Weekend

[donutjay]

Friday

9:00am - woke up and was picked up by a co-worker. Instead of going to the office, we went to Lake Travis. Engineering was going sailing! One of the developers does some on-the-side web work for a time share sailboat company and has access to use their state of the art 28 foot sailboat.

The day was predicted to be thunderstorms and lightening, very very frightening, but except for drizzle just before we left the day was actually very nice. It was a little too nice. Sailing requires wind, and the day wasn't having none of that. No wind whatsoever. Luckily, the boat had a diesel engine so we could leave the dock area. Unluckily, the diesel engine overheated very quickly, and we couldn't go very far. We unfurled the sails and were able to go a whopping 5 knots. So, we just threw down anchor and broke out the burgers and hot dogs. And I jumped in the lake. The very cold lake. And then I jumped out. Very quickly.

All was well and good with the world. The day was nice. The hot dogs were tasty. The chips and salsa were salsa-rific. There was music and fun to be had by all. We needed it. We had just finished a tough release, and we're looking at another short time frame, major feature release real soon now. So, the downtime was a Good Thing (tm).

Until we tried to leave. That's when the wind picked up to 28-29 knots. In the wrong direction. Towards the sandbar. With the diesel engine not really working. In short, we got stuck. With thunderstorms predicted that afternoon and evening.

Nobody was really scared because in the worst possible scenario, we could just get out of the boat and walk to shore. We weren't really that far away from anything. We could even still see the docks.

So, the "captain" used his cell phone to great effect, and soon enough, we got a tow boat to come get us. Eventually. First they went the wrong direction for 20 minutes. And then turned around and finally found us. Think of a row boat with a 90 HP engine and a rope. We're not exactly talking high technology here. But it worked and we got to shore in one piece.

6pm
Got home, and immediately got into the car to head off to Fredericksburg, TX (an hour and a half away) for a weekend of bed, breakfast, and hiking. There was a state park that both J. and I wanted to see. The town also came highly recommended for it's shopping and food. So, we decided to take a weekend trip that didn't involved flying or weddings. J. drove because she wanted to exercise her automobile. It feels a bit neglected since all the driving she does it to and from work, and work is within 10 minutes of home. Only six thousand miles in a year and half. The car is practically brand new.

The drive itself was fairly easy. Go south on Mopac for awhile. Turn right onto 71/290. When prompted, stay on 290 for an even longer while. Drive through a lot of nothing, and then through the hometown of Lyndon Baines Johnson, and then through a lot more nothing until you come to Fredericksburg. You'll know it's Fredericksburg because the nothing turns into something, and there are a lot of roadside peach stands. Turn left at Washington Street and scan the dark roadsides for something that looks like a bed and breakfast. See a lot of bed and breakfasts but not the one you're looking for. Realize you've gone too far and turn around. Oh, there it is. Now you have to find parking. Instead of a parking lot, they have a dirt driveway with no definable places to park your vehicle. Pull in front of something that looks like a log cabin. Realize that's where you're going to be staying. Get your key, a recommendation for dinner, an order to be a breakfast at promptly 9 o'clock and go inside said log cabin.

We went to dinner to the place that we were recommended. It was a German steakhouse. J. had cheese schnitzel, and I had steak. Both were quite good, and quite deserved the recommendation. Then we went back to the log cabin since there's not much to do in Fredericksburg past 6pm. Small towns are like that. I guess we could have gone to the Walmart, but it's possible even that would have been closed.

Saturday
9am
Breakfast was an ordeal. I'm not used to big breakfasts. I know they're thing around here, but it's just not me. Give me scrambled eggs, or pancakes, or cereal, or french toast. But not potatoes, pork, and a strawberry blintz. I wish I had a more open stomach, and I know it was homemade and probably very good, but I couldn't eat it. I had some bread, part of the blintz, and tea. I hope I didn't offend them.

10am
We headed out to Enchanted Rock State Park, about 20 miles north of town. Wow. It's basically a huge honking boulder sticking partway out of the ground. Cost us $5 a piece to get into the park. We filled up the water bottle and started up something ominously called Summit Trail. I'm not sure why they called it a trail. Once you hit the big rock, there is no trail, there is only summit. As long as you keep yourself pointed towards the horizon, you're on the trail. It's about a 30 degree angle. It's pretty steep, and much easier to get up if you don't look down. Supposedly it rises about 450 feet in 1/6 of a mile. I guess that's a lot. It certainly felt like a lot.

