The Stars at Night are Big and Bright...

After departing New Orleans and tearing (driving exactly the speed limit at all times) through the rest of Louisiana Myk and I made it into Texas. We stopped to camp in Village Creek State Park in Lumberton, TX. Never heard of it? Well let me tell you their camping and trail-keeping is top shelf and they even somehow manage to pump town water into the park so we could fill our bottles and avoid dysentery (a common death of mine during my youthful days on the Oregon Trail). We are pretty sure that we were the only people in the park until suddenly (Cheri, you might not want to read this part!) a cockroach came literally flying into our midst out of nowhere. I know what you guys are thinking, “a cockroach? Come on J-Byrd don’t make me mock you mercilessly,” but let me tell you if I had tried to punch it in the face it would have had an easier time swallowing my fist. Luckily I managed to subdue it with a large log I was hatcheting up (it was coming right for me, you all saw it). We also had what Mychie kept calling “a little raccoon buddy” (it was a raccoon about the size of a great dane) lurking around. Despite the wildlife adventures of this particular campsite (did we tell you about worm campsite in Kentucky?) it was a lovely evening in Lumberton.

Hiya Kaya!!!

            The next morning we continued our trek across Texas arriving in beautiful Austin (before I go on I should warn all of you that after we left Austin we realized that we had taken almost no pictures whilst we were there).  We were staying with my dear friend Mike G ,whom I met in college in Springfield and has remained one of my favorite people of all time, and his wife Steph, who has easily become another of our favorite people. We got into town just as Steph was getting off work and hit the liquor store on our way back to their apartment. That was the last time any of us was to be going out for the evening, instead we sat around getting caught up on all of our lives, drinking whiskey, sharing the last of our tabbouleh, and playing with their hilarious cat Kaya. I am sure it comes as no surprise that the following morning involved yet another mega-hangover for our hero (me, Justin).

 Apologies for the Stock photo we don't
normally bring our cameras, phones,
or helicopters swimming with us.

            Mike and Steph suggested that we head out to Barton Springs for a swim in hopes of some revitalization. For those of you who may not know Austin is a peculiar little metropolis. It has the feel of a medium to large sized city but is injected with a ton of cool natural flourishes. One being the Green Belt (essentially a state park perfect for hiking and rock climbing that weaves in and around the city) and another being Barton Springs, which serves as the city’s main swimming hole. It is an actual spring to which they have added a cement border to give it a defined shape, but the bottom is like that of any other spring with reeds and other things living in it. When Myk, Mike, and Steph finally dragged me (our hero, Justin) out there and I jumped in, I discovered that despite the 90 degree heat outside the spring was still a crisp ~60 degrees. In short, HANGOVER DEFEATED!

            After our refreshing dip in the pool and a brief naptime for all involved, we headed out to Salt Lick BBQ and had unquestionably
the best BBQ I have ever had. Texas Brisket is, in fact, a force unto itself and any disparaging remarks I may have made in the past were misguided and I apologize sincerely for my ignorance.

BA-BOOM!

            While the best part of Salt Lick was obviously the food, the people running the place are no dummies. As we walked around the beautiful grounds drinking our BYOBs we stumbled upon a hammock garden. That’s right, a BBQ joint with a whole stand of trees full of hammocks. Needless to say we took full advantage of this perk.

            We ventured downtown that evening to meet up with Aidan Finnegan another great friend and spent the evening enjoying each other’s company over several rounds of Lone Star, “The National Beer of Texas.”

            We departed Austin yet again with a bittersweet farewell to people we love too much to see so sparsely. Fortunately this melancholy was quickly crushed by the monstrous monotony that is driving through west Texas. Seriously, it’s terrible. If you can avoid it, kids, do.

Mike G, keepin it real.