Howdy All,

First a Big "Thank You" to Abel for having such a wonderful site for us all to post and place our pics on, without it, this weekend's ShootOut would have never happened.

To all that attended, it was wonderful to meet everyone, and to shoot with most of Ya'll, it was a really fun weekend. Karen and I really enjoyed the Ghost Tour and would do it again in a heartbeat. It was fun, spooky, and enlightening. The "Tour Host" Kevin really did a great job of herding us through the streets of Austin that late in the Evening, tellin us stories, both spooky and neat. I still can't believe how beautiful the Capitol was Friday night, and how I will never stay in a Hotel Room with Number 427.

We all met for Breakfast Saturday Morning at the Magnolia Cafe on Congress Street. They had things set up nicely for us on the Patio, and the food was good and it was a first meeting for a lot of us. We kind of split up after Breakfast, some going out to an Indian Temple that Ric brought up, and the rest of us went on to shoot the Capitol and grounds. It warmed up quickly but it was nice to be able to go into the Capitol to cool back off before heading to Hut's Hamburger's. It was recommended by a Lady while we were shooting around the Capitol. I have to honestly say it was one of the Best Hamburgers I have had to date, and that does encompass quite a few hamburgers lol.

After we finished eating our Group headed over to the Zilker Gardens, and we went to the Japanese Gardens, it was a very well thoughtout and nicely planned garden, but I would imagine it would be even nicer when all the Flowers and Shrubs were in full bloom, and it was cooler lol. Like Will had mentioned earlier the Pond up by the entrance had probably the nicest color and arrangement of water lillies and lilly pads. I think everone got off a lot of shots of it.

Later in the Afternoon, we all met back up for the 4pm Duck Tour. The Duck and tour itself was really neat, but it was very, very crowded, and did hamper taking pics quite a bit, but it was a fun way to see the landmarks of the city , and motoring around on the Lake was a lot of fun. After the Duck we stopped across the Street to the Jazz Cafe to get something cold to drink and a few snacks to tide us over for the Tower Tour at 7pm.

The University of Texas Tower Tour was really a neat way to wrap of the ShootOut. We all went up into the Tower, of course that is after Jake got everything out of his 37 pockets, I am surprized he could walk with all of that loading him down. The Guards at the X_Ray area took it all Good Naturedly and we made it up to the Tower, and what a wonderful Panoramic View of Austin it was from up on top. The Tour Guides had given us a lot of the History, both Good and Bad, which made us a little more aware of the Tower's History. The Views from up top were really neat, and when we do it again, the Sunset Tour seemed to be the Popular Choice for next time.

Karen, Nancy, James, and I went to shoot night time City Reflections that James had spotted on some of his previous times to Austin to Visit his Dad. While we were there Karen noticed the "Bats" which was such a added treat. They came streaming out for over 10 mins, I can only imagine how many there where all totalled. After that the we headed back to our Hotel, said goodbye to James and went in and had a really nice Dinner at the Hotel.

So, to all that made it Thank You for making it a "Great ShootOut" for me, and hopefully we can do it again soon.

And Last but not least, a Special Thanks to Daniel, Troy, and Monte for their help in planning and getting us around Austin.

My Best to Everyone and I look forward to seeing all the Great Pictures that everyone took.