Movin' on up

We are slowly packing and trucking and dragging all our belongings on the 20-some hour trip from South Carolina to Texas. After I first arrived with a carload, Andy came out for a week. We acquired a few new pieces while he was there. The Beverly Hillbillies have come to town...

And we made our first trip to the incredible maze of brilliantly designed housewares known as Ikea. Holy moly. We could've spent days in there. Apparently other people can too...they have cafeterias serving all sorts of serious food, like rib dinners and, appropriately, Swedish meatballs. We only had time to score a couple of things, including this awesome, drawered, folding dining table.

I'm back in Myrtle Beach now helping to box up Andy's apartment for the final leg of the move. We'll hit the road in our Penske truck on June 1.

While packing is fun (sarcasm), the highlight of this trip home was Aunt Patty and Uncle Phil's wedding on May 22. Congrats to the lovebirds...

-Jax

Our first day trip...

Soon after Andy flew in from Myrtle Beach we took a pseudo-work trip to Kyle, TX. A quaint little town about half an hour south of Austin, it's home to Texas Old Town, a hand built theme park turned event center that could double as the set for Bonanza (OK, don't know if I've ever actually seen that show but you understand the feel I'm trying to convey). After our scouting mission we weaved through the town's main streets looking for eats.

Luvianos Mexican Restaurant caught our eye with its brightly colored accents and authentic looking exterior.We grabbed a booth by the window; by now we were tired of being out in the blazing heat (and it's only the beginning of June). Our server quickly approached with the obligatory chips and salsa. This was the day I figured out that I don't really care for thick tortilla chips. Unfortunately I couldn't hide them under their watery, over-spiced salsa either.

My cheese and chicken enchiladas, laced and stuffed with a cheddar cheese blend instead of the queso blanco I'm used to, were pretty average but filling. Andy seemed to like his omelet, especially constructing the perfect mouthful by combining a fork load of all the elements and following it with a bite of tortilla. At least when the cheap bill came, we felt like it was worth the price.

On our way through town we passed a plot full of bbq-ing wood. Different trees splintered and neatly stacked for customers hoping to impart a certain flavor to their next hog.

Here I'll admit that I was damn near grown before I learned that in addition to being a BBQ potato chip flavor, mesquite was also a tree; a hardy, shrub like plant that grows from northern Mexico to southern Kansas and westward, according to wikipedia. You can also grind mesquite tree bean pods up to make flour or soak the leaves in water to make medicinal eye drops apparently. It's used to make furniture and, of course, to smoke or grill anything you can fit over a BBQ pit. It sounds kind of like the Hickory of Texas.

Let's get physical

I passed my NASM personal trainer and fitness instructor exam! Now I can officially pump you up... Woot! Woot!

-Jackson

The digs…

I rolled into Austin and drove straight to our new place on the afternoon of Cinco De Mayo. Arriba!

It’s perfect. Definitely large enough for the two of us, lots of feng shui in the layout, cool angles and curves everywhere, tall ceilings- I’m saying 12 to 14 feet, a huge bathroom with a correspondingly large garden tub, near floor to ceiling windows on one wall of the living space that have a view of the hills, French doors that open to reveal a shallow balcony and a huge shade tree and the landscaped pool and bbq area off to the left, a cool stone fireplace, sizable kitchen with a pantry big enough for that ‘stockpile food’ syndrome I inherited from my family…ahhh…this place is going to make a great home.

Andy and I got to break it in a little this week. He flew in from Myrtle Beach for what I was hoping would be a vacation-esque trip but turned out to be a lot of work for him. That’s good though. We rounded up some things for the place. I would love to show you some pics but…

I used google to find an address and paper maps to try and find a best buy today. How old school. Finally made it there only to discover they are completely sold out of compact flash card readers and as such, I have no way to get the new pics off my camera and onto the computer. Bummer. I was just so tired of having our blog but having nothing written on it yet that I decided to dispense with the photos for now and simply go with words. Now I must quit playing and get back to studying. Have my National Academy of Sports Medicine exam in the morning. Eeeeek…