2017: Austin

Leander KOA

March 21

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We made the easy 80-mile drive from San Antonio to our next target, a KOA campground in Leander, Texas, just north of Austin. I was looking forward to visiting my old college haunts after nearly fifty years.

The Leander KOA was located along a very rural road; just before we turned in, I saw several Longhorns in a pasture. (I wasn't quick enough to get a photo, and unfortunately I never saw the beasts again while we were there.) The camp was small but well-kept and also very quiet. We settled in for a busy five days.




Texas Wildflowers

March 22

The next day we were having dinner with my college roommate Kathy, who still lives in Austin. The weather was sunny so I decided to spend the day driving the "Bluebonnet Trail", some Texas back roads where wildflowers grow profusely. I had seen quite a number of bluebonnets beside the freeway on the way here from San Antonio, so I was hopeful; and Texas did not disappoint.



Old Friends

March 22-23

Kathy 'n Carolyn.

We met my former roommate Kathy at an Austin restaurant; I hadn't seen her since graduation in 1968 and except for Christmas cards, we hadn't really kept in touch. We had been in the Longhorn Band together for three years. We had a nice evening catching up despite the fact that she had a LOT going on: a new grandchild she was helping tend for her youngest daughter, and a minor medical procedure scheduled in a few days. I was struck by how much the same she was after all these years, not counting a bit of snow on the roof. I wonder if she thought the same about me.

Barbara 'n me.  Mimi.

The next evening, it was a visit with a more recent friend, from my "groupie" adventures several years ago. Barbara was living in San Diego then, but she had moved back to Austin eight years ago to care for her ailing mother. It was great fun to see her again and she was just as much a hoot as ever. We even enjoyed meeting her adorable dog Mimi.