Texas

Day 1: Houston
This wasn't really a day - we got in lateish, went for food (which involved stealing crab-eating implements from joe's crab shack - how could we not, it was plastic and said, "stolen from joe's crab shack" on it), and turned in for the night.

Day 2: Galveston
Johnson Space Centre sits right between Houston and Galveston :) We spent the whole day wandering around the exhibits, taking a tour through NASA mission control and training areas, looking at moon rocks, and marvelling at all the cool space stuff. I wish penelope_stone could have been there. You would have loved it.

Late in the afternoon, we moved on and headed for the beach. Apparently, Galveston island is a sink hole for sat navs, because Lady had the hardest time getting us to our hotel. Three wrong turns, four u-turns and eventually we spotted the place.
Galveston was nice... a bit odd, because rich, high class resorts sit right next to washed out, abandoned shacks. It's a bit weird to walk down the strip and see the difference. It's like going from rough area to up-market all in one block.

Day 3: Galveston
I got to swim in the sea today :) Woooo. And it was warm, and lovely. It reminded me of the sea in Wellington - it had that same kind of cold when you stepped in, but warm once you got used to it. It's the kind of water you can stay in all day. Wonderful.
Not so wonderful was the flies the marauded up and down the beach - tiny black ones. I think they were harmless (not 100% sure, though) but they crawled all over your skin, and face, and were horrendous. So we didn't spend long at the beach. Awh, but oh well.
We went out for food in a place called Casey's tonight and it was amazing. The best meal so far on the trip.

Day 4: Port Aransas
Port Aransas could have been better. The weather was stormy, the clouds a dark shade of grey. I really wanted to go swimming, but a gale was blowing and the waves, while small, were frequent and frothy. I probably would have gone in, but I'm not sure what lordkilljoy and lainey316 would have been. So I settled for dipping my feet.
After a long stroll of the beach and the town, we headed out for dinner. Dinner tonight was the second best of the trip. Mahi-mahi, cooked to perfection, with the most lovely crab sauce over it. It was the most yummy thing ever - well, maybe not ever - we'll get to that later.

Day 5: Port Aransas / San Antonio
I'd hoped the weather might have improved by today, but it didn't. Still, I headed for the beach first thing with swimming togs on and towel in hand. I got wet up to my thighs, and standing there with the waves breaking over my knees, the sky a dark, ragged shade of grey, mist rolling off the waves reminded me of Ireland. It was beautiful, in a rugged way - a desolate beach, a gale blowing, frothy waves and a pale strand, littered with foam and seaweed, definitely very Irish (but for the fact that the gale was hot and the sea was warm).

The drive to San Antonio was uneventful. The most thrilling thing was that we got to follow the evacuation route all the way. It's cool - they have a specific route for people fleeing a hurricane to go. We wandered around San Antonio when we got there, browsed a few shops and strolled the river walk. The river walk is so pretty - paths wander along the river bordered by pretty shrubs and huge trees. The bank is steep and walled, keeping out the noise and bustle of the city. Restaurants and food stalls line the path - all kind of boutique style with lovely, themed decor.

Day 6: San Antonio
The Alamo sits in the very centre of San Antonio. People are funny. The story of the Alamo is not a good one - a bunch of Americans lost a battle there, and still it is lauded as a symbol of patriotism. I can see why - holding out when all hope was lost and all, but still.
It was pretty, though. Small buildings surrounded by lush trees. Actually - that was what surprised me most about Texas. It wasn't dry and desert like you see in the westerns, it was lush, humid, green and full of trees.
That afternoon we went to the botanical gardens, because coming from somewhere as dry as Albuquerque, you just can't get enough of green trees and colourful flowers.
From there we went shopping, and at this stage the day felt like it had been a week.

Day 7: San Marco / Austin
We left San Antonio early and heading for outlet malls about an hour up the road. It was boiling - 34C and humid. My feet were killing me from too much flip-flop wearing and there were few shops I was interested in. Still lainey316 got loads she wanted, so I was okay with that.

Back on the road again, heading for Austin and we were all a bit tired. We stopped off in barbecue town (aka Lockhart) for food. It was all right, but not what I'd been expecting. We didn't stay long - just ate and moved on. Approaching Austin, the sky ahead of us looked ominous, all dark ragged clouds and strong winds.

We were almost to the outskirts of Austin when the radio cut out. It started beeping and then a voice came on: "This is an emergency broadcast. Severe thunderstorms in [town names I don't remember] with hail the size of a quarter. Seek shelter and stay indoors." We were heading right for the storm. As the emergency broadcast ended, we saw the first fork of lightning hit the ground way off to our right. A few seconds later the clouds lit up with more lightning, and again a few second later. It didn't stop. The wind tugged at the car (and not just a little car - we were in an SUV). As we hit Austin, the rain started. It pelted the windscreen in sheets. It crashed into the road, creating a layer of water droplets about an inch thick. It was so bad we couldn't see the road markings and just had to hope the guy on front knew the road better than we did. It was a scary 10 minutes, but eventually the rain eased off. We made it to the hotel safe and got to watch the lightning from the safety of our room.

That night we went to a rooftop bar and enjoyed the lightening from there. Yea - the lightning went on for hours - flashes every few seconds or so. It was amazing.

Day 8: Austin
Austin was boiling today. It was 35C and humid. We had a lovely breakfast (which may have included a glass of bucksfizz), then tried to walk around for a bit but were defeated by the heat. We rallied with ice-cream, and headed to South Austin to browse the vintage and curiosity stores. I could definitely live in Austin. It's a cool place with loads of off the wall stuff. I don't think I could deal with the heat and humidity, though. This was only May, I can't even imagine what it's like in July.

Tonight was party night. We started with a divine meal in Haddingtons (a very stylish restaurant and cocktail bar). This was the best meal of the holiday. I had rabbit for the first time in my life and it was delicious. It was cooked to perfection and the sauce with it was the most gorgeous thing ever. Nom nom nom.
From there we moved to Red River, which is the live gig area of Austin. It was fine - the gig we went to wasn't very good, though. So we moved on after a bit. We made our way down 6th street (Austin's main party street). It reminded me of Khao San Road in Bangkok - packed with people out to get drunk. We settled in an Irish bar (of all places) to enjoy the Louisiana blues band that was playing there. They were quite good - entertaining and lively.
As all nights did - it ended with food off a street truck, lively debate about how Cork is like Texas and a ride up the glass lift in the hotel.

Day 9: Back to Albuquerque
We woke late and packed up, only to realise that lordkilljoy had lost the car keys for our car in Abq. He figured he'd taken them out of his bag in Galveston and must have left them in the hotel. So the drive to Houston was a little stressful, the keys and diversions because of roadworks outside of Austin setting us a little on edge. But it wasn't too bad once we got on the highway.
We got to the airport and did one last search through the bags - no joy. We checked in, got some food, then made our way to the gate. We had some time, so we played our DSs, and when lordkilljoy opened his headphone case the car keys fell out. :)
So it all ended well. We were excited getting on the plane, and on the bus to the long-term car park, and in the car on the way home and when we got home - exclaiming "you found your keys" every few minutes.


So that was our trip to Texas. It was good.