Free To Party

THE BACKGROUND
This past weekend, our pal from college (well not so my college as Ashley's college) came to Austin for a visit. This particular weekend should have been spent in Montana with our other friends from (their) college, but the Montana house suffered a burst pipe and with it our travel plans. But we are not ones to let rain on our parade, so we rescheduled the Montana trip for early April and Alicia decided to take that time to come down to Austin for a visit.

SAFE IN AUSTIN
In true Leigh and Ashley style, we had a planned itinerary for the weekend. In true Alicia style, her flight was late and sent those plans awry also. Since lans for an Uchi dinner Wednesday night were foiled due to the late flight, so we settled for a bottle of wine and called it an early night.

MARGARITAS AND MEX

For some time now, Ash and I have been putting the full court press on Lish to move on down to Texas....and Thursday, I'm proud to announce, Alicia had an interview for a job here in Austin. Everything went great, except for the fact that they don't actually have a position available until the fall. But, you never know...and we are hopeful. So after a long day of interviewing we decided to show Alicia a Thursday night on the town in Austin with margaritas and Mexican food at Vivo and a little karaoke session at Ego's. The perfect recipe for a fun-filled night. Click here for all the pics from our Thursday night at Vivo and Ego's.


HILL COUNTRY OR BUST


Friday we slept in, packed our bags, and hit the road for Hidden Valley Ranch in the Texas hill country. If you can't be in Montana Amini style, the next best thing is to "rough it" in the hill country Amini style....so rough it we did. At the last minute, we rustled up some friends for a weekend at the ranch. We arrived in shifts....(1) Leigh, Ash, Alicia...(2) Hogan and Ted....(3) Sara and Winn....and (4) Ryan, who initially had stated an 80% chance of actually joining us. Great group. Let me better introduce the players and the teams:

TEAM BLACK JEEP:

First meet Ash...our host. The responsible one. Tour guide. That Cowboy Casserole. That late night hand in the air dance. That killer elk chili. Those twice baked potatoes. That Rusty Trombone drawing. That's our girl....the hostess with the mostess.

Next meet Winn...Mr. "mmm" (or however the heck you spell that sound). The serenader treated us to a special birthday performance with some late night guitar strumming which was the ice cream on the cake. Great at morning after apologies and porch side yoga. Favorite beans are gorgonzola beans.

Now onto Ryan....Mr. 80%. Last to arrive, but most celebrated arrival. More excited than a kid on Christmas Eve...waiting for the next morning and all those Hidden Valley Ranch gifts that awaited him. The pouncer. The bird chaser. That stylin jacket. Loves a good lasagna sandwich.

How about Hogan....the birthday boy. Historian. Pictionary champion. Enjoys listening to Big Balls in Cowtown. He's as keen as an owl...always listening. Coo coo ca choo Mrs Robinson!

TEAM YELLOW JEEP

Now let's intro Alicia....aka Lish...aka Twizz...aka Terry...of which there are a couple of spelling variations....but I'm partial to Terry....just seems more "Terry"...if you know what I mean. She dons a killer flight suit, wears a mean pair of Ugs (even if they are mine), and can commandeer an iPod like no one I've ever seen.

Now say hello to Sara. Shootin Sare. With her killer cookies in one hand and a secret mixture cocktail in the other, she can sketch out a hemorrhoid like no body's business. Now that's talent.

On to Ted...aka Tedder...aka Teddy. My captain, oh captain (of the jeep that is). His speciality is changing from a pink polo, blue sweater, camel blazer wearing urbanite to a red wing wearing, snuff can pocketing, skeet shooting ranch man (well not really, but close enough).

And last but (certainly) not least....me. The sane one. The normal one. The one that brings us all back to center, keeps us in check, and always thinks before speaking. Except...not really any of those things. My gifts are jeep riding and generally kickin it at Antelope Ridge.


All the usual elements of a great weekend at the ranch were there. Jeep rides, bloody mary mornings, skeet shooting, games, fire pit sing-a-longs, Q&A, themey outfits, delicious grub, and perfect weather.

We only had one major hiccup....which I'll refer to only as "The Aoudad Incident" where some friendships were almost lost. And since the ranch is like Vegas and Fight Club we'll just leave it at that.


Sunday we went our separate ways...some to watch the Super Bowl, some to play racquetball (i still can't believe that), and some to Uchi (finally)....oh except Uchi wasn't open last night...but is supposedly open on Sundays. UGH! Just wasn't meant to be for Alicia on this trip. Deflated and defeated, we ended out long weekend with a couple of glasses of wine and some Italian fare at Vaspio...which turned out to be just fine (but no Shag Roll).

Alicia left this morning and I have official word she made it back to Richmond in one piece....albeit two hours late and sans luggage. Her travel woes continue.

To live vicariously through us...check out more pics from our fun at the ranch.

And for those fans of the infamous Leigh Leigh Land quote list I'll leave you with what what overheard this weekend from Vivo to Hidden Valley Ranch.

I'd like to think of myself as a popper. - Leigh
My vision was slurred. - Alicia
It's always just the two of us and I'm not gonna pull out my stick. - Leigh
Why should we take it up the ass just because we're not taking up the front. - Leigh
I don't want look at kids with Leukemia while I drink. - Alicia … I know, buzz kill. - Leigh
I pounced like I've never pounced before. - Leigh
Its not lubricated down my throat. - Leigh
You can't thrust? - Ted
I'm prepared to give him the cold shoulder. - Alicia
I'll spit in your face. - Greta
I can't imagine not putting anything in my mouth for the next minute. - Leigh
There's nothing I could say that would hurt you. - Leigh
That's the worst feeling the world. - Leigh ....what you can't perform. - Alicia ....no when your equipment is not working. - Leigh
I want to skeet some shoot. - Alicia
I want to tingle. - Ash
My hip usually hurts after a night of gyrating. - Leigh
You're drumsticks were limp. - Ted
I have no desire to see Ted's penis. - Hogan
I'll have you know I was a highly decorated cub scout. - Ted
She can commandeer an iPod likes no body's business. - Leigh
Ryan has slept in my bed entirely too often. - Ted
He slept on my nuts. - Ted
I like this new crowd you brought me....they've serviced all my needs. - Alicia
Is that like a warm bosom? - Ted
That's why they call me Patch Adams. - Ted
I always want more wood. - Alicia
I don't know what it means, but it just feels right. - Winn
Man did they drop. - Hogan
I like it tighter. - Ash
I like it rough. - Leigh .... Oh my ass. - Alicia … That's too rough. - Ted
That bird got lucky. - Ryan
Anything sounds great right now....except for a colonoscopy. - Winn
Anybody want any drugs or anything? - Leigh … I'm good. - Alicia
Dandy shootin! - Leigh
Can't catch a fish if your fly is not in the water. - Leigh
Yeah....I'll come over there and push a button. - Winn
I'm surprised I'm not in a coma. - Leigh
I'm a green beaner. - Leigh
The first time I met you, you were naked you were waist down. - Hogan
I think we're free to party. - Leigh
I'm on the brink of wetness. - Leigh
I can almost taste those balls in my mouth. - Leigh
Its worth sticking your finger in. - Sara
Begin. - Winn
You look like you just delivered a baby horse. - Ted
I had sex with a Ginger. - Hogan
The last time it happened it was 1999. - Ash
Leigh you have to talk. - Ryan
Chalk it. - Ryan
Why is there so much poo. - Leigh
We were in survival mode at that point. - Ryan
What is the matter with me....I don't smoke dope. - Leigh
All that gyrating is coming back to haunt me. - Leigh
That sucks trumpet butt. - Leigh