Hit the road again, and got to Austin pretty quickly. We looked for a place to get some coffee, and wound up near U. Texas on Guadeloupe St. Parked and fed the meter about 1 hour 40 minutes. We went to CC's Coffee House. Drank some big cups of java, then wandered down the street to some stores selling some used clothing and other funky stuff. There was lots of good stuff, but being on the road, I had to restrain myself from buying.
Ate lunch at a good vegetarian restaurant which was connected to a similar restaurant in Philly, in conjunction with some woman advocating "Instant Enlightenment". Poof. Just add water. After we ordered our food, I ran back to the car to feed the meter, and I was 15 minutes too late, and got a $15 parking ticket. Damn. I fed the meter, then ran back to the restaurant to finish lunch. Hillary and I walked around the U.T. area a bit more, found a camping store where I bought another pocket knife for $25. Antsy, I rushed us back to the meter, where our time just ran out. Put another 20 mins in, and went to CC's again to get some iced tea, and also find out how to get to the airport. I was talking to the girl at the cash register, and she wound up being from Freehold, NJ! It further supports my observation, just made on July 4, that you can run into people from Freehold, NJ all over the world. She was Erica Greenhouse, cousin of Bryan Greenhouse, and lives not but 4 minutes away from my house. But due to the weird scholastic zones in Freehold, we went to different schools our whole lives.
Hillary and I then got ready to drive to the airport. We were supposed to get to Ben White Blvd, and take it from Rt. 35, but the signs were so utterly confusing we somehow wound up on a service road parallel to 35. Finally turned around, got better directions at a gas station, and ultimately made it to the airport. Parking in the hourly lot was a pain too, as there were no free spots. Finally parked the car, and walked to the gate. Walking through the metal detectors with my camera and cell phone was a pain in the ass. They checked them thoroughly, and also made me take a sip of the iced coffee I was holding. Interesting.
So, this was goodbye for me and Hillary. We spoke about not being sad, as we both knew I would be leaving Boston when we first started our relationship in early June. We said our goodbyes, and she boarded the plane. It was sad, but not overly so. We still had our plans to call each other, so it wasn't so bad. I then left, to head to Monica's.
Drove to 15th and Lamar, which Monica's house was near, and pulled onto a small back road, which happened to be Monica's street. Found her building, and sat in front for awhile, waiting for osmeone to come home. Made a few calls on my cell phone, then got a call from Brendon, who also just left Lincoln Labs. He's going to a new optical networking startup company called Photorus. Kzzhhhh (that's the sound made by a bodybuilder on his/her 15th and final rep of bicep curl, where after struggling in vain to do the rep, one bursts out with a blow of strengh, for those that didn't know.) Talking to him, Monica's roommate Gary came home, and I started to introduce myself to him so he wouldn't wonder who the scraggly man on the porch was. I inadvertantly hung up on Brendon, though, and have no idea what his new home phone number was so I couldn't call him back.
Gary invited me into the nice air-conditioning, and Monica came home a few minutes later. She looked the same, and seemed excited to see me. We spoke of our lifes' adventures at great length. I also met her roommate Steve and her boyfriend Grauer, both of whom are eloquent, yet funny, fellows. I was a little hungry, but Monica already ate dinner so I accepted hunger as an acceptable substitue for nourishment, just enjoying the nice air conditioning. Monica then made some milkshakes, pouring ice cream and milk into a glass, mixing with a spoon. More of a milkmix, than a milkshake, I guess. But it was a nice beverage snack anyway.
She and Grauer soon went to sleep, and Steve let me check my email on his computer. I got mostly list mail and junk, but it was the first time I was online since Baltimore, so I had alot of crap piled up. I did set up the basic rudiments of my new travel webpages. [which was pretty much next to nothing, but still better than nothing itself] No details online yet, but I let the viewing public [if anyone is even interested in my trip] know that I intend to update it shortly.
Here's a shot of Monica and Me, looking ever so cute on the couch. Note that I don't know what this looks like on a normal monitor, my LCD laptop screen shows our skin as very pale. However, it's been years since we've had scurvy, so maybe the flash makes our flesh look too bright.
| Location | Austin, TX |
| Odometer | 132,063.8 Miles Total 3310.1 Miles On Trip 126.1 Miles Today |
| Coordinates | 30° 16.8' N 97° 45.0' W |