Still more...

This is Sarah, at whose house Pam, Mike and I stayed. She was a wonderful hostess and her house is only a mile and a half from where all the action was, and on a bus line, to boot. Sure beat staying in a motel 7 miles from downtown, like poor Jeff and Robin had to do.

Here's another band we saw whilst out and about.
Economy Team from Minneapolis.
They were a hoot.

One day, I was feeling a little overwhelmed by all the craziness, so I took a few hours to go to McKinney Falls State Park. Following are some photos from that excursion.






Of course, there was no way I was going to drive all the way to Austin and not make the pilgrimage to the Bat Bridge. Since the bats come out at dusk, it was difficult to get any good photos, but here is the best of what I took. Every night at dusk, people gather at the Congress Street Bridge to watch. It takes about 45 minutes for the bats to finish leaving the bridge in a constant stream. Apparently, when the city of Austin renovated the bridge in 1980, they had no idea that the design would appeal to Mexican Free-Tailed bats. It took the bats a few years to discover it, but when they did, it became a popular roosting site. Initially, many Austin residents clamored to have them exterminated, but thanks to the efforts of Merlin Tuttle of Bat Conservation International, the bats were spared and the bridge is now a popular tourist destination.

This sign seems to me to be a sad commentary on the state of public education in Texas. Thank you George W. "Quite-a-few-children-left-behind" Bush. In case you can't read it, it says
"Want to teach? When can you start?"

On the way home, somewhere in Oklahoma.

Oil wells.

Jesus Christ delivers.... bread!
Funny, I never really pegged Jesus as a mini-van kind of guy.

Another one that's hard to read. The water tower reads "Moore, Home of Toby Keith."
Hell, yeah!

Hmm...

The "Low Water Bridge" in Joplin, MO.

Driving past the majestic Gateway Arch in St. Louis.

That's all I've got. I hope you enjoyed them. The life of a rock star. Pretty exciting, eh?