sooooo beautiful. If it hadn't been 90+ degrees already that would have been a real bonus. LOL.



Although the heat just didn't seem to bother their Lab, Maddie. But then again, she has a pool to jump into hundreds of times a day to cool off. And believe me she does. It's too funny. The dog really, really loves the water.

Seeing non-flat roads was so great. Gosh, it's been a long time. Leaving the mountains in Utah and coming to Texas, to flat land was really strange. I had all but forgotten what it's like to have to take a curve....too weird!



For everything about their new home that they shared with us, the things that I enjoyed the most were the winery visit and tasting, and the 'Austin Bats'. Not to discount the sight-seeing, the lakes, the food, the company, and the reminiscing.

We went to watch the Austin Bats, as they are called, on the Congress Avenue Bridge. What a truly freaky thing to see. Bats were everywhere. They're not aggressive and they are very small but still just seeing them, thousands and thousands of them, flying, ducking, diving, and darting around is really strange! Definitely something to experience.

Then there was the wine tasting at the Flat Creek Estate Winery. Also, written about at Texas Cooking. Mark and Kathy really know their wine and have even entertained thoughts of opening a winery of their own. They are good friend with the owners, Rick and Madelyn Naber. And needless to say, it was very cool to have the owners of the winery assist us in our taste testing.



(Mark and Kathy, and winery co-owner, Madelyn Naber)

And DH, ready to wet his whistle. LOL.
Oh, and there I am....behind the camera!

Oh, I almost forgot....also while we were there, the Perseid meteor shower was supposed to be at its peak. We stood outside on two different nights but didn't see too much activity. However, we DID see some. But I think we were looking too early in the night. The peak time would have been about 2AM on Monday. But I just don't do all-nighters anymore. LOL. Nasa posted an informative article of their site.

And just FYI, the next meteor shower will be the Orionids on October 21. Find more information here at Star Date Online.

Thanks Mark and Kathy, we had a wonderful time!