We have a room with a view for sure. We look north at the Austin skyline and are about a mile from downtown. We just ride the bikes two blocks down the steep hill and cross over to the park and bike trail. A wonderful breeze blows from the south as we gaze across the greenbelt.
This year we had the place to ourselves at first and then a 41' toy hauler pulled in. This was to be the shuttle service for the crews that worked much of SXSW doing the lighting or whatever needed to be done. Each afternoon about 90 workers would arrive donning their black crew t-shirts and would be shuttled to their assignments for the evening. At midnight they would be brought back to their cars and leave. The guys running the operation seemed nice and offered to shuttle us anywhere we needed to go. However, we ate so much while there that we needed to bike or walk!
One night at midnight I heard "if you come back up this hill we will put a f@$&ing 9 mm bullet in your head!". Nope! I quickly realized I wasn't dreaming. I woke Leon and he looked out to see three guys running around in the woods with pistols in hand. They kept yelling down the hill daring the tramps to come back up. Little did we know that about 250 homeless people live along the greenbelt at the bottom of the ravine. Some had realized the trailer was there and were trying to pry open their bays where some very expensive lighting was stored. You might know, Leon had accidentally left ours open and they wanted nothing we had.
At first we were a little worried and then I decided we had all the protection that we needed and a gunfight probably wouldn't happen because the hoboes probably didn't have guns. Afterall, we are in Texas. I felt well protected and slept quite well. It is amazing how well you sleep after lots of hiking and biking!
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