Back From Austin

Austin sure was an adventure! Before I tell a few stories, I must start out by saying that the photo shoots went fantastic. The students at CLE Austin had such fun, kind spirits. I can’t wait to see all the images tomorrow and look forward to visiting CLE Fort Lauderdale and CLE Denver next week.

Now, I have not traveled extensively across the US (mostly just in the midwest, south and east coast areas), but nevertheless, I have never driven in a city that is so difficult to navigate. It was UNBELIEVABLE. We had a GPS and Mapquest directions and we still got lost numerous times. It got to be a running joke between Dana and me. I could go on and on about it, but I will just say that I never want to drive in Austin again.

Someone commented on a post last week that we should check out Toy Joy if we had any time. After visiting the website, I got it in my head that I had to go to this store. I looked it up on Mapquest and the directions said it was just 15 minutes from CLE, which I thought would be easy as pie… well it took us about 45 minutes together there. Dana was such a good sport though! Toy Joy really was worth the trip, despite the numerous times I made wrong turns to get there. It is literally chock full of toys from floor to ceiling. Here are a few pictures of some of the fun displays.




We ended up eating at some small Chinese restaurant on the University of Texas campus that was near the store. Above is a picture of Dana, enjoying the only wine the restaurant had to offer. When he asked the waitress if they had any other wine besides the white she served him, she said “yes, we have red.” lol.

I’m off to visit my friend Stacy in Ft. Lauderdale on Sunday (so excited!) and then shooting at CLE on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday and Thursday Dana and I will be in Denver. Hopefully those cities are easier to navigate!