Bob and Barb's Excellent Adventure

I have posted before about the TSA Pre-check program that lets you zip right through those security lines at the airport. By chance, we got a taste of what that was like during our trip to California and Seattle last summer, and we decided that we should get us some of that!

I also mentioned that the nearest place to get that done was in Victoria, Texas, in a little office located in a service station and open only a couple of days a week! That is, until the first of this year, when they opened an office in Austin. That's the good news. The bad news is that the office is located downtown. On 6th and Congress, to be exact.

Nevertheless, we filled out the on-line application forms and made an appointment for Tuesday, January 20, which turned out to be Inauguration Day in the Great State of Texas, though we didn't realize that back when we made the appointment. In fact, it wasn't until the evening before the appointment that we noticed on the news the plans for the big celebration and the big parade down Congress Avenue, and that many of the downtown streets were going to be closed and there were going to be tens of thousands of extra people downtown!

My previous plan had been to park in a public garage across the street from our destination (even though you know how parking garages confuse me), but according to the street closure map, that would not be accessible, nor would other convenient options, and forget about finding parking at a meter. About that time, Barb said, "What about the MetroRail? We could catch it at Highland Mall and ride downtown on the train." And so began our Excellent Adventure.

Compared to  many metropolitan areas, Austin is a one-rail town. It runs from Leander (part of the day) to the Convention Center downtown. Designated as a commuter rail line, it has Park and Ride lots only on the outer limits of the line in far northwest Austin, but there is a stop near Highland Mall, and there's a lot of parking there, if you don't mind walking a half mile or so.

So on Tuesday, we did hop on the train and went downtown, and walked a few blocks on a gorgeous day and even got to see part of the parade. In fact, that's the new Gov, waving to us.

And here's the Duncanville High School band from the Guv's old Alma Mater..

We made our appointment at the Pre-check office in good time, where they asked us questions like, "Have you ever tried to overthrow the government?" and "Have you ever been in jail for bad-mouthing the President?" Well, maybe not those exact questions. Then they attempted to fingerprint us on a fancy scanner gadget, and although both Barb and I "failed" multiple attempts to get good scans, we were assured that it was no biggy - the government could figure out who we were without them.

And after we finished our Pre-check application, and walked back to the station, this is us on the train, very pleased that we missed all the traffic and parking problems on our Excellent Adventure.