freebies and fun

My day in Austin started with doughnuts and ended with getting free tee shirts from this local company that made this hovering taser bot that was featured on CNN.

But I think you want to know the details, and I'll start at the start and go chronologically because that is how I do.

I had a restless night sleep, probably due to that mocha. I didn't sleep it. I got up, had a much needed shower, and set about equipping myself for the day. I even put on a smidge of makeup to look nicer.

First up: Gourdough's. A doughnut shop Rachel recommended for me. I parked in a residential neighborhood near the converted airstream that was the doughnut shop. Ohhh food trucks, I didn't know how much I missed you! They are the best idea and Santa Cruz really should have them.

I don't find myself missing Santa Cruz as a place.

Anyway. I ordered the "the puddin'" which is a creme filled doughnut with creme cheese and bananas on top. Oh it was massive and decadent and just over the top. And of course it was good. But much too big for one person. Totally a sharing type doughnut.

It was a beautiful day. 80-90 degrees, sunny. Perfect walking weather. So I walked up and down 1st street a bit. I returned to my car and headed to see one of the sites Ivar wrote down for me. It was this "cathedral of junk" which is this house with all these odd ball constructions and things, but it was $10 to really check it out and I was like... naaaah. So I headed out. A reoccuring theme for the day was driving back and forth across Austin, but Austin like Santa Cruz only seems to take 15 minutes to drive anywhere. And even when traffic backed up, it didn't stay that way for long and I rarely had trouble finding parking.

I checked out the pink granite capital building and got a crushed penny. In the visitor's center they had a hall devoted to the time Texas tried to do its own thang, and they had reproductions of the money of the time. That was neat. From the capitol building I parked again in a residential area near Congress street and walked up and down there. They had some neat antique shops, but their old photos were vastly over priced (any old photo of some rando shouldn't be more than a buck) and they were selling letterpress type for five bucks a pop! Like 1) that type is still useable and 2) FIVE BUCKS for a little LETTER M??? What? Stupid. There was a candy shop and I got some candy, of course. And at an awesome book shop that has all the pretty editions of books (and was selling an 11 year old copy of Shounen Jump for ten bucks which was also stupid like those type pieces) I picked up the Hockney biography I've had my eye on for a few years. Hard back, but cheaper than the used copies were at Logos in Santa Cruz. So I'm stoked to read that on my journey. Love his work, and he is still making work. The biography only goes up so far. Haha.

I came to the end of the funky shop section of Congress, so I returned to my car and went to find a park to sit in. I found one, sat and wandered around a bit. Then I drove on. Then I spent a bit of time just driving around Austin. It's a pretty easy city to drive around. I snacked. It's not a bad city at all. I'd like to come back and spend some time doing the more museum/venue type things. But I had one main thing to do: see a movie at the Alamo Drafthouse. So I bought a ticket to the 5:10 showing of Godzilla, and I ordered some beer and a grilled cheese to come to me whilst I watched the movie.

Oh and I just ended up paying to park downtown, because I wanted my car nearby but I also wanted to wander up and down 6th after the showing of Godzilla.

Anyway, the theater had assigned seats and this guy Stephen (Steven?) was assigned next to me. Nice guy. During Godzilla, which was fun by the way and it didn't go the way I was expecting it to and it didn't drag it's heels on certain plot points, Stephen and I snickered at the same things and grinned excitedly when Godzilla did Godzilla things. He was a good movie buddy. All in all, it was a great movie experience. I love good theaters.

Music was playing from every other bar. I was lured into one with no cover, so I ordered a whiskey and updated my journal. They finished their set (they were all right, no Odd Owl of course) and I continued out. I struck up a brief conversation with the guy who told me to come into the bar in the first place, and I forget exactly what I said but he thought I was awesome and he asked me to marry him. But he hasn't read Hitchhiker's Guide so NO DICE. So I walked on till the street turned into business land, and looped around. I went into the Elephant Room for a bit but the musician wasn't set to play for another hour so I continued on. Some bars had bands playing to near empty rooms, and I felt bad for them but not enough to go in and support them because they weren't all that.

I swung by my car and swapped my shoes. Then I returned to sixth unsure of what to do: return to the jazz club? Go back to that no cover place? Wander more? But then Stephen showed up and was like "hey, what are you up to?" and I was like "nothing" and so we hung out. We went to this club that had no cover because I was with him and he knew the people there. It was early in the night still so it wasn't hoppin'. Stephen bought me a beer (a Coors, which I forgot makes me feel ill in the morning even if I drink one) and we chatted about travel and whatnot. It was his birthday! 25! It was fun to be introduced to people as someone on a road trip and how me met just a few hours prior at Godzilla due to being both there on our own. Stephen works for a tech company in town, and he showed me his office because he had to swing by there to charge his phone. I was just in the mood for hanging out. Plus after that Coors it became "time to sober up for a few hours so I can drive back to the couch I'm crashing on". I got a freebie water from his company AND he gave me four free shirts! Booyah. And they are a pretty cool logo, so I know I'll wear them. Haha.

Anyway, once his phone was charged a bit, we went back to that one bar. Later in the night we got separated when he went outside to take a call and I went to the bathroom. I talked to this Ukrainian guy who had been in America for 6 days and would be in Austin for a few more months. His English was very good and he was wearing a very cool jacket.

So with my bag stuffed with free shirts and a day of good memories and walking about, I headed back to Colin's house and couch. I definitly had a good day in Austin. I could stay longer but I'd just spend more money. I should play it frugal these next few states. Which will be Oklahoma and Kansas. I don't know what I'll be doing in these states. I think I'll set today's GPS for Oklahoma City. Tool around, maybe grab a bit to eat, and then drive till a rest stop. Or something. I dunno. Maybe I should just focus on getting out of Texas.

Ohhh Museum of Osteology! That sounds cool.

Okay, I'm having tea and now I guess my blog is written up. Time to pack and head out and knock a few more states down. I hope that being done with Texas means the states will go faster. Two weeks of travel!

In the first two weeks, I drove 3265 miles at 43.8 mpg.