One of the things we love most about traveling full time is having our family come to visit us in fun places. My sister, Laura, came to visit us in New York City (along with my brother and friends), and then again in Malibu/Santa Monica (with her sweetie Dan). We were super excited for them visit again...this time in Austin, TX.
We made good time traveling across Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas in order to be there for their arrival...and we were able to snag a campsite in Austin, despite it being one of their busiest months of the year. The Austin Lone Star RV Resort was quite nice...with some of the friendliest staff we've encountered! We would have loved to stay at Pecan Grove RV Park, but they were booked. We did drive by it and after I saw it I was even more bummed...it's so cute and is directly across the street from the Daily Juice....a raw bar that we loved. We'll just have to stay there another time...
Dan and Laura arrived on Saturday night and we stayed up late talking and planning out our fun. The next morning, we headed down to the little restaurant at the campground, where they were serving all you can eat pancakes for $1.00...plus a full menu at cheap prices. You know we couldn't pass that up! We love breakfast. And Dan really likes biscuits and gravy.
After breakfast, we headed to the Austin High School and went to an awesome church called The Austin Stone Community Church. We found it, of course, through a random linking of people online. Jamie Ivey found our blog through We Choose This. She wrote about it on her Facebook and linked to me. Her hubby, Aaron Ivey, is the Pastor of Worship at the church. Oh, and even weirder is that they are IRL friends with the family we will be staying with in Texas. I love the Internet. The worship was amazing and the message refreshing.
It rained off and on throughout Sunday AND Monday. But we managed to fit some fun stuff in anyway. We checked out the flagship Whole Foods store, and then went to Anthropologie, and REI. We also stopped at a sweet coffee shop...Emerald City Press.
On Tuesday, the sun came out! We had a lazy morning...and then headed into town for brunch at Magnolia Cafe. Deliciousness. Dan headed out to golf with friends and the rest of us headed to Zilker Park. Bella played at the playground while Daddy and Laura sunned themselves. Lucy took a nap on my back. Good times.
We headed up to Daily Juice for an afternoon pick me up. Let's just say I'm pretty pumped we will be somewhat close to this gem for the next couple of months. We ordered juices and smoothies and salad. They had the biggest smoothie straws I've ever seen! The staff were super helpful and not pretentious at all...which is sometimes the case at raw food restaurants. We will definitely be back again and again.
More park time after that...and then back down to Zilker for some volleyball. Dan's childhood buddy, Jeff, lives in Austin and he came to play too. We also met up with our friend, Maredith (and kiddos), who had just moved from Des Moines a few weeks ago.
The last part of our perfect day was going out for Thai food...at Thai Passion downtown. I was having fresh spring roll withdrawl because every place we have been to lately didn't have them...but this place made up for it! They were cheap and amazing. Pad Thai, curries, and stir fry for all...loved it.
We were sad to say goodbye the next day...we won't see them again until this summer. Such wonderful memories to last a lifetime. Thanks for coming to visit Dan and Laura! We miss you already.
Austin = we love you. We wish your traffic wasn't so crazy. But we will look past that. You're kind of a free spirit with hippy tendencies, into really good food, and you like sunshine. We'll be back!
Photos from Austin here.
All photos available for comment on Flickr here.
Saturday, March 13, 2010 
We parked right next to them in a river front spot. The spring-fed Comal River runs right through the park and it's lovely...I've never seen water that clear! And so many birds to listen to...loved it.
Within minutes of arriving, Bella had her swim suit on and was ready to float. She LOVES the water. Just a short walk down from our RV, there was an entry point to jump in. Everyone had fun floating in the water on a hot day.
The next day, we walked around the downtown "crazy days"...which turned out to be not as crazy as we thought it would be. You never know what you'll get in a small town...but it was a gorgeous day and we enjoyed it.
Bella enjoyed seeing the different artists...in particular this potter. The potter told Bella that she had just started to learn pottery when she was "very old"...and we had a talk about how it's never too late to try something new!
After a stop at the coffee shop and the bakery for a special treat, we headed back to the RV's to relax a bit before heading out for Thai food that night.
We went to Sarika's Thai in New Braunfels and it was very tasty. We shared a big hot pot of tom kha, which we LOVE...fresh spring rolls, and pad thai. So good.