Austin

We're here in Austin, now. H&D have a beautiful apartment and have started a great lifestyle. After a healthy dinner we went to the lake to have a walk. We walked along the water, crossed a bridge, climbed up at the Congress Street bridge and then walked the city streets for a little. The architecture here is very dramatic. Since the last time I visited (long ago) the town has grown up a lot.

Many of the buildings are lit up at night. They make a pretty skyline.

The entire downtown has been renovated and upgraded. There seem to be a lot of mixed use blocks going up (stores downstairs, condos and apartments upstairs). The one below is a bank building.

After walking through downtown we returrned to the Congress Street bridge, which was beginning to get crowded, as it does every evening year around.

The crowd grows and grows, on the bridge and down by the banks of the lake.

Just at dusk, the bats emerge from the cracks between bridge girders. The come out in a continuous stream for about 5-10 minutes. You can just hear the squeaking (if you are an old fart like me). It is much stronger if you are young.

They stream past people, everybody smiling and taking pictures. An entrepreneur sells light swords. Everybody just chills out and enjoys themselves. That seems to be a common theme. This is an enjoyable town!

It's kind of amazing to see a stream of tiny mammals going past the modern architecture.

We continued past the skyline all the way to the dog park, which is an institution here. All kinds of runners, bikers, walkers, and onlookers gather here to exercise or watch dogs. The dogs jump in the river, sniff each other, run around, respond to whistles, and generally enjoy themselves. Unfortunately, it was too dark by then to take good dog pictures.