We crewed for Kurt on Camelot yesterday in one of the Austin Yacht Club’s Spring Series Races. A cold front blew into town the day before so it was cold! Temps started out in the 40s. We had to dig out our ear muffs, gloves, scarves and heavy coats. But, it turned out to be a nice day, in spite of the cold.
And we did well. Camelot took First Place in its class for the Spring Series!
I’m always looking for opportunities to visit our local museums. I heard about a new exhibit at the Harry Ransom Center on design and the Arts & Craft movement. So we took a trip to the University of Texas campus to see it today.
It’s a small museum but I enjoyed browsing the show.
We walked around campus a bit and grabbed lunch afterward.
We have a tradition with Tim & Fiona…taking their family fishing on the lake during spring break. They have three great kids, who are a pleasure to be around. We had a wonderful day today. The weather was perfect and the fish were biting. A good time was had by all.
I had an unexpected opportunity today to go see a screening of the movie Maiden downtown today with Lori at the Stateside Theater, as part of the SXSW Film Festival. I usually avoid downtown during the 10-day conference and festival, but I was not going to pass up seeing this movie. And it was so worth it!
Maiden is a documentary film telling the story of the first all-female crew to participate in the 1989-1990 Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race, skippered by Tracy Edwards. The name of the sailboat was Maiden, after which the movie is named.
It’s the fascinating and awe-inspiring story of a young woman breaking barriers in the sport of professional sailing, and through sheer determination, making history. It was a treat to see it. It will be released in June 2019, so watch for it! And check out the trailer for the film.
It’s what’s for dinner. Another sign of spring.
A field of bluebonnets in the neighborhood. And they’re only just getting started!
Monte is the Bluebonnet Whisperer. We have several patches in the yard, and they’ve started to bloom. It’s going to be a big year. This is the first one to be brought in to the house.
(photo manipulated with Brushstroke iPhone app)
Monte and I grabbed lunch in South Austin today at Evangeline Cafe, a long-time Austin favorite for Cajun food and live music. I cannot believe it has taken us so long to make it here! It was the first time for both of us. And it was goooood. I want to come back again soon.
The hallway is covered with music posters for performances at the cafe over the years.
Mardi Gras is only a few days away, so maybe you should check them out, too!
We took a drive out through the Hill Country this week; out Highway 290 towards Fredericksburg. It was a beautiful day. We left early to beat the morning rush hour and stopped at Pedernales Falls State Park to visit their bird blinds. We stayed for less than an hour, but saw canyon wrens, ladderback woodpeckers, yellow-bellied sapsuckers, lincoln and field sparrows, ruby-crowned kinglets, black-crested titmice, cardinals, spotted towhees, and more.
Field sparrow…
Lincoln sparrow…
Along the way we stopped at the Pedernales River several times and saw wild turkeys, buffalo and longhorn cattle.
Then we stopped at Wildseed Farms to buy fresh flower seed to plant after the last freeze.
After lunch in Fredericksburg, we headed back east, making stops at the tasting rooms of Grape Creek Winery, and Becker Vineyards.
Our last stop, Hye Rum, was a new one for us, having opened only a few years ago. Monte especially enjoyed their barrel-aged dark rum. Check them out.
We made it back home before the afternoon rush hour.
All good!
On Sunday, we went to the lake to sail in the weekly regatta – the “beercan” race. We crewed for Kurt & Kevin on Camelot, and we came in first! It was a beautiful day on Lake Travis.
A view forward…
and a view aft…
I’ve been home for two weeks, catching up on the homefront. Noreen and David visited for a week, and we got out for a sail on Lake Travis with them. I’m enjoying watching the last few weeks of Winter happen in the Hill Country. This is the tail end of last night’s sunset, through the trees in my back yard.
Austinites have several nice museums to visit. The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum is one, and it is loaded with a number of permanent and rotating exhibits about all things Texas. On the first Sunday of each month, admission is free, or to be more accurate, HEB picks up the tab (another reason HEB is the best grocery store, hands down, ever).
I like to visit a couple of times a year to see the new exhibits. In particular today we went to see the Becoming Texas exhibit, and to see the new permanent exhibit for the 17th century recovered French ship that wrecked off of the Gulf Coast of Texas in 1686, La Belle.
The 54′ La Belle, or at least the portions of the timbers that remain of it, on display at the museum. This ship crossed the Atlantic, brought munitions, provisions and trade goods to the New World, and then sank off the Texas Gulf Coast. If you live in or near Austin, you should check out the museum. Ideally on a free First Sunday.
