Outdoor Rec

Yesterday I had a grin on my lips that wouldn't quit. Austin rocks! Austin seems to like me, too. My ego got a lot of stroking yesterday...all sorts of really cute guys started coming out of the woodwork to hit on me. The only weird one was an (old! ...like in his 50's) married guy who gave me the line of his wife not understanding him, not enjoying the outdoors, etc. etc., and did I want to go out in the backcountry with him sometime? Ick, gross, yucky!

The reason the backcountry came up in conversation? I was in Whole Earth Provisions, checking out all of the cool outdoor gear. (And the sales guys...) I ended up buying an Osprey Ariel 55 pack. My old pack was too small for taking on the PCT...even though I don't have much gear, I need lots of room for obscene amounts of water in the desert sections, and prodigious amounts of food in the high Sierras. (Old pack being 35 cubic liters, vs 55cl for new)

Osprey has three different styles of hip belts to choose from. Once I picked mine out, the belt was put in the special Osprey oven and baked for 10 minutes. After baking, I strapped it on and wore it around the store another 10 minutes to let the belt cool into shape, conforming to my unique hip anatomy.

After pack shopping, I tripped on over to Whole Foods for some supper. I was originally planning on going to Barton Springs at 9pm (They stop charging after 9), but I had so much fun talking to the cheese guy, I ended up saying to heck with biking over to the springs, and had a leisurely supper out on the patio.

Book People was on the menu next, and I stayed there until they closed at 11. Still not sleepy, I took the long way home...I bicycled to a bus stop, then sat there journaling for an hour. After letting all the buses that had my usual route go by, I got on a bus route that I hadn't been on before, for fun and excitement. I had a great time talking to the driver! Very cool guy, into bicycling and road tripping via car across the US. The bus went out of service at the end of the line (West Gate) but he had to loop back up past my road to get to the bus garage, so I kept riding, and was able to get dropped off just feet from my doorstep. Coolness :-)

Other nifty stuff that happened yesterday: I found a new cafe with oodles of ambiance, free wifi, and wicked good food. There, I had a turkey panini with southwestern sauce to die for, then followed it up by biking to the 24 hour mexican bakery and having a decadent slice of rich chocolate cake with a coconut/condensed milk frosting, ooey gooey cherry filling, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and a cherry. Yummy!