On the road

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That's me with Piscine on the road to Austin for our winter get away with Kate and the two boys — Little Moe and Radar. Yes we travel all that way, over 2,500km, over 3 days, with three cats!

We get away early on Tuesday January 28 having packed much of the car the night before. It's a clear but grey day with no snow. We're leaving Ontario so we don't get stuck in the snow and winter blues. Our Honda CR-V doesn't have snow tires (we don't want to wear snow tires out in the warmth of Texas) so we're thankful for the clear weather.

Crossing the border at Sarnia/Port Huron the US border agent starts with

He: "Where are you to going in Florida?".
We: "Ah, we're going to Austin Texas."
He: "What's wrong with Florida?"
We: "There's nothing wrong with Florida, we just like Texas better."
He: "What's this paper for?"
We: "The cats, we have three cats." (He really didn't care about them)
He: "Have you got any food or fruit?"
We: "We have some salmon sandwiches..."
He: "Salmon sandwiches? What's that?"

We've brought these sandwiches so we can make time and have them in the car. However, he couldn't understand what we meant by salmon sandwiches. We tried to explain and worried that the bit of celery in with the mayonnaise might mean we'd have our sandwiches confiscated.

He: "Is it like a filet of salmon on a bun?"
We: "No, it's mixed with mayonnaise."
He: "Ah, like a tuna fish sandwich."
We: "Yes, exactly like a tuna fish sandwich only canned salmon instead."
He: "Ok, off you go."

We've since discovered that canned salmon, like we have at home, is pretty rare in the parts of the United States we visited.

At the first Meijer grocery store we stop for fresh veggies, some lime juice, tequila and triple sec — Reg has had a "Dry January" and is looking forward to falling off the wagon with some margaritas.

The first night we stayed at a La Quinta outside of Louisville KY; the next at a La Quinta outside of Little Rock AR. La Quinta hotels are pet friendly, that's why we stay there. We're trying to break the trip into three equal parts. Both for us and the cats.

The cats are reluctant travellers. Piscine has done this since 2013 but still screams for a couple of hours to let us know she's not pleased. For Radar and Little Moe this is only their second trip to Texas but they're less of a bother. Moe hunkers down in one of the litter boxes and Radar hunkers down with Piscine in the back seat. The cats seem to like it when they get to the hotel room. They wander around, eat some food, and even climb on our bed in the night. However, the morning can be a challenge.

In Bryant, outside of Little Rock, we're able to find Radar and Little Moe who are hiding but can't locate Piscine. After an hour or so of searching Kate asks at the front desk if they've seen a cat and a helpful fellow suggests the common hiding spots. Having searched all those already he comes to our room to show us the extra secret hiding spot under the sink where there's a little cubby hole above the cabinets but below the counter where Piscine is hiding. We might have waited for several hours before the cat would have come out on her own in answer to our calls. That really slows us down!

We arrive in Austin by mid afternoon Thursday, unpack and settle in. Kate is quite sore from sitting and driving so I make a quick run to the local HEB to buy some supplies. That first night we order a take out enchilada dinner from the El Mercado on S 1st — not as great as our memories of meals at Mystery Mondays and Gospel-ish Brunch.

On Friday we're busy stocking up at CostCo (on William Cannon), the HEB (SoCo at Oltorf), Twin Liquors (nearby on Lamar), etc. That night we have dinner at the nearby Central Market South (a competitor to Whole Foods by HEB) where Bret Coats is playing.  It's a Blues/Rock combo and people are there to dance or to have a dinner. The store has a pretty good take away/sit in dinner service. I have a "Pasta Bowl" (penne with a very garlicy pesto) while Kate has "An Amazing Asian Bowl (with Shrimp)". You can order wine or beer, but instead we get a bottle of wine from the store and glasses from the take away.

When you place your order they take your cell phone number and then text you when your meal is ready — pretty slick.

We are pleased to be back in Austin and keen to explore our old haunts and discover some new ones.

I want to go home with the armadillo
Good country music from Amarillo and Abilene
The friendliest people and the prettiest women
You've ever seen.

(from) London Homesick Blues, by Gary P. Nunn.

Rock for Optimism

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Rock for Optimism Place was a fund raiser event held at the local St Marys Legion Hall to benefit the local women's shelter -- Optimism Place, which is located nearby in Stratford.

We attended for some of the show. Andrea Strathdee had a grant to organize the event with the help of friends and family. Dan Armstrong seemed to have organized much of the music side of things. That's him with his sister Dianne singing at left. They're both quite good.

For us it was pretty much an extension of the ceilidh event that Dianne and Chico host on Christmas Eve -- they're our next door neighbors. There were lots of friends and family in the Strathdee/Armstron families who are accomplished musicians. Frank St Germaine, who has a Friday night residency at Gordy's and the summer gig with the Front Porch Show, played as did many others after we headed home. We didn't catch it all.

Kate's on the board of Optimism Place. It's a cause we both believe in.