Photos and story of our trip to Austin

Here Shelby and John wait to board the train heading to our first stop in Ft. Worth. This was John's first train trip. Shelby had her first train ride at age 18 months one summer when Jimmy, Shelby and I rode from Dallas to Detroit.



Our friend Art P. picked us up at the train station in Fort Worth. He took us to lunch and to see his new house during our 3 hour layover in Ft. Worth. It made the time fly! We miss him since he and Sandra moved away from Oklahoma City. We hated to say goodbye when he dropped us back off at the train staion.



My daughter-in-law Tiffanie is the residence manager at the University of Texas, and arranged for us to have an apartment on campus. This was the view outside. John Henry felt like Superman there! (It looks like he is going to crash, but the ground was only 3 feet below the ledge.)

The apartment was the most wonderful place I have ever stayed. Not that it was particularly luxurious, but it was clean, quiet, and nicely furnished. The best part is since it was right on the campus everything was right within walking distance. I was able to walk out the door, turn the corner and buy a newspaper and a Starbucks in less that 2 minutes. I have decided that when I retire I will go live out my days in an apartment on a college campus! :)



Jimmy and Tiffanie gave me the most wonderful gift our first two days there. They kept John and Shelby with them at their house! I had the apartment to myself! This was such a blessing. I had not been able to sleep well for weeks. There has been too much on my mind and I've been missing Andy so much. Even as fun as the trip to New Mexico was I slept very little.

So... over the first two days I crashed in bed! I literally slept for 24 hours straight except to head for the restroom once or twice. When I finally woke up I was in a much more relaxed frame of mind.

Our hosts decided that a trip to the Austin Children's Museum was in order. What a wonderful place! I recommend it to anybody who is around Austin. I think it's just as much fun for adults!

This photo was taken in the "grocery store" at the museum. Check out clerk Shelby rings up John's groceries.



Later at the Clinic, Nurse Shelby weighs Tiffanie, while Jimmy (in the window) waits his turn at the Austin Children's Museum.




Shelby and John Henry wow the crowd in the recording studio at the museum.



One of the funniest things was when Jimmy made a video of himself doing a weather report in the weather center at the Children's Museum. Unfortunately, the videos are only temporary so we couldn't bring it home. He made one hysterical meteorologist! :)

The last night of our visit Jim and Tiff took us to a wonderful restaurant. Here are Tiffanie, John, Shelby and Jimmy at "The Hula Hut." Combo Mexican-Hawaiian cuisine!



Bright and early the next day we were at the train station for our return trip. It takes 10 hours on the train to travel from Austin to Oklahoma City.



We all hated to leave Jimmy behind, especially the kids. The visit helped them feel a bit more connected to our old life back when their daddy and Jimmy were still with us. It was a sad goodbye.



Once we were on the train everybody felt a little better. By the time we reached Fort Worth we all were in a good mood. While waiting for our connection on our return trip, we explored Fort Worth a bit. We found this neat coffee/ice cream shop. We only had a little over an hour layover this time, but we had fun.



Here we are boarding the train for the rest of the trip. The kids loved this trip!



I loved the trip, too. It has been very helpful having all the changes in scenery this summer. I had planned on us going to Michigan after this trip was over, but I have changed my mind. The kids need to rest, I need to rest. I feel like I've been trying to run away, even though we have had lots of fun traveling. It's time to stay home!