Austin 101

Okay, we are back in Austin after our brief visit to San Antonio (which was so much fun!). I've been taking lots of pictures to post all over here when I get back but until then I'll tell you about our Texas history lesson! We watched a movie at an interactive theater about Texas history while we were at the Texas history museum. It was so fun. It looked like an old fashioned stage until they pulled up the screen. We got a little talk from "Sam Houston" about all the stuff that has happened in Texas. When they talked about the hurricane that hit Gavelston, Texas these lights that looked like lightening went off in the theater and we had water misted on us and felt the wind blowing and heard waves crashing. When they talked about the grasshopper plagues we felt little things hitting us in the dark. They talked about drilling for oil and the Nasa stuff and the chairs started vibrating. My favorite part though was when they talked about the rattle snakes and how people sat on them and all of a sudden an air strip chamber in our chairs puffed up really hard and made you jump cause it felt like you were sitting on a snake. I made Cheryl and Adam laugh because I gasped really loud and jumped when my chair suddenly felt like there was a snake in it. A lot of other people had the same reaction. They talked about how the cowboys put a piece of dynamite into a snake hole thinking it would blow up the snakes but it just sent snakes up in the air and they had snakes raining down on them, so I was expecting fake snakes to drop out of the ceiling instead of suddenly feeling like I was sitting on one. That caught me off guard. In the end "Sam Houston" finished by telling us that the same Texas spirit in those settler is in us too (Texas spirit being bravery, courage, etc...apparently Texans consider those to be strictly Texan traits so we non-Texans can all carry a bit of Texas with us.) I thought that was hilarious. It's so funny to be driving down the highway and all along the walls are Lone Stars engraved in the walls and sometimes you see outlines of Texas engraved on the walls. You go into almost any store and you can find Texas stuff like tee shirts and cups and key chains and everything is in burnt orange. They are so proud of their state. It's very different from home. When I was working at the dentist office the people who worked there would wear WVU tee-shirts whenever the Mountaineers were going to play so I remember going to Walmart to find a WVU tee shirt and couldn't find anything. Here, UT stuff is all in your face.

Well, we have to go pack up some food to take with us on our next adventure! We are going to Zilker Park to the outdoor hillside theater to see Beauty and the Beast. Each year Zilker puts on a free musical show during the summer. 2 years ago Jacqueline, Cheryl and I watched 7 Brides for 7 Brothers there and it was so good so I'm really excited to go back this year. When it gets dark they start the show and you sit out with your camp chairs and blankets and dinner and watch the play. I like how family friendly it is here. Even if you don't have a lot of money, there is a lot of stuff to do.

Okeydokey, I'll end here. I miss you all back home! I'll see you Tuesday. :)