I got up pretty early when smelled food cooking in the adjacent kitchen. I'd slept on Catherine's couch and everyone was up very early making breakfast. They're all doctors and med students, so it's programmed into their circuitry to wake up very early no matter what time the night ends. I'm not a doctor or a med student and I wanted to get some more sleep. But I also didn't want to miss breakfast. It was a tought decision, but I woke up. It turned out to be a good call because breakfast was good.

We hung out for awhile and then everyone dispersed. Casey drove off to her cousin's son's birthday party in south Texas, but the rest of us planned to meet up later that night in Austin. I was bummed out that Casey was leaving because we got along real well, but we made plans to meet up if I ended up heading towards the Gulf of Mexico.

Maya, who I had met a couple days before, invited me to a water balloon fight. I drove over to her place and about 20 kids were dressed up in war paint and crazy costumes. They had about 500 water balloons packed into the back of a pickup truck. I put on some warpaint of my own and made a war vest out of a big piece of fabric. All of us climbed onto the truck and drove to a nearby park. Apparently there was some type of rivalry between their house and one of their neighbors, and someone had found out that their neighbors were having a picnic. It was less of a fight and more of an ambush. There was lots of elaborate choreography, including a war drum, cream pies, fireworks, a dedicated photographer, etc. We very graciously gave the picnicers a box of water balloons with which to defend themselves before commencing the attack. Then we attacked and totally soaked everybody. Afterwards we brought them a watermelon as a peace offering and they gave us some picnic food. I wish I had pictures, but I didn't bring my camera.

I hung out at Maya's place for awhile afterwards. It was extremely hot and everyone was lazing around like we had won a battle in an actual war. Half of the ambushers fell asleep and I left to get some writing done.

It was Independence Day, and the city of Austin was putting on a fireworks show later that evening along the riverfront. 100,000 folks were expected at Zilker Park and I wandered over there. The crowd was at least that large - every spot of grass was taken. It was like a carnival; tons of food vendors, attractions, entertainment. As the sun set, the Austin Symphony Orchestra played.

No one was answering their phones so I found a spot along the river and watched the fireworks through the trees. The show was really spectacular. It was kind of hard being there alone when everyone else was there with their families and girlfriends and buddies. Normally Austin is great for meeting people, but July 4th is about friends and family, not making friends with sleepy vagabonds. After the show I walked across the river to town. Everyone was dressed to impress and headed to the bars and clubs. I was all sweaty and exhausted and I wandered around for awhile but didn't get too far.

I went back to Randy's place hoping I was still welcome. I hadn't heard from them in awhile, but when I arrived they were all sitting on the porch and they welcomed me back. We played some patio games and I went to sleep.