Dirt embankment next to curb with mysterious tree root/stump stuff + RV bumper & thin fiberglass walls = F#%$!!! or translated to Simpsonese DOH!!!

First off. I’d like to say that I’m sorry Dolly. I’m sorry for jabbing your back end into that unforgiving dirt embankment (that appeared out of nowhere next to the curb – I swear). I’m sorry for bending your beautiful rear bumper into a picture perfect and mathematically correct illustration of what a 45 degree angle looks like, AND of course for pulling your supportive and sheltering walls apart at the seams and exposing unwanted views of the road through the inside of your main storage compartment. Please please forgive me.

But do not fret Dolly, we can rebuild you. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world’s first bionic RV. Dolly will be that RV. Better than she was before. Better, stronger, faster…. Well, ok. Maybe not faster.

But luckily for us the repairs are going to come in under $6 Million (as “technically” no bionics will actually be installed – lame) and we have Progressive Insurance, not Oscar Goldman, heading up the repair efforts.

Driving an RV around the country full-time, I figured “stuff” would eventually and inevitably happen at some point so I guess this is “stuff” number 1. A minor blip on our non-existent itinerary that will be keeping us here (according  to Ken and Felix at Aguirrie Paint & Body) at least another 2 to 3 weeks!!! We’ll see how accurate that estimate ends up being.

The awesome news is that I seriously can’t imagine a much cooler city to have an extended layover. We are in Austin, TX and in a word Austin KicksAss. We LOVE the Austin let me tell you. Now granted we realize that this is the iDEAL time of year to be here with the weather but that notwithstanding the city itself rocks. Oh, and we are also here during SXSW the internationally famous, music, film, and interactive festival. So we’re getting it good. We know this. Here’s what we’ve been up to here. Eating. end of post thanks for reading…

Kidding, but seriously though I sometimes feel like basically all we do is we eat, we wait to eat, we look up great places where we’re gonna eat later, we sleep a bit after eating to build up energy and stomach room to eat again and the we go grab a bite to eat. Despite what ALL of our friends and family think at this point after viewing our 34+ eating venue check-in’s/day on Facebook, we really are NOT eating any more than we did at home it’s just there isn’t a whole heck of a lot going on in between sometimes AND we’re documenting everything soooooo it’s just more noticeable. So there. (Note: I just added an “EATS” link to site in the navigation)

Here is why we think Austin rules:
1. First day in the city we pull up to hang at a park near downtown for the day and dogs are roaming completely free. No fences. No leashes. Nothing. Insane. Is this actually real we wonder. Yep. Turns out this MASSIVE park is a totally leash free zone for the puppos and it’s AWESOME.

1a. Not only that there is yet ANOTHER place – an entire island – with trees and bushes and paths, just down the road in the middle of the

1b. beautiful lake that runs down the entire length of downtown Austin and beyond – that is again completely leash free and dog friendly. Needless to say, Henery and Cali love Austin as much or more than we do.

2. Most restaurants with patio’s (and home depot evidently – and I’m sure others) allow your pooches, regardless of size. So cool.

3. Pretty sure a lot of this is because SXSW is going on but we have been bombarded with FREE and super low cost stuff all over the place. It’s like the anti-California here. We are walking down the main drag through downtown with all of the bars and restaurants and stuff (basically like 5th Ave in downtown San Diego) but instead of massive lines and cover charges we are “accosted” with offers of no cover and free drinks. Austinites, you do realize that this is not the norm. AND WE LOVE YOU FOR IT. So cool. We actually had this confirmed as one of our friends here says “Oh, we’ll almost never go into a place if there’s a cover”. LOL… lololol (written notation of uncontrollable giddy laughter)

4. Food trucks everywhere. Little teeny tiny mini restaurants on wheels parked throughout the city offering every kind of grub imaginable including Sushi. I’ll say that again. Sushi. No ocean close. Texas. Sun. Hot. Served out of a TRUCK. Sushi. I haven’t had the guts to actually try that one yet but they are all over and people swear it’s great. Regardless, it’s super cool. Twice we were walking by food trucks (and these obviously were promo trucks) but they were giving away free stuff. Yep. “Hey wanna free empanada? Free grilled cheese? “Um, yes we do”. Thank you promotional Austin food truck proprietor forcing us to love your city all the more.

5. Movie theater “chain” that a)shows cool movies b)has custom made pre movie reel with all sorts of clips and shorts with actors from the movie or relating to the show – NOT ads c)do super fun sing along and quote along movie nights – our first night there (yes we’ve already been more than once) was a Pulp Fiction quote along where the entire audience was issued fully functional cap guns complete with multiple rounds of ammo (ahhh Texas) upon entry and then were prompted throughout the movie to shoot them at appropriate times while also having closed captioned quotes sporadically thrown up that the entire audience yelled with the actors d)every other row is taken out and you merely have massive leg room, oh, and a counter in front of you to set your FULL SERVICE DINNER AND DRINKS!!! Yes Austin. YES YES.

6. If you get tired of going to the coolest movie theater ever you can visit the gorgeous state capital building and take a (I know this is gonna be a shocker and hard to believe) FREE tour of the place and learn all about the Texas legislature and some very interesting state history. To say that Texans are proud would be a mild understatement.

7. TXRD Lonestar Rollergirls. Mmmm hmmm. Roller derby people. Crazy chicks in mini-skirts, ripped hosiery, cool names and awesome skaters bashing each other whilst going around in a circle to the roar of a packed house. The arena is walking distance from the amazing dog park park (did I mention the beautiful, well manicured 10 mile trail that skirts the lake and city on all sides – yeah, there is one), from downtown, from the food trucks, from everything. Why. Because Austin rolls like that. That’s why.

I could go on and on but I won’t. Austin was summed up completely and in it’s entirety in a single statement by one of the greatest thespians our country has ever produced. Thank you Mr. Sheen. As I type, I imagine the shops will be desperately trying to liquidate their inventory of “Keep Austin Weird” tie-dyed shirts and replace them with the cities newly monikered “Austin – Duh. WINNING” tank tops.

Tally-ho…

Winning, 
Matt