The Last Three Weeks

As I mentioned in my last post, Dave had a three week training in Ohio. I was pretty bummed about it, but I decided that I would try to have some fun while he was gone. I wasn't going to let myself have a pity party, so I spent the first week in New Mexico hanging out with my aunt and golfing. The second week, Hailee and I drove down to Austin, Texas to visit Lindsay and her cute little fam. It was so nice to catch up and have some fun. Some of the highlights: We visited the Bat Cave in downtown Austin (it's actually a bridge, but it's more fun to call it the Bat Cave), we went to the San Marcos river and brought inflatable kayaks, and we got caught in a torrential downpour.

Texas

The Bat Cave:
This bridge is home to 1.5 million bats, making it the largest urban bat colony in North America. Each night when the weather is nice, the bats fly out and search for food. I was hoping to get some good shots of the bats, but the sun was completely down by the time they flew out, so there wasn't enough light, but I did get some pretty good night-shots of the city.

This was my favorite shot. Batman was actually filmed near here. You may recognize the building with the peaked roof and white lights from the movie.

I also liked this one from the top of the bridge. I think both of these pictures were ten second exposures.

 San Marcos River:

The San Marcos is a slow-moving, spring-fed river. The water is a really pretty aqua color. There were tons of people there the day we went, so you can spot bright yellow tubes in all of my shots. Bummer.

Jeff (Lindsay's husband) and I took the kayaks farther down the river where there were some rapids. I wasn't too scared to take them on, but maybe I should have been. I went down the largest rapid which has been dubbed "The Shoot," but I wasn't quite prepared for it. At the last second, my kayak turned sideways and flipped over. The rapids sucked me under, but thankfully I was able to push my way up to the surface. While it was quite a shock, I still had fun, and the water wasn't too cold. I have some pretty sweet bruises from it, but I'd probably try it again if I got the chance.

Fun fact of the day: While everyone else in the nation would pronounce it San Marcos, Texans pronounce it San Marcus. Annoying.

The Torrential Downpour:

Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of this, so you'll have to use your imaginations.

Hailee, Lindsay, and I were about ready to leave a store when it sounded like the building was going to cave in due to a herd of elephants doing the Macarena on the roof. A lovely Texas storm had rolled into town.  The parking lot had become a lake in about 5 seconds. We debated on whether or not we should wait for the rain to stop (we had two babies with us) or just run to the car. We waited it out for 5 minutes or so, when we decided the rain wasn't going to stop any time soon. We ran to the car as fast as we could, strapped in the kiddos, and jumped in. We were soaked, and driving home was NOT fun. The rain never let up, and did I mention it was at night? We're talking flash-floods, lighting, the whole shebang. I think our top speed was about 15 mph, but better safe than sorry, folks! It was pretty nerve-wracking, and I'm really glad I wasn't the one driving. After we got back to the house, we found out that there was a tornado warning for the area, so that's something to write home about.

Ohio

After I got back to NM, I had a day to recover from my trip before I flew out to Ohio. Dave wanted me to fly to Dayton and then drive back to NM with him. Because I'm crazy, I agreed to do it. We decided to celebrate our anniversary by going to an amusement park called Cedar Point. I was reeeeeally excited, because I love roller coasters, and I've heard good things about Cedar Point. It took everything in me to keep myself from running to the gates like an overexcited child.

We got our passes and went on a few roller coasters. I was in Heaven, but Dave... not so much. Unfortunately, he has the worst motion-sickness I have EVER seen. After two rides, I think he had about had it. We had made sure to stock up on medicine for him beforehand, but it didn't seem to be doing much. However, he was being a trooper, because he knew I was having tons of fun. Please enjoy the following reenactment of what happened on roller coaster #4.

Dave's thinking: I hate roller coasters, but I love my wife. Ashlee's thinking: I LOVE ROLLER COASTERS!!!!

Dave's thinking: I don't feel so good. Ashlee's thinking: I STILL LOVE ROLLER COASTERS!!!!

Dave's thinking: I'm gonna barf! Ashlee's thinking: Ah oh.

Dave's thinking: I don't remember eating that. Ashlee's thinking: That doesn't look good, but at least it didn't hit anyone!

Poor, poor Dave. He's such a good sport. We took it pretty slow after that and took long breaks between each ride, but I don't think he had very much fun. Towards the end, I went on the rides and Dave sat in the shade. He told me that he'll never go to an Amusement Park again, so it looks like I'll have to find someone else to go with who has a stronger stomach. Any takers?

Over the next 3 days, we drove back to NM. Not much happened other than a two and a half hour traffic jam on the interstate. With no AC. In the heat of the day. With tons of humidity. Moving at 3 mph. In the middle of Indiana. Once again, WITH NO AC! I now hate Indiana and hate Dave's car even more.

We stayed in St. Louis right next to the arch, but after our car ride from H, I was too tired to get any shots of it. But it looked really cool at night. Hopefully I can go back some day and redeem myself.

While we were driving through Texas, we stopped at a place called Cadillac Ranch. In the 70's a couple of artists buried 10 Cadillacs nose first in the ground. I had heard about Cadillac Ranch in one of my art classes, so it was cool to actually stop and see it for myself. There was a movie crew filming something while we were there, but I don't know what it was for. It was tricky taking pictures with all of their equipment around, but I took a couple decent shots.

Graffiti is actually encouraged.

Just before we got to the Texas/New Mexico border, Dave's eyes started to itch like crazy and he couldn't see. I had to reach over, take the wheel, and steer us off the highway. It was pretty scary, and we ended up at this creepy, abandoned gas station. From the looks of it, someone had been living there, because there was a mattress, food, and water. I don't know who would want to live there though, because it smelled like poop. Literally. 

Thankfully, after Dave took out his contacts and put on his glasses, he could see, and we made it home without any more trouble.

While we were gone, my Aunt Brenda and Uncle Boyd were puppy-sitting for us. One night, my uncle opened up the front door, and Tony bolted out of the house right over to a pack of coyotes. One grabbed her by the neck and was about to make dinner out of her, but Boyd was able to scare it enough that it dropped Tony. She ran away as fast as her legs could carry her right back to the house. Maybe that'll teach her to not run away... I'm not getting my hopes up though. That dog has a mind all her own.