PUB CRAWL WEEKEND IN AUSTIN

Finally! I had to purchase software, but I recovered all pictures from all three cameras. Whew! Enought of that, I'm going to recap our great Austin weekend adventure. Gary and I drove my SUV, and we picked up Mark and Sheila around 11am Saturday morning. We had a fairly pleasant trip, no bad traffic, and arrived in Austin around 3pm, which was right on schedule. Carlos was a little late due to traffice he had driving in from the Houston area.

Our rooms were not ready when we arrived, but we needed to get changed for dinner. The hotle got them ready as quick as they could, but Carlos' room didn't get ready in time. Thus, he and Sue went to my room and got dressed. Then Ralph and Margie arrived and they too needed to change clothes. The closet became a dressing room for the guys, and the gals got the bathroom. If you needed to "use" the potty, you had to use the one in the hall. We finally got ready, and headed for the restaurant. We ate at Judge Hill's Mansion. I had purchased groupons (everyone paid me back.... I don't want to make it sound like I paid for everyone) and we all got a four course tasting menu for $37 each. They don't usually allow more than 2 coupons per group, but made an exception for us. They allowed all of us to use our groupons, and sit together. DO YOU HEAR THAT CHAMBERLAINS???? (long story)

Carlos, Sheila, Sue, Mark, Ralph, Margie, Gary

We visited while our order was turned in. They started us out with some fresh hot bread. Then our four course dinner started.

FIRST COURSE: Chevere Cheese (wrapped in grape leaves) Plate which was made locally. It came with blueberries, fruit, crackers, spicey nuts, and something that we all liked but never expected.... hot mustard (Chinese style) and sweet and sour sauce.

COURSE TWO: Too many selections to remember them all, but I selected Fried shrimp, stuffed with a habenero mixture, AND a bowl of Poblano Soup. Both were to die for. We had our choice of three items, the third was a berry salad, which Gary got. It was just your regular routine salad, but the shrimp and soup were crowd pleasers.

I forgot, we each ordered a bottle of wine.

COURSE THREE: Selections again.... FILET Steak (Mark ordered that), shrimp, Pecan Crusted Trout (several orered this, including Gary), and I ordered Chicken Fried Antelope with Green Hatch Chili Gravy. It was to die for!

Pecan Crusted Trout

Chicken Fried Antelope

FILET Steak

COURSE FOUR: We selected either Cheese Cake with Berries, or my pick, Chocolate Chip Tart. Both were very good. Gary and I spent $70 additional over the cost of the groupon, but they total the regular price of the food, then added a gratuity, tax, wine, etc. It was well worth it. Gary even tipped a little extra because they were so accommodating. Here are a couple of pictures of the outside of the mansion.

We all climbed back into the SUV, and we were off for the hotel again so we could change back into our bike attire. Same system on the clothes, cause Carlos' room wasn't ready, and the rest of us needed to change. Then, we were off to the pub crawl. I purchased everyone an umbrella hat to wear on the pub crawl. I figured it would be more comfortable than a bike helmet. Ralph loved his! We actually met the Crawl guy at a storage place. That's where they keep the bike. It weighed slightly more than I did...... 2700 pounds, and cost appx. $30,000. Margie wants to buy one. You go girl! I also gave everyone a step counter to place on their shoe. It was a contest to see who peddled the most. Man, I was taking names so I could kick butt if someone didn't work!

There were only 8 of us, and they prefer at least 10 people. NOW THEY TELL ME. The other group launching at the same time had 16 people, all in their mid 20's. Our tour guide informed us that he wasn't sure we could handle the bike, but we all wanted to try, and he agreed. Both groups left at the same time, and the other group decided they would pass us and show us up. Well, we all kicked it in high gear and left them in the dust. Honestly, course when we got out of site, we all stopped and rested. Whew, it was tough. It was also hotter than hell!

Our first stop was a bar with a swimming area. Yup, blow up pools, and a lot of out of shape people wearing speedo's and bikinis. UGH.

We all got something to drink, and we were off again. At one point in the trip, we stopped to rest.

4 girls in high heels and push up bras came over to talk. We convinced them to join us and help us get back to the storage place. All it took was free beer, and they hopped on. We made a stop not too long after that, and they all got off in their high heels, walked to the nearest bar, and declared they'd rather walk the 9 or so blocks back to their car than peddle any more. Seriously, they did have a blast. We all did, but it was hard work. Here is a video taken while the 4 gals were still with us.

We finally made it back to the end. I took all step counters and added up the totals. Sue came in first with a little over 3100 steps, and Carlos was second with 2900 steps, and Gary was third with 2300 steps. I'm leaving it at that. Due to their hard work (or cheating.... some people were holding them in their hands and shaking them before turning them in) they were rewarded with a gift basket from Centennial Liquor Store once we got back to the hotel.

SUE AND CARLOS

PUB CRAWL PEDDLE WINNERS

Ralph and Margie ended up driving back to Horseshoe Bay to stay there. Sue, Carlos and Gary wimped out and went to bed, but Mark, Sheila and I decided to go next door to the hotel and listen to the live music. Mark and Sheila paid my way in, and bought me a margarita. We had very good seats, and the three of us really liked the girl singer, Carrie Hudson. She was the warm up act for the headliner band, and then she was like a back-up singer for the headliner band. I do not remember their name. They weren't near as good as Carrie.

We finally turned in at midnight. We all regrouped the next morning, and left the motel around 8:45 am, heading for Salado. Sheila, Mark, Gary, Carlos, Sue and I met up there and had breakfast at the Stagecoach Inn Coffee Shop before going to the golf course. We we got there, Margie and Ralph were ready to play. Gary went to visit a nearby lake (he's looking for lake property), and Sue went shopping.

The rest of us played a game I came up with...... Wolf. I modified it a little, and it worked out pretty well. The 3 guys played against each other, and we 3 gals did the same. I was the strong player on the front 9, till the last hole where I went wolf alone cause I was bored and way ahead. That was my first mistake. Unfortunately, it wasn't my last.

The back nine was awful, and I was the worst player. Carlos didn't do much better, cause he and I were a team, and he couldn't shoot well enough to compensate for Margie deciding to clean up. So did Ralph. They came in first place, then Mark and Sheila, then Carlos and me. The Storey's won a gift certificate to Centennial Liquor Store. They were happy with that. Beats the crap out of what the rest of us won..... NADA!

It was hot! When we finished, we all headed up I35 at about the same time, and stopped in Temple and ate at Five Guys Burgers. They were pretty good, but I still prefer WhataBurger. Then, we hit the road again. The traffic was terrible! It was stop and go until we were almost in Dallas. It was tiring, to say the least. Gary and I dropped off Sheila and Mark, then came home and crashed. That was Sunday.... finally today, I felt half way decent.

Tomorrow Sheila and I play golf at Stone Creek again. I will post pictures of that course tomorrow. For now, I'm heading to bed. If this has spelling errors, ignore them. It took hours for me to retrieve the videos and pictures that got erased in error from the SD card. I am a firm believer in WinRecovery software. It cost $40, but was well worth it. Later....