Austin, TX

Well Lakeway, TX actually, but close enough. And I flew here via Minneapolis if that makes any sense. All the way up to the north just to come back down to the south. Veronica has been here visiting some friends, Ron and Kay, for the last few weeks and I came to meet her here before heading to Cincinnati where she'll be starting grad school next month.

This is actually my second time to Austin but the first one of any note. I flew out here to pick up my truck when I bought it almost three years ago. I came down with something on the plane so wasn't feeling well and decided to head back to San Francisco right away. The guy met me in the airport with the truck, we went to a restaurant to take care of the details, and I believe I just started driving west from there.

Now I've had a chance to be a tourist and see what Austin has to offer. It's a liberal island oasis in the middle of conservative Texas and it feels strange to hear people express views I tend to agree with where I would usually expect otherwise. Yesterday we spent most of the day in the main part of the city seeing the Texas history museum and the capitol. After lunch we went canoeing on Town Lake and then had dinner at the first Whole Foods ever built, and supposedly the biggest. That place is amazing. I've been to a couple before but I don't remember them being that extreme. They had machines that made fresh peanut butter, almond butter, and cashew butter when you flicked the switch. It's a crazy place and almost a tourist destination in itself.

The highlight was the largest urban bat colony in the world. A number of years ago they reconstructed of the Congress Avenue bridge and the new deck has these crevices down the length about an inch wide and eighteen inches deep. It wasn't long before they were discovered and then completely inhabited by Mexican free-tail bats that come to roost every summer to have their babies. At its peak there are more than 1.5 million bats living there and every night about sunset they all come out to feast. We went down to watch and there were already a lot of people waiting for the show. It started with one or two bats emerging first and then just flying around over our heads and then more and more started to come out until they were swarming beneath the bridge but still hadn't left the shelter of it. Then suddenly they started to pour out from under the bridge in a river of bats. It was a never ending stream of flying creatures along the length of the bridge barely seen in the receding light. And they kept flowing out at the same intensity for the next half hour or more. Eventually everyone had left and Veronica and I were still there watching them against the sodium lights with no end in sight. We eventually left ourselves while they were still going strong. Who knows how long it takes for a million and a half bats to leave there roost but it's an impressive thing to witness.

Today we went to San Antonio to see The Alamo and a couple other missions that were actually more impressive but didn't have a historic battle to make them as famous. Tomorrow we fly to Cincinnati and Veronica's new home.

Not Even In San Francisco

Well, enough people put up a stink and the ski jump was cancelled:

Pacific Heights ski jumping canceled

Supposedly there's hope that it will eventually happen so we'll see.

And why can cancelled have one or two 'l's? What's with this language?

Only in San Francisco

This Saturday, August 27, there's a plan to put 12,000 cubic feet of artificial snow and a ski jump on Fillmore Street in Pacific Heights where Olympic skiier Jonny Moseley and 20 other professional skiers and snowboarders will perform extreme acrobatic jumps. It's apparently Moseley's 30th birthday and they're also filming for a new video game. There's a bit of an uproar from various neighboring residents, mostly some Hindu monks and a bride who will be getting married nearby. The fate will be decided tomorrow whether it can proceed or not.

I won't be around, unfortunately, but it should be an interesting event. Check out this article at SFGate.com and maybe I'll post again once it's over and videos are available on the internet.

San Francisco Murals

Now that I've chosen a format for my web pages I'm working on getting some of my pages that were a bit disorganized into something more, well, organized. I just put a page in order that is one of my favorites and has the potential for a lot of expansion.

One of my favorite things about San Francisco is its murals and there are so many of them I couldn't even venture a guess. Not all of them are worth stopping to get a picture but I plan to add my favorites as I get them. So take a look at the ones I do have and I'll try to put more up often enough so that it's worth checking back.

http://travel.natewilliams.us/sanfrancisco/murals.htm

Marine Layer

It was a foggy day in San Francisco today, one of those days that makes you forget it's the middle of August. I went for a bike ride up to Montara Mountain in Pacifica after work and it was cold with visibility to fifty yards maybe. This ride follows a fire road for most of the way and is a punishing uphill climb for six miles from just above sea level to about 1800 feet.

It was worth the effort today, though. By the time I reached the top I had come out of the fog and emerged into sun and warmth with a perfect 360-degree view. And what an incredible sight it was. From about San Mateo and the San Mateo bridge to the north, east, and west the whole of the bay area and Pacific Ocean was covered with the marine layer. All you could see was the Marin headlands, the very top of Sutro Tower, and Mt. Diablo to the east. Everything else was perfectly white and slowly moving like liquid flowing over the land. You could see a dip where the fog hit the coast as it flowed in from the west and then erupted in a sort of wave where it hit the bay on the other side of peninsula. Almost hypnotizing. I wish I had my camera but for now it will just have to be a memory. Maybe next time if I'm lucky to come across it again.

South Africa Photos Page

I'm way behind on my blog; it's been two weeks since my last entry. I've also been neglecting my web page and haven't done anything with it in a long time. There's too much I'd like to put on it and not enough time. I'm working on a new format for my photo pages so that they're easier to create.

I just finished the page for my South Africa photos finally and it's ready for viewing. I'm hoping it will inspire me to get some of my other pages in order. It can be found at http://travel.natewilliams.us/southafrica.htm.