Touring Parts of Texas

Houston is quite the city.  Perhaps if I spent more time there I would eventually find short cuts and alternate routes to various destinations.  However, being as direction-handicapped as I am made navigating through the area a bit more difficult for me.  When you have large cities, you often have lots of traffic.  Again, no exception here - which added to the inadequacy I felt when I toured around the city.  Despite being turned around on more than one occasion, we eventually found our way to parks, concerts, restaurants, and more.

Before we left for our little Christmas vacation, to help get our minds off our apartment mishaps (see again I am finding a logical reason to justify spending money), we found our way to the Houston Symphony.  A few days later we were able to see the Rockettes perform their Radio City Christmas Show.  One of our last nights off before we flew home, we drove down to Galveston to see a Christmas Light display.  It was perfect for getting us into the Christmas spirit before we saw our families.







When we returned to Houston, we again were thankful that we were there during our normal winter months, as the temperatures were refreshingly mild and proved excellent for hammocking.  We wandered around different areas of the city, finding coffee shops and little boutiques...and occasional hearses - again Dad, for you...

Also much to my excitement, Texas is no stranger to country music.  As a result we were able to catch a few shows at a little nearby honkeytonk.  It served as fantastic people watching - oh and the concerts were enjoyable as well.  

When Becky and I had stretches off we explored some of the big cities outside of Houston.  One long weekend we visited one of Becky's friends in Dallas.  We were exposed to a couple of delicious restaurants and shown some hidden gems within the city.  After our visit with Julie, we ventured over to the John F. Kennedy Memorial and got a little history lesson of that dreadful day.

 

A few weeks before we left the great state of Texas, we had the opportunity to visit Austin and San Antonio.  While we were in Austin I experienced my first airbnb stay - I will most definitely use that to book future getaways.  One of the girls we were working with was originally from Austin so she was super helpful in filling us in on the "must see" attractions.  Again, that combined with Becky's research provided an ambitious list of activities for us to enjoy.

We stayed in a place just off South Congress, which proved to be the perfect location for the purpose of our visit.  Amazing restaurants, Home Slice Pizza and Hop Doddy to name a couple, were within walking distance and various shops and restaurants lined the remainder of the street.  Of course we found another Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives place and happily devoured our meals.  One of the days we decided to have no shame in playing tourist and took a Double Decker Bus ride around the city.  To me I feel like that sometimes is the best way to see multiple iconic parts of the city when you have a limited amount of time.  It turned out to be a gorgeous day as we cruised around snapping pictures, thoroughly enjoying our people watching/sightseeing experience.

 

 

We saw the original Chuy's and visited a delicious food truck station.

 

One of the afternoons we took our bikes for a spin and found a nearby pool, we didn't brave the cold water but it was a neat little area.  I never did quite get past the fact that people were swimming outside in the middle of February.  Our friend Nicole had mentioned a B-B-Q place called the Salt Lick about a half hour or so outside of Austin.  She said the experience would be worth the drive and I'm happy to say it didn't disappoint.  On our way out there however, we took a random little detour and found Hamilton Pool, a natural pool we had read about online.  As we were driving up to the entrance however, we noticed the park was closing in 5 minutes.  Of course it was...

The good news is, we've learned to make the most of these silly and frequent disappointments.  About a mile or so down the road we both noticed a sign for a nearby winery, why not see what that's all about since it was still a bit too early to head to dinner.  As we sipped some wine and chatted about our Austin adventures we made the decision to check out the pool on our way out of town.  It would add a few minutes to our drive, but we figured we had plenty of time.  It was definitely worth the stop.

 

 

After soaking up the sun for a little while we decided to make our way to San Antonio.  It was a fun area with a lively Riverwalk which was lined with hotels, restaurants, and businesses.  We toured around the city taking in as much of the culture as possible.  Later one evening there was an art projection show taking place downtown.  They used the facade of the church, projecting the history of San Antonio through a light show picture.  It was impressive, and my photos definitely don't do it justice.  The following day we paid a visit to the nearby village and the Alamo.  It was a sight to see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm sure I'll eventually make my way back to Texas, as there is plenty of the state I have yet to see.  For now though, I'm content with our three month packed visit.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Following a nice visit at home and a hearty Thanksgiving meal at Andrea's, I was out on the road again.  I got to the end of her street, phone charged, gps navigating, and ipod ready for me to press play.  I took a deep breath, the road trip to Houston, Texas had begun.

Just kidding - I had to turn around and go back because I forgot my boots...I said another set of goodbyes and then was off for real.

I decided to leave in the evening in hopes that I'd miss out on some traffic.  I figured I could at least get to West Virginia and then meet up with Becky in Knoxville the following day.  Thankfully the rest of that portion of the drive went off without a hitch.  I made it to the hotel, got some sleep and was at it again in the morning.  I was trying to get away from the snow and sleet from the north, unfortunately, however, it seemed to follow me for a while.  When I arrived in Knoxville and lifted my bag up from the passenger seat floorboard, I realized the entire bottom of it was soaked.  Looks like the leak in the Jeep that was "supposed" to be fixed that previous week didn't go so well.  Little did I know, that would be the first of many mishaps...

