Family Visit!

My parents hadn't been out to Texas in a while, so they decided to come for a spring visit.  It was so nice to have them "home" with us!

Their first night in town, we had Mike and Lisa over for dinner.

It was a fun evening of story telling and laughs.

Our table all decorated with food and ready to share a meal

For the weekend we took my parents to what we consider

the most beautiful part of Texas - the "hill country" of Austin.

On the way we stopped off along highway 290 to see the

spectacular show of natural beauty that occurs in Texas for

just a few short weeks each year - the blooming of the state

flower, the Bluebonnet.

Also on the way, we surprised my parents by stopping

in Brenham, the "ice cream capital of Texas" and the home

of our very own Blue Bell ice cream factory.  Dad was

especially thrilled with this detour, as ice cream IS

a Stallcop family tradition.

Due to the crowds of spring break, we didn't get to tour the

factory like we had planned but we did get to walk the campus,

watch a video on the ice cream making process, and best

of all, sample some of their delicious product.

After arriving in Austin we headed straight to The Oasis,

a restaurant overlooking Lake Travis that is known as the

best sunset viewing spot in the area.  We got there just in time

to enjoy the view in the daylight and then watch the sun

set over the water.

About two minutes after we finally got our table, they

rang the bell for the official sunset.  We made it!

The next day we explored the area, driving through 

Lakeway and touring some of the local neighborhoods for fun.  

Here we are at the Iguana Grill, another tasty restaurant

overlooking Lake Travis.

Back in town, a view of the Colorado River running through

the heart of the city

Going right along with their slogan "Keep Austin Weird,"

Austin boasts some unique sight seeing opportunities.

One of the most popular is the exodus of bats at dusk from

underneath Congress Bridge that can be seen during the

spring, summer, and fall, where literally thousands of bats

make their way up to the sky every night for their daily

feeding.  It is truly a one-of-a-kind experience to watch.

If you click on these photos to enlarge them, you can read

all about the bat population in Austin.  They're actually

quite a misunderstood animal that benefits us more than

we might even realize.

Right on time, the bat show begins

Downtown Austin at night

On our last day we started off by visiting another popular

Austin tourist site - the Whole Foods national headquarters.

To the average person, a Whole Foods market that is double

the size of any other which includes an escalator for you and

your shopping cart to the garage below would not be a big

deal.  But to natural food enthusiasts like my parents, this

place is like Disneyland!

To finish off our Austin experience, we found some gorgeous

multi-million dollar homes along Lake Austin and toured

them for fun.  People who live in these homes have the choice

of commuting 45 minutes to work in the car, or 20 minutes

by boat just down the water from their house.  It would

be nice to say that the best part of your day is your commute

to work!  

It was such a fun weekend with my folks and definitely a struggle to return to Houston after being in hill country for a few days.  Until the next time....we'll be dreaming of lakes, hills, and lush green landscape.