11:30pm
We made it to the top. It's an amazing view which we will only have in our memories because I didn't check the batteries in the camera. They went from mostly dead to all dead while we were hiking. It's too bad that there won't be any triumphant shots of us on the top of the conquered mountain. So, while we were there, I did some bouldering. There were some rock formations and they were climbable. Some of them even had quasi-caves.

12:30pm
After the exhilaration of climbing to the top came the realization that what comes up must go down. We headed off in a slightly different direction and made our way down the rock face. It actually wasn't as bad as we though it might be. We found ourselves on another trail and decided to make our way around the back of the rock. The map seemed to indicate that it was about 2 miles or so.

2:00pm
We finally made it back to the beginning. By this time, the sun was doing its dirty work and beating down on us. We were almost out of water and pretty tired. But the country around there is quite beautiful, if stark. We saw flora and fauna a bundle. There were grasshoppers, lizards, birds, and a few deer. The deer were just off the path and we spent a few minutes in a staring contest with them, neither of us moving or making a sound. It was pretty intense. And then we got bored and kept walking. We also saw cacti (blooming, no less), and plants that we just don't know what they were. Kind of like our backyard.

2:30pm
Made it back to Fredericksburg. Had lunch at a place called the Peach Tree, gift shop and tea room. Not bad. I had a turkey burger. We also bought some mustard there. I think we got Sesame Ginger and something else. I'm curious to find out how they taste. Then we walked down main street and did some shopping. Typical small town non-chain antique and speciality stores. Cute but very little worth spending money on. J. got a neat little dolphin candle. It seemed like the clock struck 5pm very quickly and all the stores turned into pumpkins. So, we went back to the log cabin.

6:30pm
We went to a restaurant called the Hill Top. It was about 10 miles outside of town in a roadside cafe in the middle of nowhere, as usual. A very strange mix of Cajun and Greek. I had decent Fried Shrimp and J. enjoyed some Greek thingees and crab cakes. There was also a very good piano player there.

8:00pm
Back at Enchanted Rock State Park. We didn't climb to the summit this time, although I would have. It probably would have been very hard to get back down in the pitch dark. We watched the stars come out. One by one the poked their little white heads out of the ever darkening sky until we lost count. We stayed there until almost 10pm.

10:30pm
Got back to the log cabin and after working on a puzzle book for awhile, we fell asleep. It had been a long day.

Sunday
9am
Breakfast again. I'm not sure why I didn't just skip it. I should have, but I was optimistic. I shouldn't have been. Egg sandwiches with pork, glazed pear, and an apricot pastry. There was nothing I felt like I could eat. I hate being a picky eater, but I just can't break out of these eating habits.

9:45am
Went to the Admiral Nimitz Museum of the Pacific War. It was closed until 10am, so we just walked around the outside of it. They had a memorial garden with plaques for different soldiers or ships. It was absolutely fascinating. Each and every one had a story on it. I personally know a lot more about the war in Europe, for whatever reason, but it was amazing reading about the naval war. There was also a Wall of Presidents where it had the different president's contributions to WWII. And a Japanese Garden of Peace, which was a gift from Japan. In the end, we didn't even go into the museum. I guess we were cheap.

12:30pm
Home sweet home. And sofa shopping.

Fun thing to do:
Walk into sofa store. Sit on a sofa. Wait 15 minutes until someone comes over to ask if you need help. Say "I'll take this one". Watch his face as he realizes you're serious, and starts to calculate the commission he almost lost for ignoring you. Smile and accept his apologies for neglecting you. Pay in cash. (Except for the last part, the rest is personal experience, and it is as fun as it sounds. Not quite worth the cost of buying a sectional sofa and end tables unless you already need a set for your living room, though.)

7:00pm
X-Files series finale. Kinda good, kinda lame. Didn't make me regret not watching the past two years.

That's the weekend in a long nutshell. All in all a relaxing and fun weekend. Next week - fly to BWI, go to a wedding, drive to Virginia and back, and then fly back to Austin. **sigh**