Our first day of orientation was the Monday after Thanksgiving so we had quite a bit of driving to do in a short amount of time.  I stayed with Becky's family for a night and then we headed out toward Houston the following day.  Once we reached Texas we were greeted with sunny weather and temperatures in the 70's.  I was enjoying Texas already.

We unloaded our cars and unpacked the essentials as we mentally prepared for our new job.  Unfortunately the first few weeks of this assignment didn't go as well as we had expected.  The good news was the hospital and job itself were quite enjoyable.  The unit was constantly buzzing and the crew that staffed it was second to none.  The care and knowledge they provided to their patients and families was evident in every decision that was made.  It truly was a privilege to work among them.

Now for the continuation of the mishaps...unfortunately when we arrived at our apartment there were a few kinks that needed to be worked out.  One of which was the furniture - with this assignment we had taken the housing that our company provided which meant the rented furniture would be there when we arrived.  It took a few days and multiple phone calls to get that squared away.  The next issue, which was a bit more important was the construction.  I've said previously that Becky and I always find places that are being renovated or are closed - well again, no exception here.  Creating a new building right next door to our three month lease wasn't really okay.  It's something that should have been discussed prior to our move in, but unfortunately it wasn't.  Needless to say we moved out of there as soon as we could.  Perhaps we were asking for a lot, you may judge if you like, but nobody likes hammering on the wall next to you at 2am every day.

We moved into our new place and got settled rather quickly.  It was now mid December and the hospital was gracious enough to give us time off for Christmas.  Becky and I were each able to fly home and be with our families.  Two days before we left however, there was a ridiculous rainstorm.  Becky woke up to a dripping sound coming from the living room.  The up side of living on the top floor of an apartment building is that you never have a heavy footed person stomping above you...the down side - leaks...

Thankfully our apartment complex was on top of their game and the ceiling and roof were fixed by the time we got back from our Christmas vacation.  After that things seemed to start falling into place and we were able to enjoy Houston and surrounding areas a bit more.  I think we definitely made up for some lost time in the next couple of months and took advantage of every day off.

Connecticut to Virginia

Becky and I started and ended our contract in Charlottesville, Virginia at concerts.  As if we hadn't driven enough to get to our new apartment, we decided it would be a good idea to trek a little farther toward Richmond to see Jennifer Nettles.  I figured it was a great housewarming gift to ourselves.  You'll find soon enough that I tend to come up with a completely logical reason to spend my money.  This was no exception.  Unpacking could wait, it was time for some fun.

  

Charlottesville was familiar stomping grounds for Becky, as she had lived and worked there prior to the ship.  This made her the automatic navigator.  When we added the suggestions from some of her friends that still lived there to our bucket list, we had plenty of check boxes to fill in.

Did you know there are tons of wineries in VA?  That was news to me, pleasant news I might add.  It makes for a nice afternoon, as many have gorgeous views of the hills and vineyards.  Throw in some sunshine, friends, and of course, a little wine, and it's a perfect outing.

VA is also no stranger to an array of hiking trails.  I am embarrassed to say that although I love being outside, I've learned I'm not in the same shape I was a few years ago.  

What used to be a leisurely uphill walk has now turned into somewhat of a steep cliff of death where I find myself gasping for air.  Don't even try and have a conversation with me because I...can...only...get...one...word...out...at...a...time.  I blame the altitude...

See - I'm not kidding...

A weekend that we were both off, a couple of Becky's friends flew in for a visit.  We did a couple of things around town, and then decided to venture down to Williamsburg.  It was like a little history lesson, except I enjoyed it.  We strolled through town and appreciated being tourists for the day.

 How could I pass up this picture?  Aren't you proud, Dad?

Becky is a fan of lighthouses and I like road trips so we decided to go on a little Lighthouse Road Trip to the Outer Banks.  We lucked out on some pretty amazing weather for the majority of the mini vacation, cruising along the coast and stopping for some photos and of course, food.  Our first stop happened to be a Diners, Drive-In’s and Dives participant.  (Being friends with Sofia and Becky has allowed me to mark off quite a few – I’ll eventually do a little brainstorming and see what number I’m at).  From there we continued on our lighthouse quest.

 

                       

The Jeep had a little photo op as well. 

 

We also experienced a little trespassing after hours, thankfully no shotguns were involved but there were an exponential amount of mosquitoes.  Between that and my nervous nelly photography skills the pictures are less than ideal.  Serves us right I suppose.

 

 

We also found our way to the Wright Brothers National Memorial.  They were doing a little construction on site, but it didn't take away from the experience.  Besides, somehow Becky and I always find restaurants, museums, parks, etc. that are either under construction or closed so some orange cones on the memorial grounds didn't seem to put a damper on things.

 

We also met a few friends...

 

After the Wright Brothers Memorial we headed over to the Dunes.  They were pretty impressive to say the least.  It was one of those times where the farther you looked, the harder it was to tell where the sand ended and the sky began.

Once we made it to an open area, we decided to lay out our blanket and attempt reading our books.  As you can probably guess from clouds in the photo above, our plans didn't quite play out as well as they had in our heads.  Before long the skies opened up and the wind started gusting...

This may not be worse than sand in your bathing suit, but it's a close second.

 

Despite a few weather mishaps and some closed restaurants, we made it to and from our destinations in one piece - I'd call that a successful trip.

Although it was quite a challenge getting back to work after spending almost a year in Africa, I did actually enjoy the adventure.