This past weekend Jason and I traveled to Austin, TX to run
the Inaugural Austin 10/20 with Jason’s sister, Christine, and her husband,
Andrew Tilt. The race was 10 miles with 20 bands along the way to help keep us
motivated, and we had a blast! We took Friday off of work and landed in Austin at 11am to a
wonderful surprise ... Christine and Andrew adopted a dog! She is an absolute
sweetheart, and her name is Lambeau. We have been away from our dogs for a week
now due to travel plans, so hanging out with Lambeau is just what we needed!
After becoming acquainted with our new family member (yes,
dogs are family in the Mercer house) we started what would become one of the most
food packed weekends ever with a trip to The Salt Lick, a casual barbeque place seemingly out in the middle of nowhere
that we had been told was the place to go; and we were told right! In true Texas fashion the plates
were large and loaded! After stuffing our faces we headed into town and changed
into bathing suites for a trip to a local swimming hole. One of the many
wonderful things about being pregnant, is that my stomach is always big.
Normally, after a meal like the one I downed at The Salt Lick I feel bloated, but
now I’m supposed to be big, so wearing a swim suit is no big deal! The weather
was not quite as warm as anticipated, but it was still nice enough to jump in
the water and float around a bit before drying off and heading home to prepare
for another glorious meal.
For dinner that night we decided to check out a Tex Mex
place suggested by a friend from Fredericksburg
that used to live in Austin .
After walking around the downtown area a bit and exploring the original Whole
Foods store we made our way to Z Tejas. I started realizing how perfect
our timing in coming to Texas
had been as I was dunking my chips in as much guacamole as I could fit on that
tasty little crunchy triangle. The entire pregnancy all I have craved is
cheesy, salty, saucy food … and there we were in Texas eating as much of it as possible … it
was wonderful. During dinner one of Andrew’s friends from college, Ross, joined
us. He also was in town to visit for the weekend so afterwards we all headed
back to the Tilt’s place for a good night’s sleep.
The next day we were up with the sun and out the door in
record time for 5 people sharing 1 bathroom. This included taking time to
devour a delicious breakfast casserole that Christine made from scratch. Our
plan included checking out another swimming hole that was a bit farther away
and more popular than yesterday’s and we wanted to beat the crowd. As you can
see in the pictures, it was well worth the early morning drive!
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| Beautiful Swim Hole |
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| Jason and I |
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| Ross, Andrew, and Christine |
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| Jason having fun! |
On our way back into town we stopped for lunch and had yet
another amazing meal. Jason and I grabbed some pizza from Home Slice while the rest of the
troop ordered flat bread tacos from a little trailer in a parking lot (which is
the thing to do in that part of town). Everyone was satisfied, and once again,
absolutely stuffed. We then continued the rest of our drive to the Tilt home
and bummed around until it was time to eat again for dinner! Andrew has
apparently been working on rubs for steaks lately, and I have to state for the
record that his hard work showed (or should I say, tasted?). Christine was not
to be outdone though, and mashed up some sweet potatoes with a side of baked
veggies and for the first time in my life I liked the mashed sweet potatoes!
With full stomachs from three incredible meals, we all settled down for another
night’s sleep in preparation for the 10 miler the next day.
As I was thinking through the weekend, and the race, I
started realizing how happy I was that I did not plan to race the 10 miler on
Sunday. Normally, when I travel for a race we eat pasta, plain sandwiches, and
then more pasta. The thought of a meal even close to the ones I consumed in
just a brief 48 hour time period in Austin
would have made me sick. Also, I would not have wanted to play much at the swim
holes in an effort to rest up for the race. In other words, I would have been a
lot more boring to be around, and missed out on a lot of fun.
Now, I am not saying that this will forever change my
outlook on race weekends, I am sure once I am chasing down that 3 hour mark in
the marathon again I will be more than happy to revert to my old “boring” ways.
What I am saying, is that I am very thankful for this amazing time in my life
where I have a great reason to just sit back, relax, and enjoy having fun (and
eat EVERYTHING I CAN) with people I love.
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