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Lil' Rascals Brass Band at Jazz Fest

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Boiled crawfish and potatoes at the New Orleans Jazz Fest.

We've been home for a while now. Since leaving San Miguel de Allende we bee-lined it to the border. We were able to convince the border patrol that we weren't up to no good which wasn't that easy. Let's see, no jobs, four months of surfing, outdoor recreation, you're going to have to pull over into the left lane. Fortunately the guy who talked to us was a surfer from Morocco.
Padre Island turned out to be a less than exciting place to spend a couple days. It was overcast, windy and no place to seek cover in case of rain. Our first night there we were each enjoying a Shiner Bock and on the bottle they invited us to the brewery for a tour and said they would save a cold one for us. So after surfing the next day we packed up and headed to the brewery. We missed the tour, but were still able to try some of the beers. Later that night we found a state campground that had a golf course so we stayed and chopped up the grass a little. They use prisoners to keep up the state park system so every couple holes we would see a guy in stripes cutting the grass.
From the Golfing experience we headed up to Austin to visit Brooke's sister Megan. This was interesting as the hotel she was staying in had a transvestite/transgender conference going on. Needless to say that night at the hotel bar was an eyeopening experience. After Austin we went to visit Colleen, our friend who is doing Teach for America in Baton Rouge. She gave us a great tour of the city and took us to a cajun restaurant where I was able to order a five pound bucket of crawfish. Five pounds makes the little pile from the picture here look like chicken scraps. In fact, the friend of the guy who ordered that crawfish basket at Jazz Fest wouldn't even talk to him because of overpaying for such a small amount.
From Colleens we went to Jazz Fest in New Orleans and got to see some incredible bands at the fairgrounds. And after two days of driving, we were home.
Brooke heads up to Coons June 1st, missing my brother's 21st birthday by mere hours and I have to be at Camp Manito-wish on June 4th. I'll be joining Brooke at work mid-August to finish out the summer. Next update will probably come in September when the van moves again.

Our first Texas BBQ. No forks...or plates.

Posing at the Shiner Brewery in Shiner, TX. We missed the tours but they still let us try their beers.