I have made it my personal mission to take advantage of all that Austin has to offer.  I lived in Houston for two years, and it wasn't until after I was already leaving that I began to actually explore the city.  You know what....I miss it.  I miss the traffic and the smoke....everything from the beautiful galleria to the seedy little holes-in-the-walls where I loved to eat and shop.

So now in Austin, it's time to get my exploring on.  This past weekend, I finally had the opportunity to celebrate my little sister's birthday with her (yay!!!).  We went swimming, did a grand tour of our favorite thrift stores (more on that later), and visited Barton Creek.

Barton Creek has one of my favorite trails running through it.  It is completely covered with trees and a river runs through it.  Sure, the river is dry right now so it's mainly just white rocks and dead fish, but it looks gorgeous when it is flowing.  A little dehydration imagination and you can almost see the river if you squint your eyes from a distance.  

I usually hit the trails with my lovely Maya, who wears a huge red back pack filled with water, ice, and food, but this time, we chose to keep it simple and enjoy each others' company instead aka as little of our dog circus as possible.

As a non-athlete, it is really inspiring to see the bikers just glide over rocks that I am having trouble walking over, almost inspiring enough to consider purchasing a bike.  Almost.