Texas

It's probably a little strange that as Sooners, the first place in all of the United States that we went was Austin, TX. That's just how it worked out, though.

First of all, Austin is amazing and magical and beautiful and weird. Mid-January may be the worst time to visit this city, but we still had such a good time. Luckily, my roommate Abby went to Austin this summer; she had some suggestions for us first time visitors. I'll move on to the details. We started driving late Friday night, and arrived in the IKEA parking lot just before the sun came out. We slept for a couple of hours until the store opened. I knew being tired at this point in the day was problematic, but all of my worries were washed away when I walked into IKEA. It's everything you could want it to be, honestly. We spent over two hours searching out the surprisingly cheap items. I certainly enjoyed it, but it was Shelby's personal heaven. This was probably the highlight for her. We could have easily doubled our time in there, but there was much to do and not as much time.

After lunches and more driving, we decided to scope out Book People (the store that was putting on the event that I'll get to later). On the way to the bookstore, we drove down 6th Street. Maybe when we're older and wiser, it will be nice to go back just to spend some time there. As for then, though, it was the afternoon and we had missions to accomplish. Book People is this perfect independent bookstore with all good things in it. If there was something like this in Norman, it's safe to say I would spend time there at least weekly, if not more often. After, we walked across the street to the original Whole Foods. We didn't spend much time there, because it was quite busy. It was cool to see how different it is, though.

Our next destination was incredible and tremendous and just perfect. I don't think I can ever thank Abby enough for the Zilker Park tip. The picture below is the Austin skyline from the park. I know you can't see from that image, but just trust me when I say that it is one of the coolest places I've ever been. Even though it was the middle of January, all of the people were out. They were running, biking, throwing frisbees, playing with their dogs, hanging out, being beautiful, etcetera. The grass was almost completely dead, but the scene was so serene and flawless that I couldn't even contain myself. The best part, by far, was the number of free roaming dogs. There were all kinds of breeds, and they were all living it up. So much good in one place; we absolutely loved Zilker.

Just when we thought we'd seen all the beauty, we went to eat at Oasis. I don't really want to talk about the experience we had--because it was terrible--but it was really a stunning place. The drive was winding and lengthy, but the statues and landscaping and everything were really great. It's definitely a place to revisit when it's warmer, because nothing worthwhile is open in the winter months. It was finally nearing evening, so Shelby and I drove back to civilization and found somewhere to park at Westlake High School. The line to get into the auditorium was ridiculously long, but we didn't have to wait too long before we were inside. Finally, I had arrived. I was at the Tour de Nerdfighting. Maybe you have no idea what that is, maybe you have every idea what that is. Just trust me when I say that it's everything.

I have been following John and Hank Green for four plus years, so to actually see them in person was extremely surreal. John read out of his new novel, Hank played some songs, they answered questions. I found myself dying over and over again, because I couldn't quite get over seeing John Green in the flesh only a few feet away from me. The crowd was intimidating, but that was expected. 1,100 nerdfighters in one room should not be underestimated. It was a perfect show, and I was so grateful that Shelby went with me.

Tiff's Treats was our final stop. We had delicious cookies and ice cream as we began our drive back to Norman. I surrendered the wheel to Shelby after I absolutely could not hang on another second. As you can imagine, I was very tired. Early Sunday morning, we arrived safely and I fell asleep faster than ever.

states: 01/50

Bryce :)