So I know it's been a long time since I posted anything but there hasn't been a lot of exciting happenings going on in the metropolis that is Abilene. Unfortunately three universities in one city does not equal cool fun things to do.
the bonus of moving to abilene is I have made some great frinds. The people I am working with are very entertaining and the other travel nurses on my floor are great. Allen and Carrie are two travelers that showed up two weeks after I did, which was exactly what I needed because I started going stir crazy. It's easiest to form quick but lasting realationships with other travelers because they are in the same situation that you are.
Carrie Allen and I have been able to hang out several times when we all have some time off and we seem to have a good time when we are all working together. We've explored downtown, some thrift stores and a couple local hangouts together.
A few weeks ago we were fortunate enough to all have 4 days off in a row, so we decided that we would take a weekend trip to Austin, TX. Austin is considered the "Music Capital of the World." We went right after SXSW festival which was probably a good idea because it was still pretty busy. Our first night consisted of a visit to the infamous 6th St. I thought I had figured it all out and we were going to the nicer part of 6th St. We soon realized we were on what is considered "Dirty 6th." It's more of the hangout for the young college kids and has a lot more bars . It was a happy mistake because we had a great time. Each of us attmpted a ride on a mechanical bull at one of the establishments. It's a lot harder than it looks, and there are so me people that are very intense and alot of fun to watch.
We ended up hanging out there till closing. We jumped to a few dfferent places. Each of them had a rooftop bar that overlooked the city and the capital with awesome views. It is amazing how easy it is to talk to people in Texas. For the most part everyone is very friendly and probably carrying a handgun (gotta love Texas).
Day two of Austin was a much more relxed day. Austin has this amzing trail that runs along both sides of the river. The trail goes right under the Congress Ave. bridge, otherwise known as the bat bridge. This bridge is home to tone of the largest congregations of bats. The sleep in the cracks during the day and come out at night. When you walk under the bride you could hear the bats chirping away. After a long walk along the river we sat down by the Congress Ave bridge and awaited susnset when the bats would awake. As we were sitting we accosted by a deaf man who was selling bat buttons and was not amused when we didn't want to buy one.
At about &'40 the bats finally started to awake and it was amazing to watch hundreds of bats start flying out into the city. A few got pretty close, but the flew off pretty quickly.
After that we decided to go the drafthouse cinema and see Hot Tub Time Machine. The restaurant is a restaurant/movie theater. The pre-show entertainent always follws the theme of the movie you will be seeing,, soour pre-show entertaiment was awesomely bad 80's commercials and workout videos. The movie was surprisingly funny and dessert was amazing.
The final day in Austin was a mix of two big activities, zip-lining and opera (well sort, of). We started out the day taking a zip-line tour, across "6" different zip lines (thanks for obtaining that info Carrie) through ancient cypress tress in the middle of nowhere. It a rush, and we were sad we were unable to do the challenge tour. We had to rush back becuase we had tickets to see a touring broadway production of Phantom of the Opera. I've never seen it performed live and the cast did a spectacular job.
That was the end of our trip, or so we thought. On our way back to Abilene we had a run in with the law. Allen and I were talking while Carrie was napping in the backseat. I look in my rear view mirror and notice a cop with his lights on behind me, so I pull over right away. I knew something was off when the police officer came skulking slowly towards the vehicle. He got close enough to the vehicle and I had my window open and he started yelling, " Put your hands up!" and he pulled out his gun as another officer pulled up. At this point we were all confused and did as the officer said. He demanded that I get out of the vehicle. At this point, I am wondering what the hell is going on, and what sort of trouble I was in. I thought he was going to take me to his vehicle and search me for weapons or something.
He finally started explaining to me that I was speeding (52, in a 45) through his town. He said that he had been following me for awhile on to the interstate, and that he called for back-up because he thought I was trying to escape. I told him that I simply did not see him until just now and pulled over right away. What I wanted to say was, "Why on earth would I be running a way from the cops with my cruise control set at 2 miles above the speed limit and why the hell didn't you pull up next to me so I saw you." He finally started being somewhat nice but still gave me a ticket for failure to yield. The whole situation was ridiculous, but I just wanted to get out of there quickly.
I got back into the car and I started explaining what was going on to my friends, and they couldn't believe it either. Neither one of them saw him either. IT was like we were on an episode of Cops or something. All in all it was a great trip and Austin is a great city. I would go again as long as I don't have to drive through Lampasas, TX.
