The Road Trip Academy Awards

I know, I know, it has been two weeks since I promised this post! Forgive me, besides being sick, I have had two horrible awful Spanish exams and lots of other school stuff. (I can't even tell you how bad I have senioritis right now!) And then there's the law-school decision-making fun, which I won't even get into today.

But I will post all my favorite things I saw in Texas! Here are my Texas Road Trip Awards and Statistics:

Days: 5 1/2
Miles added to José (our Honda): 4,000
Major cities covered: Dallas, Austin, and Roswell, NM
Time it took to get there: 23 hours there, 27 back (due to Roswell detour)
Most essential road trip item: Sirius Satellite Radio (I will NEVER, EVER travel without it!)

Ugliest part of drive: New Mexico

Prettiest part of drive: Texas Hill Country (Austin to Fredericksburg. You can buy fresh peach cider along the roadside. I was driving, so there are no pics, but it is featured in this month's Cottage Living.)

Funniest thing I saw the whole trip:

Better watch out...apparently Jesus is watching you somewhere in New Mexico.

Also slightly funny: New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, where Ryan went to High School. (Roswell, in itself, is a funny place. I was bummed we didn't have time for the alien museum.)
Ryan has the record at NMMI for marching the most hours (marching is the NMMI equivalent of detention) without being expelled.
Average marching hours: 15
Average student kicked out at 80 hours.
Ryan's hours: 208
Somewhere inside my practical, responsible guy there is indeed a wild side.

Best place to escape Logan winter (I should mention that it is snowing TODAY! That would make this our 7th month with snow):
Dallas Arboretum
Where you can see these flowers:

and this cute little cottage:


Best shopping: Dallas
Best thrift-store shopping: Austin

Best music festival in the West which we just happened to show up for: SXSW Austin
Bands playing at SXSW that we tried to see: Kings of Convenience, Ed Harcourt, Phoenix, a couple british bands that I don't remember their names, some EMO bands...
SXSW concerts that we actually got into: 0
Local wannabe bands playing the same night that we got to see: 3
Local wannabe bands that were actually good: 2

Biggest yarn store: This place in Austin on Congress:

This place had 6 rooms just like this one. I just fondled the yarn. I didn't actually buy anything.

Best city slogan: "Keep Austin Weird" (And yes, it is weird, but kindof cool)


Pinkest State Capital: Austin


Best bakery: Doughmonkey Dallas

The desserts might even be better than the name:


Best restaurant: La Duni, Highland Park, TX

Best thing I have ever eaten in my whole entire life:

At La Duni. I want to eat this right before I die. I would move to Dallas just for this cake. I'm not exaggerating. I would pay thousands of dollars for this recipe, and then I would cook it for every birthday for the rest of my life. And then I would eat it right before I die. Maybe we will have to make another trip....

Best food in general: Dallas (though it might help that I have a major foodie for a brother-in-law. This is a guy who waited on a 6-month waiting list at a restaurant in San Francisco and then made a special trip just to eat there when his name finally came up. If we move to Dallas, he will be my new best friend.)

Biggest caves: Carlsbad Caverns

Note the road trip hat, started in New Mexico on the way there and finished in New Mexico on the way home.

Family member most traumatized by separation: Kimi, who called home 5 times a day.
Family member least traumatized by separation: Matthew, who barely noticed we were gone. (Matthew, couldn't you have missed me just a LITTLE? Oh well, I'm glad he's independent!)

Place were maps do not correspond to actual roads: Navajo Indian Reservation

Prettiest Law School campus: Southern Methodist University (Ryan is accepted there with a 3/4 tuition scholarship. However, since we went to Dallas, SMU dropped into the second tier rankings, which means we probably won't go there, pretty or no.)

Not-so-pretty Law School campus: UT Austin (who sent Ryan a rejection 2 days after we got home anyway) which is decorated in lovely shades of pumpkin and avocado green.


Funniest knitting conversation overheard in biggest concert line at SXSW:
Good-looking young man: Hey, wow your sweater turned out great.
Good-looking young man with girlfriend: Thank you! I just blocked it yesterday. Did you finish the scarf in time for your sister's birthday?
Good-looking young man: No, but I decided to give her the one I finished last week anyway.
Good-looking young man with girlfriend: Oh, the grey alpaca?
Good-looking young man: Yeah. I was going to keep it for myself but Sarah said it looked more girly.

This was right before the girl wearing the pink kittyville hat walked past (the SAME kittyville hat I knit on the road trip). I had heard knitting was the IN thing everywhere, but I really had no idea.