The Car Ride
This was actually taken on the ride back, but I figure I can sum up both car rides at the beginning. The drive is approximately 22 hours long. We managed the drive down to Pflugerville (yes it is a real place. Look it up. Pflugerville, between a rock and a weird place, as natives say [which includes Eric]) in 21 hours, and the drive back up to Utah in 24. We played music the entire time. So, if you think about it, with three days worth of dancing and two days worth of driving, we listened to approximately five days straight of music.
I think the picture above was taken somewhere around 2 AM. We did the drive all in one go. And at 2 AM, if you're the driver, dancing to the music with your finger seems a fantastic way to stay entertained.
On the way down, I drove for the first twelve hours. Straight. So, I drove long enough to see the sunset and the sunrise. When we hit Albuquerque, I put in one of my mix CDs that started with a Bob Marley song. And at this point, some of the guys were awake again (I should mention, I was the only girl in this car. There was me, Richard, Eric, and Aldo). As we were passing through, there were cool rocks that weren't actually rocks. They were like these light thingies that changed color. Yes, they were actually there. But it was fun, because Eric looks at them and says, "Hey, we start listening to Bob Marley and the world gets colorful!"
And Holy Goodness, there's nothing like a sunrise in Texas. I may never live in Texas or like everything about it, but the sunrise was gorgeous. Of course, since I was driving, I didn't get a picture, but if I can draw your attention to the sunrise in The Lion King, that's what it looked like. A huge sun, not impeded by the mountains, changing the sky to pink, red, purple, and orange as it rose like a big ball of fire. Yeah, amazing.
Eric was a sweetheart both on the way there and on the way back. He let me fall asleep curled up next to him on the backseat even though I'm certain it was uncomfortable for him and he didn't get to sleep because I took up all the room to get comfy.
In Austin
 |
| At the Capitol. From left to right: me, Eric, Aldo, Richard. |
We had a whole day to spend before Blues Party started, so we had Eric show us some of the stuff going on in Austin. We went to the capitol building, which is the largest in the United States. Go figure. Go big or go home in Texas.
Speaking of go big or go home, Richard had a super monster burrito at Freebirds, and managed to eat it all. Well, all but an inch of it.
And we went into some awesome little shops, including a hat shop. The boys had more options in the store than I did, but it was fun to take pictures.
Speaking of go big or go home, Richard had a super monster burrito at Freebirds, and managed to eat it all. Well, all but an inch of it.
And we went into some awesome little shops, including a hat shop. The boys had more options in the store than I did, but it was fun to take pictures.
In the evening we went to Congress Avenue Bridge and watched 1.5 million bats fly out from under the bridge. It was really cool to see. I couldn't get any good pictures.
Austin Blues Party
 |
| The last night of ABP. We couldn't find Richard anywhere, but we got a picture anyway. |
That night we went dancing. And then the next day we went dancing, and then that night, and the next day, and the next night. We started at 10ish Friday night, ended at 4 AM, got up and went to classes from 11 AM to 5ish, and then started dancing at 8 and went to 4 AM, and then started at 1 PM Sunday and went to 3 AM Monday morning. So, a lot of dancing. A lot of fun. Eric won the beginner Jack and Jill with our friend Kera. So, he gets to go to Austin Blues Party for free next year.
One funny thing that happened on Sunday--we were in a class where Heidi and Dexter were teaching how to let your follow play and add input to the dance. She says, "And maybe I do this, and that inspires him."
A girl in the class says, "Oh, is that what they're calling it now?"
So, it is a running joke that we get "inspired" by dance moves.
Richard gave a great line that night, too. He said, "Blues dance is a vertical expression of a horizontal desire."
We laughed so hard. Priceless.
You probably had to be there for everything to be funny or make sense. Or at least be a blues dancer.