Afterwards we visited Zilker Brewing; we’re slowly working our way across all the breweries in Austin. One must have goals.
We spent our first 2019 day on the lake yesterday, and it was gorgeous! Light winds, 74 degrees, not a cloud in the sky.
Joel joined us on Nirvana for a nice long sail. Kurt, Kevin and their friend took Camelot out. That boat sure is fast!
The year was full of the usual fun times spent with Monte, our friends, as much family visits we could squeeze in, and my girl posse. I stopped coloring my hair. I gained too much weight. I missed my mom often. I was continually enchanted by Keeto. People often ask me what I do with my oodles of free time. On the spot, I usually can’t think of what the heck I’ve done to fill the days and weeks of this year of retirement. So, I spent some time today scanning the photos I took this year, to jog my memory for some highlights.
January brought many birding day trips and a number of lifers. More special were visits with 2 of my high school friends. Pilar was in Austin for business and looked me up. We hadn’t seen each other for … decades, not counting one brief wedding visit that happened many moons ago. We’d reconnected on social media several years back, but it was really wonderful to get a face to face visit in. Another friend from high school, Irene, texted me to see if I could join her in Lubbock, of all places, while she was there for her son’s sports event. And so I took a road trip and saw some interesting things along the way.
February brought a huge leap of faith, a drive to Florida with Lori, Monte & Joe, and then a journey across the Gulf of Mexico by sailboat to bring Lori’s new-to-her sailboat home to the Texas coast. It was an awesome and challenging trip.
March brought a really memorable road trip across Arizona and New Mexico. We celebrated Monte, Gene and Susanne’s birthdays together. I saw a couple dozen lifer bird species. Tucson, with its Catalina Mountains and the Sonoran Desert, is a truly amazing birding destination. And on the way home, we saw some glorious works of nature and man. We spent 2 days on the south rim of the Grand Canyon, staying overnight in a cabin sitting about 50 feet away from the rim. We marveled at a ginormous meteor crater off of I-40 on the drive to Santa Fe. Then we spent 2 days in Santa Fe, staying at the luxurious Spa at Loretto. We saw more new birds there, but the highlight was a visit to the Loretto Chapel, with its spiral staircase that legend says might have been constructed with divine intervention.
April brought a number of trips to the coast; one special one to visit High Island during a Spring fallout, and another girl’s trip to Kemah to officially rename Lori’s boat, S/V Trident. But if that wasn’t enough, I joined Irene again, this time for a week in Italy. I thoroughly enjoyed Florence, Pisa and Cinque Terra and points in between.
May brought more trips to the coast to help Lori with Trident repairs and projects. It also marked the return of warm weather and lots of fun boat outings on Lake Travis with friends and family on Nirvana.
June and July were full of projects at the house, in the shop, and in the yard. We popped down to the coast again, a time or two, and really enjoyed our almost full lake during the peak of the heat of summer. We delivered a beautiful table that Monte made for Doray and Tom in their new home in Wimberly.
August brought another trip to the Texas coast – to crew for Lori and Mike on their first shake-down cruise on Trident since she arrived in Texas. We sailed out to the Gulf of Mexico and down to Port Aransas. We stayed for a couple nights in the municipal marina there, and enjoyed one of our favorite towns on the Texas Gulf Coast, before our return sail to Kemah. Then we popped up to Seattle for a very overdue trip. We stayed two weeks, encased in smoke from the nearby fires, but did enjoy immensely seeing our family, and a bonus of 2 clear days on the Pacific coast of Washington.
September brought a month of non-stop rain to Austin. So we busied ourselves with more projects in the house. I began to dabble with sewing canvas projects for the boat. Monte made sawdust and honed his web site and various GPS apps.
October brought another trip to Kemah. I became a novice diesel engine mechanic. We also experienced historic flooding amongst the Highland Lakes. Monte worked on shop projects for a client or two. Autumn arrived in Texas, which I love only second to Spring in Texas.
And then it was suddenly November! Monte made another trip down to Kemah to help with last-minute projects. Thanksgiving happened. Then we made one final trip to Kemah together at the end of the month to bid bon voyage to Lori and Mike, and their crew, Janet and Will, taking Trident back east to Florida.
December brought the usual whirlwind of decorating, baking, parties, Christmas shopping, visiting with friends, and eating too much. And now, POOF, it’s the last day of the year.
Tomorrow, I will gear up to do it all again – starting a new year with an as-yet-unknown set of trips, projects, visits, fun and (hopefully only occasional) troubles that lay ahead. I am truly blessed.
Sheila365 