And the Rocket's Fireworks' Red Glare...

This past three day weekend was much needed and enjoyed! Ali, Pita and I drove down to Austin on Thursday night and stayed with my parents. We got up early Friday morning to float the river at Don's Fish Camp, just outside of San Marcos, with my friends from high school. I'm pretty sure my dad insisted that I wear a long sleeve shirt and a hat. Instead, I decided to use sun screen and was determined to come home without a sunburn. I'm not really sure what happened, but I know for sure that I got what I like to call "tube burn." My back, the back of my thighs, and my triceps, were burned. Not because I didn't put sunscreen in those places, but because the tube burned them. Trust me, I've been burned plenty of times, but I've never been in as much pain as I was on Friday. Caveat to the tubers: watch your back. If I could go back in time, I would not wear a long sleeve shirt, but I would bring a small towel to put between me and the tube.

After our 5 hour float, Ali, Pita and I came back home to eat dinner with my parents. My mom's body pretty much crashed this past week and she wasn't feeling well, so my dad bought her a salad to eat while we went to Fuddrucker's. After dinner, we met back up with my friends for a night out on 6th Street to celebrate Kirsten's 23rd birthday! Happy Birthday Kirsten! I can't remember the last time I stayed out, much less up, until 2:00 am. I was surprised that my RLS didn't kick in. Maybe beer keeps it under control... I'll do some responsible experimenting and get back to you with a conclusion to my hypothesis.

We spent all day at the house on Saturday and it was so nice to lay around and do nothing. The highlight of the afternoon was when we went to Sam's Club with my dad. For as long as I can remember, my dad and I have had our father-daughter dates at Sam's. It's a perfect place for us because we get free food while we score big on bulk item purchases. For dinner, my dad cooked a mean brisket and some ribs, my mom made her famous potato salad, and I made my almond and garlic green beans. It is always such a treat to have a home-cooked meal, especially with my family. After dinner, we met back up with my friends for the fireworks show at Auditorium Shores. I was in charge of finding parking among the other 100,000 people who decided to head out to watch the show. Jenn remembered that a shuttle picked up from Barton Creek mall last year. Perfect. We were right on time for the 8:35 pm shuttle. One slight problem. The the last bus ride back to the mall was at 9:50 pm, but the fireworks show wasn't going to be over until 10:00 pm. Nice work Capital Metro. Oh well. If we didn't get on, we would miss the show.

The arrow in the picture above is pointing to where we sat. The fireworks picture is, obviously, where the fireworks were.

Afterwards, we walked about a mile down the road to my favorite restaurant in Austin, Chuy's, to eat some chips and creamy jalapeno while pondering on how we were going to get back to the car. Thank you to one of the dads for coming to our rescue!

I'm thankful that I still have such great relationships with my friends from Austin and look forward to the next time I'm in town!