Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-Jig!

Well!  What a wonderful trip!  All one thousand or so miles of it.  I’m serious.  Those of you who’ve never lived in Texas, or at least visited, may not get how awesomely big our great state is.  Yes, I’m bragging.  I’m Texan, that’s what we do.  New England can fit inside our state.  Comfortably.  We had a vacation one year where we drove 2000 miles, and never left the state.  Really.

Mr. Man and I took off for Austin about mid-morning last Thursday.  Of course, we intended to leave about three hours earlier that day, so leaving about 10:30 put us right on schedule.  Because with us, you see, well, that’s how we work.  Good intentions and all that, but we are just NOT morning people.  We had a really nice drive, though.  I think air travel is neat (except for all the BS we have to go through now because of those damned terrorists) but you can’t beat a good road trip.  We took Dodger and Hermione, too.  They are such good little travelers.  There are some anxiety issues and such that we still need to work out, and they might have us frustrated, but they love to GO.  They just don’t like to STAY.  Alone.  Without me or Mr. Man.  And they are especially pissed now that we’ve started crating them during the day when we aren’t home.  I swore I wouldn’t do that, but these little mites are the most destructive critters I’ve ever shared a house with.  But their cage is large and roomy, and they have all the water and food they could possibly need…

Sorry, got a little side-tracked there. 

We always enjoy our trips on the road, as I was saying, and love to see all the different sights along the way.  The only thing we didn’t love was the traffic when we hit Fort Worth.  Talk about a bottle neck! I-35 always does that.  Thank goodness we weren’t there during the so-called rush hour.  Think they should come up with a better name for that, because we’ve been there other times at that time and it’s actually don’t-get-in-any-hurry-to-go-anywhere-hourS.  Yes, plural.  And you sure as heck better not have glugged a 44 oz. Diet Coke before hitting the city limits, because your eye-balls will be floating and you’ll be glancing to the nearest public building along the access road and weighing the odds of bolting from the car and making it back in time before the herd of rubber and metal and road rage cases breaks loose. 

But what am I bitchin’ about?  It wasn’t that bad for us this time. 

I love to catch all I can when we pass through the bigger cities.  All the different eating places and businesses.  I have always kinda judged my hometown’s place in the state by how many of the same businesses build here.  We’re growing, I suppose, but I’ve decided we are still small potatoes and probably always will be compared to D/FW, Austin, Houston and San Antonio.  Which frustrates me, in a way, because we could have so much more going on for us here, given our location and the “feeder” towns around us.  Not that I don’t love my hometown.  I think because I love it, I want to see it thrive.  Anyway, while I was sitting there dazzled by all the big city stuff, I waved to you, Britta and Candy! 

We made it past Fort Worth, but as we zoomed into Waco, I realized things weren’t going to let up anytime soon, traffic wise.  Even the people in line at Wendy’s couldn’t give me space in line when we stopped for supper.  Personal boundary issues down state, I swan.  I guess I should be happy my town isn’t any bigger than it is, and I have plenty of prairie for elbow room.

We finally cruised into Austin.  Well, Pflugerville, actually.  Whatever.  Austin’s another one of those towns that the city limits all blend together as the city sprawls out.  Mr. Man’s Brother and his wife, K & D,  just bought a new house there.  And it’s really nice.  I tell you, we love them to death, and always have a good time with them, but all the same, I think we should stay in a hotel next time.  I think Mr. Man agrees.  See, um, something always happens where we feel like we’ve intruded on their personal space, and we’d just rather visit and have a good time and not worry about it.  I’m always worried that I’m going to make a wrong move, and how can you relax and enjoy all of your visit when that’s going on?  This time, the pups were a big reason…they made potty mistakes in the house (dammit) and acted all whiney and screamy when their Auntie put them in ther cage before going to bed while we were attending the show Friday night. *sigh*  If we’re going to stay in a hotel, and continue to have them travel with us, that crap’s going to have to stop.  Also, K & D seem to have a need to always have the better of everything.  The  better deal, the better house, the ability to buy and sell anything at a better profit/quality/whatever.  They aren’t snotty about it, really. Really.  And they are very generous.  But it’s a competitive thing in general that kinda rubs a raw place after awhile, and especially when you are broke and behind like we are!  I know it’s our own doing, but well…it’s depressing, too. 

