w e e k l y  m u s e 004

For me and David’s twelve year “dating” anniversary, we decided to drive back to one of our favorite cities – AUSTIN! We haven’t been there for about a year, so truly, it was hard to try new places since we had a few spots on our mind since our last visit. (which means we just need to make another trip out here sooner!) We also got to bring along our little dog child, Arty, this time — big thanks to La Quinta!! They’re one of the hotels listed that allows dogs to stay there.

When we first got to our room, I think he was a little unsure of what he could and couldn’t do. He sat on the small lounge chair with a towel under him and then after an hour of getting cozy he finally brought himself to find a good spot on the bed. He tucked himself right in the middle and we found him in the same spot when we got back from Sixth Street. So overall, I think one would say that he had a pre–tty good staycation there.

We hit the hiking trail right when we got into Austin on Saturday morning. We really, really wanted to go check out the Hamilton Pool Reserve, but since it’s been gaining so much attention on social media, tickets are booked until the end of August. I’m hoping to come back in September to finally see it. So we settled on hiking at McKinney Falls State Park.

May I remind you that we are extremely fearful and scared of snakes, lol. So going hiking there during the summer time was a big leap for the both of us. When we pulled in to pay to enter the park, I asked the ranger if there were a lot of snakes there. He kinda chuckled at us and mentioned that there weren’t too many but they do see snakes cross the trail from time to time. They had a lot of signs that said “Please Stay on the Trail” … so for the first hour, I literally turned on my inner snake radar and turned my head left to right every second. I did manage to get over the fear after the hour and focused on self-meditation while hiking. At then end we stopped at the waterfall for Mr. Arty to cool down.

“Did someone say snack break?”  We stopped at Buckey’s gas station on the way down to grab some good ol’ snacks.

say hello to one of the best dipping ramen bowls you’ll ever have
Ramen Tatsu-Ya

when the homie comes through with the street tacos #blessingsonblessings
Taco Wey Taco Stand

After checking out the Hope Outdoor Gallery we went down to the Colorado River and rented some paddle boards. It was our first time paddle boarding ever but I think we did pretty good! Arty had to sit with David on the bigger paddle board. I think he had a little bit of anxiety though, so we linked up our boards to comfort him a little bit before heading back to the dock.

Overall, it was a real fun family trip! Austin is an amazing city and we always have a great time there. I can’t wait to go back to try new restaurants and other activities. If you’ve been to Austin before and have any suggestions, please feel free to write them in the comments below! I love trying new places that other people have enjoyed.

I also made quick YouTube video for our weekend there –> Austin Video Re-cap

Thanks for sticking around and I’ll see ya next time!
Always,
Emily