Last Thursday, I flew to Austin for my friend Alex’s wedding. She and her husband, Miguel, are from Austin. Alex had already moved to Houston when I moved to Austin and Miguel was about to move. I met him at his goodbye party. A few years later, I met Alex at a retreat and we became friends when I moved to Houston. This meant that I got to see both some of my Houston and Austin friends at the wedding. It was a great way to catch up with so many people that I haven’t seen in a while.

I stayed with Sofia, who you might remember from way back in February, when I was in St Augustine. She’s living with Estefania, who I had met when I lived in Austin but then lost touch with. It was really great to reconnect with her. They live near Westlake, a bougier part of town that I hadn’t explored before, so we spent the weekend joking about how we were going to HEB or a cafe and it’s so fancy because it’s in West Lake and it’s ok for us to go in our workout clothes because we can pretend we’re going right after our pilates class. In reality, they felt the same as HEBs and cafes in other parts of town, but it was fun to pretend.

I was in Austin until Tuesday and all my days were packed. I managed to catch up with everyone I wanted to see, whether they were invited to the wedding or not. On Friday morning, I had breakfast with Tuby, who I shared an Airbnb with in Milwaukee in May. That night, I had dinner with Nicole V and Michelle. Michelle was flying to London the following morning and I’m really grateful that she made time for me.

On Saturday morning, Sofia, Estefania, and I went to Swedish Hill and had delicious pastries. If you’re ever there, you should get the cinnamon roll. In the afternoon, Sofia and I went to the wedding. I went to the Mass alone, since Sofia wasn’t feeling well, and sat with Chiamaka, who was in Phoenix with me. Sofia joined us for the reception. Unfortunately, I only took pictures with a few of the friends I saw there.

Sunday was our chill recovery day since we were exhausted. In the evening, Sofia, Estefania, and I took Sofia’s dog, Lola, to the dog park to see her friends. Then we had tacos at Rosita’s. Some of my friends used to go to Rosita’s all the time and raved about it when I lived in Austin, but I never went. I couldn’t leave without finally trying their tacos. They did not disappoint.

On Monday, I spent the day with Lola while Sofia and Estefania worked and I had dinner with Nicole W, who got married in Milwaukee. We didn’t get to talk too much at her wedding since she was kind of busy getting married, so it was really nice to have time to properly catch up while I was in Austin.

On Tuesday, it was time to fly back to Nashville, where I spent two nights so I could re-pack everything for the second part of my road trip. Today, I drove to Mammoth Cave National Park. The road trip officially continues!