Mr. Man and I headed into downtown Austin after supper on  Friday night.  I was getting all antsy and excited, which I think amused him.  K & D warned us not to go up on the higher level of the highway leading to downtown, or else we might get trapped up there and never reach the theater.  So, naturally, we ended up on the higher level, but everything turned out just fine. 

Once we parked the car in the parking garage, we trotted ourselves down to Congress Avenue where the nightlife hummed.  Really.  A city with a nightlife!  Kewl.  The lights of the Paramount Theater pulsed around the colorful marquee; it looked almost as happy as I was that Craig Ferguson was in the house! That is the MOST beautiful theater I’ve ever been in in my LIFE.  Please, visit the link and take a virtual tour, though it really doesn’t do it justice.  The website does explain the fascinating history of the site though.  I believe this is where the Austin Film Festival takes palce, too.

The comedian opening for Craig was funny.  Which is good, I suppose, since that’s his job.  His name is Randy Kagan. (Yes, I found another joker named Randy.)  I found out he is also a writer for the Late Late Show.  (Man, I can’t wait for the Writers’ strike to be resolved.  It’s seriously digging into my CF viewing.) 

Then, the moment I’d been waiting for– CRAIG FERGUSON!  We were in the same room!  Breathing the same air!  It didn’t matter that we were at the very top corner of the balcony, I couldn’t see his face, or that I’d forgotten binoculars.  It was enough that I was there!  And that Mr. Man had given up his yearly trip to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra in concert, only an hour and a half away,  so that we could spend hours on the road–10 hours going and another 10 hours coming home and over 1000 miles on  his precious car–just to see a hot, funny, Scottish guy who makes me smile and laugh out loud.  Mr. Man thinks he’s funny too, but still.  As I said, my baby loves me.

After a delightful show, (FUNNY FUNNY FUNNY!) Mr. Man and I departed the theater (I had to stroll slowly out of it, I was so reluctant to leave such a beautiful place and have something I’d looked forward to for so long over with) and saw the line of people bending around the parking garage just to get inside to leave.  Just the thought of the crowd, the low ceilings, and the cars all trying to get out . . . *shudder*  Forget it.  I told Mr. Man that if I had to stand around and wait, I’d rather be doing something I hadn’t done before.  So, despite K & D’s dire warnings to stay away from the legendary and infamous 6th Street of Downtown Austin, Mr. Man and I trekked up and down both sides of it.  K & D were right, it is a circus.  We knew that kind of thing wasn’t their scene, so we’d taken their warning with a grain of salt.  There WERE a lot of drunk college kids (Austin is the home of the hallowed University of Texas, you know), but there were people of all kinds to see.  A homeless man sleeping in a doorway, seemingly oblivious to the ruckus.  Lots of nearly exposed boobies for Mr. Man to pretend not to notice.  Lots of lights and music and stores to catch my eye.  We passed one of the gay bars, and poor Mr. Man was a bit discomfited to see through the window the hugs and other gay guy stuff going on in there.   On the other hand, he was rather animated when he saw a couple of gals he thought might be lesbians  when we were walking on the other side of the street.  Hmm.  Go figure.  Suits, ragged jeans, pink and purple hair, tourists, a true mixed bag.   A Mecca for a people watcher like me. 

So, okay, been there, done that! 

As collected our car and wound back to Congress Avenue, we saw a truly awesome sight–the Texas State Capitol all lit up, just a couple of blocks down from the theater.  And on the way back to Pflugerville, we also glimpsed the UT Tower, all lit up at night.  Such a shame that a beautiful thing as this is associated with such a tragic event.

The overall trip ROCKED, and Craig Ferguson is everything I’d imagined him to be as an entertainer.  I’d hoped he’d sign autographs, like Randy Kagan did, but no such luck.  Rats. Maybe someday…