Log 6: 3-27-2025
Rainy days can often be the most memorable and this seems no different for our sixth flight together. We started with a quiet, lazy morning in the library. The instigators had to check our urge to try to ensure the flyers were having fun and learn to trust that they knew what was best for themselves. Rest and leisure are just as enjoyable as adventure, so we lounged around and talked for a significant amount of time on the second floor. At one point, the flyers decided to check out the teen section of the library and play some of the instruments they had. As adults are not allowed in that area, the instigators stayed back chatting and accepting their background roles. This was a beautiful opportunity to reflect on all the things these youth were teaching us about freedom and trust, a lesson all adults in the lives of youth can learn from. Eventually, we made our way to Torchy's Tacos for lunch. The weather was drizzly and cloudy, bringing a sense of peace for the adults while the teens all started a photo tag game on our walk. They tried to catch each other off guard, taking “clips” of each other while avoiding being “clipped.” After lunch, we stopped at Yummi Joy to try the viral Dubai chocolate. Everyone tried a piece as we sat outside and gave our reviews. One of our regular flyers had stayed home, but when his name was brought up in conversation, we decided to convince him to Uber over and meet us, even if we only had a couple of hours left together. We made our way to a 7-Eleven to wait on him, and after some time, one instigator stayed there to continue waiting while the others went on to sit outside The Driskill, a “haunted hotel” we were hoping to explore.
We sat around, watching guests coming and going and hearing the familiar sound of ghost-hunting equipment! We talked about ghost-hunting YouTubers, the architecture, and the detail of the stained glass. We looked up the history of the building and saw its previous iterations and thought about Austin back then.
When our stray flyer finally arrived, he was greeted with enormous excitement at the hotel entrance. It was truly magical to see how much the flyers are bonding. Walking through the hotel lobby was fascinating, everything was big, antique, and fancy, just like you’d imagine. We could only venture to the bottom of the steps but managed to get a great photo of all the flyers together. By the time we left the hotel, it was raining much more than a drizzle, but one flyer was determined to grab their only purchase for the day at Voodoo Donuts. We popped in for cover, conversation, and a great photo booth. Before we knew it, we had 30 minutes to meet at our parting spot and it was pouring rain. We had one umbrella and we all walked at a different pace. The walk back was filled with laughter and lively energy, even as we got more and more drenched. As we parted ways, and the teens all snapped their final photos in their day-long game…a feeling of companionship continued to hang in the air. We all look forward to next time!