Day 9 - Final Austin Day

Monday was our final full day in Austin. We wanted to make the best of it, so obviously we headed to Taco Deli for breakfast. 

Then I headed to meet my friend Rachel from school for coffee and Paul headed off with his Mom to hang out for a bit. It was great to connect with Rachel, though we'd only been apart a week. But as usual lots had happened in a short span of time and it was great to reconnect. 

Then Paul and I headed to Costco to grab some supplies for our trip and to Academy to finally invest in a Tent for our trip and in a cot for me - since clearly air mattresses are far too unreliable. Sadly. We headed home and packed, packed, packed, packed! We had lots to pack. Like tons. 

Then we had one more AMAZING dinner. And this was one of the best. Smitty's Market for BBQ in Lockhart, Texas an hour outside of Austin. And it was TOTALLY worth the drive. (Plus on a side note, I learned on Wikipedia that the Walmart in Lockhart is the one filmed in Where the Heart is. Awesome)

Open fire pits that smoke the meat as you walk in.

Awesome.

The doors into the air conditioned dining room.

Weigh Scales and Pricing.

Plaques and Texas thermometer.

Our stack of meat, bread and "plates"

So awesome.

Our beers and side dishes - coleslaw, beans and potato salad.

Cafeteria.

We're happily enjoying the BBQ.

So much eating.

Paul ate some peppers.

It didn't catch up with him until after he finished all three.

And you can't tell, but oh man his face was RED.

After dinner we explored the back and found this...

So much wood.

Like, so much!

Then we explored the cute and tiny town of Lockhart.

Then we discovered a Ranch Style General Store - very cute and texan.

It was the perfect end to the day. 

Then we headed back to Nancy and Cris' place. Paul and Nancy took a walk down to the river to smoke the Cigar we'd bought the other night and Cris and I stayed back to rest and chat. Cris and I stayed up chatting for a couple hours - it was good to get to know him. And Nancy and Paul stayed up even later chatting. They love a chance to have mother-son time - and I'm also very glad when they get it. 

It was a lovely trip and we were very sad to leave them the next morning - though excited for the rest of our trip.