Saturday recap...a long one

So...it's 11:25 at night and I'm eating caramel rice cakes in my Austin hotel.  Let me just explain how today went down. 


5:30-alarm goes off.  Hit snooze
5:47-Magnus rams his head into the backdoor blinds as that is my signal he would like to go on a leisurely stroll through the backyard.  Think to myself "please lay back down."
5:48-realize I set my alarm for a reason and I need to leave the house for my morning race by 6:30.  Hop out of bed and say a four letter word.
7:15-have had my cream of wheat, energy drink, and standing at the starting line with Glenda waiting for our run to start and getting somewhat rained on, which is ok, I like the temps. 
7:17-Tackle the big hill that is worthy of another four letter word being said. 
7:17 to 7:44:56-Glenda runs ahead of me but remains in my sight.  When I catch up to her we finish together, high fiving at as we run through the finish line.  #awesome
8:00ish-spot free blender bottles and am pretty darn excited.  Should've had the cute guy handing them out give me the free massage offered with it but I was overly excited about a free blender bottle. 


Fast forward to finishing up collecting free goodies, showering, and giving lots of love to the dogs who hate when they see the suitcase.

12:45-text from TripCase app flight delayed from 2:05 to 2:20.  That's cool.  "I have a 4 hour layover in Dallas anyway so whatevs." 
1:15-Flight delayed from 2:20 to 4:45
2:00-Flight delayed from 4:45 to 6:05.  Okayyyy....now we are not only talking that I'm missing out on the chance to grab my Auntie Anne's almond pretzel in Dallas but also missing my Austin connection. 
3:30-plane we are waiting on leaves Dallas and we are now leaving at 5:30. Try to update blog in airport and internet says no.
5:30-Finally...leaving Como. Sidenote-it was cheaper to upgrade to first class than pay for 2 checked bags. Seems ridiculous but getting offered drinks before leaving..."Ms. Ray would you like some m&ms or pringles?" and mints later...not to mention hopping right on the plane with no lines...THAT was nice. I could also hear the conversations between the flight attendants and heard "tomorrow is an easy day...Birmingham, Chattanooga" and I thought about how I used to want to be a flight attendant so I could fly all over the world.  But their life has to be very different. Do they ever really get a "Friday?"
 Then I was the first person off the plane. What? I didn't even know what to do. Stand up and wait awkwardly while the flight attendant opens the door? Yes, that's it.
7:00-arrive in Dallas with 55 mins before my next flight boards. No Auntie Anne's in my area. Four letter word.
8:20-leaving for Austin and someone across the aisle has Chinese. My mouth waters as I think about Pei Wei. I had a little mac and cheese before leaving the house today and some trail mix from the run. Have some candy in my purse that doesn't sound good at all.
9:47-I know these times exactly because I am tired and hungry and looking at my watch impatiently while waiting on my bags so I can get my rental car.
10:00-in line at Hertz because although I have a car waiting I forgot to ask for GPS. The man in front of me takes his cell phone out and starts playing some sort of instrumental music on speaker. I am burning a hole in his back with my eyes and want to tell him I don't want to hear the soundtrack to his life. And he has a lame soundtrack. (tired and hungry remember) he continues to play the music while getting his rental
10:15-in my rental..a nice 2015 Nissan Altima..heading out...get the go ahead from the rental girl. Wondering why the car seems so dark and I can't find the defrost button but can't worry about that cause Austin drivers are freaking crazy. 10 mins later..."Are my lights even on?" WTH my lights aren't on. Could someone have said something like oh..the rental girl who said go on thru the gate or the crazy people passing me! Turn on my lights and oh look at that there's the defrost button. I'm even more of a blonde when tired. Four letter words were said.
10:30-See a sign that says "turn around don't drown flash floods possible"  Catchy.
10:45-finally at my hotel. Check in and the lady tells me my wifi password is cookie "of course why wouldn't it be food right now", shower and settle in to update blog. Hence my rice cakes as they were my in my purse from the Como airport.

Update...8:17 Sunday morning- as my internet literally rebooted every 5 minutes last night I jumped from my typical 4 letter word to a 12 letter word starting with mother. Finished my rice cakes and crashed! Went down to breakfast this morning to discover on weekends it starts an hour later.  More 4 letter words. (still hungry and still pretty tired but not as bad) Finally...now I am full of oatmeal and finishing up this long post. Gonna see if I can safely hike Mt. Bonnell today and may hit up Krispy Kreme on the way. Got some calories to make up for from yesterday. ☺

Austin, TX Part 1

I was in Austin for work Tuesday through Saturday last week and took some time to explore.  I had heard there is a lot to see and do there...and there is.  There is also a lot of crazy traffic.  That part I did not enjoy.  

 

 The first night I ventured downtown to Lady Bird Trail.  It's an awesome trail that goes about 11 miles around Town Lake. 

 I spent about an hour and forty five minutes there.  I tried running but mostly walked because there were so many areas to stop to take photos. 

 By the time I got back to my hotel to take a shower this was my total steps for the day...pretty sure that's my record since I've owned my FitBit. 

Night two I ventured to Brushy Creek which has a "trail" however in order to hike the actual trail you have to hope the water is low enough to cross.  I did not get that into it and just took some pictures of the areas I could get to without getting wet. 

 After Brushy Creek I went to the Arboretum which is a shopping/eating area.  I stopped by an ice cream shop and had a Banana Pudding shake which was a nice appetizer for dinner!  I was pulling out of the shops when the colorful Tervis store sign caught my eye.  I drove around to circle back and entered the mecca that was the Tervis store.  So many choices but the two above were what I walked out with. 



Finally I was ready to find some food and found a recommended Tex-Mex place and thoroughly enjoyed some sour cream enchiladas.  It was a good night.   

 My last night there I wanted to hike Mt. Bonnell however...it was raining slightly and everyone at work recommended I not take the risk of slipping off a cliff.  I was leaning towards agreeing with them.  So instead I went to Zilker Botanical Garden.  I had a blast walking around the garden.  It was almost empty since it wasn't the best weather.  It was only $3 to get in and totally worth it.  The structure above is a window from and old home.  I tried to take a selfie with it...worked better in theory.

 The coolest part was the Woodland Fairy trail.  Cutest little fairy homes throughout the trail.  There was sparkly pixie dust involved.

 Yes, I did throw a penny down here and make a wish.

 I mean a tire swing.  Really?  #details

Then on my way out I saw this and thought "oh cute, lovebirds!"  Yeah.  Not real.  They got me.  After the Gardens I found Trader Joe's.  Score.  Got a sample of Peach Moscato.  Delicious.  I may be going back for that.  The woman there told me anything I wanted to try she'd open for me.  What?  That's a dangerous thing to offer up.  I'd like to try it all.  After purchasing banana chips and cookie butter sandwich cookies at TJ's I went off to Pei Wei where I picked up dinner for the 3rd night out of 4 nights that week.  Having the Pei Wei near my hotel where I am staying is going to be very nice.  I'll be heading back there Saturday and staying a few weeks for training.  (hopefully all the flooding will be subsided by then) Plenty of time to see what else Austin has to offer. 

A new journey

So I took a very long break from blogging but recently decided I really missed it.  Instead of starting my old blog back up I decided to create a new one.  It's in the beginning phases so I'll be sprucing it up a bit.  But it's a new journey from a new point in my life.  A lot has happened since I stopped blogging before but I don't really want to rehash past events.  So here we are.  Working on finding the beauty in the miles...whether it's during running, traveling, or just living.