AUGUST 9, 2005
Texas

Dear Texas,
You suck.
No love,
Me
P.S. Even the brownie points you had for being the home state of Nick Stokes are gone.

Texas is officially know as the “turn around state”. Why? Because we’ve had to turn around. A lot!

Followed a road almost to Galveston, realized it turns into a ferry only zone, turn around, lose 50 miles. (Rand McNaley again. The road connects on paper, and it’s not until you look at the detailed city of Galveston map that you see it doesn’t.)

So, we backtrack through Houston, (causing us to drive through the same torrential downpour 4 times from different angles!! Not fun when you hydroplane.)

Get all the way back to Galveston, and discover that our campsite has raised their rates to twice what we normally pay, and that’s without electricity and water. So we turn back around.

Told you it was the turn around state. Head back to Houston. I’m driving and Liz is on the phone trying to find hotel rates close to the Space Center. Everything costs too much.

So we start taking random exits, trying to find a cheap ass motel that’s unadvertised. Yeah. None.

Liz and I are both tired, frustrated, and cranky so we pull off at the Challenger Memorial Park to stop, sit and take stock.

It’s decided that our patience for the day is long past expended, and we decide to suck it up and stay at Motel 6. We order pizza and drink Cajun Bloody Mary’s. And watch a scary show about a 160 lb tuna.Good Times in TX let me tell you.

Peace

AUGUST 9, 2005
Texas

This morning we got up early, showered (ah, that was nice!) and headed off to Johnson Space Center. Realized ½ way there we’d have to turn around because we’d lot our ½ off coupon.

Ah, Texas, the turn around state.

We decide to get some breakfast, and I almost miss the turn, and I wind up straddling a random sideways-speed bump thing dividing the lanes for about 8 feet.

Tell me, Texas, what the fuck is that about??? Medians and dividers I understand. They serve a purpose. Dividing a lane for about 8 feet? W.T.F.?

But Johnson Space Center was absolutely worth the trouble. We got a great parking spot, got 50% off our tickets, and even got a nifty little MP3 player to use that plays information and astronaut interviews specific to whatever exhibit we were looking at. We toured the actual astronaut training facility, played on a flight simulator where you get to “land” the space shuttle, and toured the space gallery, where you get to see a timeline of space crafts from the Goddard Rocket, to Gemini, Apollo, and the shuttle.

It was fun!!Now, we are camping at ___________ Lake State Park. This place is gorgeous, our campsite is huge and right on the lake. And so far its been invaded by raccoons, and one completely oblivious armadillo. Seriously, we’ve seen about 20 deer here. They are all so used to people and cars that you can get pretty close. And the raccoons are fearless.

We were sitting at the picnic table playing checkers by candlelight when we hear scuffling. We ship the flashlights around and see a bunch of glowing eyes staring back at us. And they’re close, too. About 10 feet. The Armadillo just kind of wandered in, poked around a log for a few minutes, and wandered away.

We’re supposed to go see my uncle tomorrow, but our phones are out of service so I can’t call. And I don’t want to just show up on their doorstep. I know he works tomorrow, and I barely know his wife, so I don’t know what to do. I really don’t want to show up smelling like camp and DEET either. *sigh*
We’ll see what tomorrow brings, I guess.

There’s a women’s museum in Dallas. Maybe we’ll go check it out.

Peace