Texas

Photo Credit: Moreland Properties

I feel in love with Austin, Texas during a visit to see my dear friend Kelly Burrell Yunker in the 1990’s. Her husband Pete was getting his MBA at University of Texas at Austin. She invited me to attend a summer concert series, Music on Main, and to go jet skiing … and of course I said YES! Austin is hot, fun and delicious!

BTW, my Mother always encouraged me to say YES to every party I was invited to growing up so that I could meet as many different people as possible. This is advice I give to everyone now. The more people you can meet to have dynamic conversations with the better. During the digital age we live in, I still think meeting people organically is a fun option.

On this trip, I met Kelly’s colleague who hosted us for a day of fun at Lake Austin on his jet skies. It was not a romantic encounter, but a fun friendship that lasted years. It was during this trip that I had my first close connection to cancer and death. Soon after I visited, Kelly’s legendary Dad Billy Burrell died at 48 of Lymphoma. And then a few years later, my new Texas full-of-life friend who taught me the love of the green magical liquid of Miodori, also died of cancer.

That all said, this trip also taught me to live in the moment and to cherish the time we have together.

We ate at Chury’s which still stand today and I highly recommend as the perfect queso cheese + music Mecca. It still stand today.

I am not a fan of the direction Texas has taken politically. However, when I travel there next to explore the NPS Units, I hope we can agree that Nature Rocks!