Travel log 3

I told Ruth and Nathan that they run a very fine bed and breakfast, and I will tell all my friends.

I had a nasty clogged sinus the first few days here, but that seems to have melted away with lots of sleep and some regular application of hot sun.

Today we had lunch at a gorgeous restaurant that sits on a cliff 450 feet above lake Travis. Deceptively big. Good food. Great view. Looking down on the multi-million dollar mansions in the hills reminded us of a view you might see in Italy.

We finally have a thin framework of a vacation plan. Rather than fly home, tomorrow we rent a car and drive home. We have a whole week to drive 1,174 miles. Google maps tells me that 17.5 hours of driving will be about getting to Minneapolis. The rest of the 168 hours will be goofing off and finding little personal places of interest, such as bed and breakfast, theater; who knows? We have our GPS and iPhone to help us ferret out the interesting stuff.

I am personally excited about the sensory deprivation tank and massage that we will be trying out in Minneapolis next Friday. Ninety minutes of sensory deprivation might be an interesting trip all by itself.

Travel log 2

I am serenaded by countless different kinds of birds as I wake up this morning. I had forgotten how pervasive birdsong can be when you are in a place where the temperature makes it possible to have an open window.

We are at Ruth and Nathan's house in rural Austin; catching up on some sleep and sunshine. As I write this, a dozen mini deer are grazing within a stone's throw in the back yard.

Travel log 1.5

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is now a play, billed as the most fantastic staging since The Lion King. Ruth and Nathan were so impressed that they bought us tickets. A few hours after being in Minneapolis we find ourselves in a fantastic theater in San Antonio. Inside, it looks like an outdoor theater. The ceiling is a big dome that looks like the night sky; at least 10 stories high and complete with stars and moving clouds.

The play had very good acting and music, but the staging was fantastic. Any number of times I laughed and even got tears in my eyes because of the novelty and clever magic in the staging.


Monday we saw some of the old missions (now owned by the national parks service.) It is fascinating to see how and why they lived there, and how they built the 3 foot thick walls. Lynn was so impressed by the 23 minute movie about the people that she bought a copy.

Now we are in the Austin area. The temperature will hit 80 today and it feels good to walk in the sun. We still haven't had to rent a car. That will come later.

Travel Log 1

We couldn't force ourselves to make plans. This trip had to unfold as the spirits guide it.

Saturday we leisurely visited various family members in the Brainerd lakes area; then we stopped in at the Brainerd airport and asked the price of a one way ticket to Texas. The good folks at Northwest-Delta said that last minute tickets always cost a lot. They then quoted us a totally outrageous price. We decided to drive.

We had gone less than a mile when we decided to stop at the cel phone store. Lynn traded in her ancient Nokia for an iPhone. This gave me a toy to play with while she drove. Soon it had taught us that plenty of airlines love to sell tickets at the last minue for a iny fraction of the price of Northwest-Delta.

We stayed at Embassy Suites (at a very good price) and set our alarm clock for 4:00 am to catch a Sun country flight. Even as we were going to bed, we couldn't bring ouselves to make a reservation. Things went smooth as silk. Got tickets cheap and upgraded them to first class for a reasonable price.

In Dallas we decided to hop a flight to San Antonio. That was twice the price of the flight from Minneapolis to Dallas, but everything went smooth as silk. We caught the very next flight (on standby) and made it to San Antonio before 11:00 am.

Lynn's parents picked us up and we had a great time.