I caved and purchased a cup of coffee as I was too lazy to make it with the whipping wind battering the car all night. Also, since I stayed at the Pilot and did not need gas, I still feel compelled to by something. It’s the right thing to do.

I planned on visiting the Texas Capitol in Austin and that was about it, but yesterday my uncle informed me I had extended family there. He gave me Pat’s number and I sent her a text; not expecting to get together as it was very last minute. While she is a busy person, she was able to make time to get together for dinner. More on that later.

I toured the capitol and the museum housed in the Texas Capitol Visitor Center for a couple of hours. I should have stayed a bit longer as I didn’t take it all in, but I was getting hungry. I found a nearby Whole Foods and set out to find a light lunch. This was probably the best Whole Foods I have been to. It had a couple eateries in there and the bulk section was impressive. It included bulk oils and vinegar which I haven’t found back home.

Pat and I agreed to meet at 6:30 PM, so I had a bunch of time to spend with nothing in particular to do. I visited a park on the Colorado River and I have to be honest, ended up taking a nap after a very short walk. It was refreshing and it left me two hours to do more work on the DAT 101 course outline, which I did when I stopped at another park closer to the restaurant.

So knowing my particularity with food, my readers must be thinking, “Where could he possibly have gone to eat?” Well, Pat was recommended many time the Ranch-to-Table restaurant Jacoby's Restaurant & Mercantile. Check out their site and you’ll see why I ate there! I was in Texas, I had to experience it. That was the biggest steak I have seen and unfortunately couldn’t conquer it; so I had leftovers.

Apart from the delicious food, the company was extraordinary. I was so happy to get to know Pat. She is in a unique line of work really made me know I liked who she was. She works in compost; Organics by Gosh. If I wasn’t on such a schedule and she wasn’t working so much, I would have like to extend my stay in the area. Another time perhaps. Thank you Pat for such a great dinner (next one is on me) and excellent company. Hope to see you up north in a short time.

While I don’t generally like to travel at night, this was worth diverting from that “rule.” It was sort of funny, for the first time I was able to almost go the speed limit. There were times I was traveling at the posted 75 mph, but overall I think I held a constant 70. I got to my spot for the night and braced for a cold one; predicted night temps were supposed to be in the high 20’s. Let’s see what the place looks like in daylight!