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memory lane

While I was in Austin, I took the opportunity to revisit some of my old stomping grounds. I lived here for three and a half years, after we moved from Okinawa, and I wanted to see how things had changed.

Rob had an early-morning flight, so I shared a cab with him to the airport and rented a car from there. I’d requested an economy car, and the rental company gave me an economy-sized convertible. (So economy-sized, my bag wouldn’t fit in the trunk, so it rode in the passenger seat.) A pity it was drizzling all day — I’ve never driven a convertible before, and it would have been fun to put the top down.

I’d plotted out my route for the day in Google Maps, but I didn’t end up needing it, relying instead on memory and the small area map the rental company had given me. I made a few wrong turns along the way, but otherwise, it surprised me how much I remembered about where things were and how to get around — and this from a time before I could drive.

In short succession, I visited my old elementary school (I contributed the tile above as part of a fifth grade art project), our old house, my middle school and a park where my middle school environmental club had regularly tested water quality.

Then, less memory lane-ish, I had lunch at Schlotzky’s and checked out Book People (continuing my tour of the nation’s large independent bookstores) and the flagship Whole Foods grocery store (parking there is utter insanity, but the store itself is incredible … and HUGE — check out the floorplan (PDF)).

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