Austin, Texas

We had to find out for ourselves if the stars are big and bright deep in the heart of Texas. And, they are. We just spent a great three-day weekend with old friends from UW-Madison, Jack and Roxanne. They are living in Austin and were kind enough to show us the city and countryside.

Our first stop was for good Tex-Mex and a beautiful view of the sunset over Lake Travis. We also sampled some local Texas-sized brews at a local haunt, which provided complimentary ponchos for the "chilly" 60-degree nights.

We also found a shuffleboard table in downtown Austin, although we are apparently rather rusty at our old favorite bar game. The lack of side walls really impaired our game. Or maybe it was just the Texas-sized beers. At any rate, see Rachel miss her shot below.

The next day took us to the hill country of central Texas, where we hiked to the top of Enchanted Rock, a 1800-foot high granite rock formation. You can see how the rock is eroding in great slabs of the side of the formation.

We were also really excited to see Louie, Roxanne and Jack's fabulous dog (just don't tell him that he's a d-o-g). He accompanied us on all our hikes and we enjoyed some face-to-face time in the car. Unfortunately, Louie wouldn't fit into our carry-on suitcase, so we'll have to plan another trip to steal the best dog in the world. Here is another shot of Enchanted Rock, taken as we hiked around the formation.

Finally we headed out to a clasic pit barbecue place, Coopers, in Llano Texas. It was amazing. I've never ordered meat by the inch before, but if you have the chance I highly recomend it. below is our ribs and brisket order, in all its saucy goodness.