Trip Blog!

As you probably know we recently took a trip to Texas to see the oldest graduate from high school.  Since this trip was a driving trip and was going to cost a significant amount we decided to make it a vacation/kid pick-up/graduation trip all in one. (Genius, right?)

We left 05/26 and drove to Texarkana, TX and stayed right on Stateline Rd.  Our hotel was on the TX side and the Wal-Mart and the SubWay were on the AR side- cool huh?  I made a point to drive randomly from one side to the other so I could make state line jokes and quiz Dwayne on which state we were in.

The next day we drove to Austin by way of Dallas.  I'm not sure which genius picked the route that actually went through Dallas but somehow it happened.  We crossed over the Hubbard reservoir, which was freaking huge and so pretty, but awfully scary at the same time, and headed into Dallas proper.  It was around this time that I realized that IH-35 hates me.  The traffic, both in volume and craziness was insane.  I felt as if I was in the middle of a video designed by a madman.  My hands gripped the wheel so tightly I actually burst a blood vessel in my left hand.  That was probably around the time a chunk of tire debris came out of nowhere and I screamed and swerved to avoid it but still managed to run over it.  Yay.  Further on down on IH-35, around Waco, we came to a stand still......for miles. Ugh.  I can handle slow traffic but when we are STOPPED on the interstate I pretty much lose my mind.  It would just accordion back and forth and back and forth.....until finally we passed what was causing the problem- a massive truck fire.  The cab of the truck was no longer there...the trailer was melted and the entire grass,tree, and side of the road was scorched.

We finally checked into our hotel and gathered the children from their mom's house.  We all went to dinner at Rome's pizza, Tyler's job, and managed to thoroughly embarrass him.  The kids spent the night with their mom and when Tyler got off work he came and spent the night in our hotel.  The graduation was 05/28 at Cedar Park Event Center.  This place was huge!  They hold concerts there and a minor league hockey team is housed there.  There were 652 students graduating from McNeil High School that day.  We saw Tyler graduate and there was a ovary aching moment when I looked over at Dwayne and he was teary-eyed.  I asked him if he was ok and he said, "I was fine until the music started."  OMG- le sigh.

After the graduation we all went outside to take some pictures.  (For some reason the week or so we were in TX was one of the windiest on record there.....)  We all then headed to Texican Cafe for some super awesome food. (I picked it out after doing some research online and everyone loved it- yeah, I'm totally badass.)  We then ran around Austin for a bit before dropping Tyler off at a graduation after-party thingy for the night.  The kids spent the night with us at the hotel and we all passed out pretty quickly.  We got up the next morning at 5:30 when Tyler's lock-in ended, picked him up, and then went to Round Rock Donuts for some world famous donuts.  Got those and took them back to the hotel and after they were devoured we all went back to sleep.

05/29 we handed the kids back to their mom for their last day together (don't even get me started. That is a story for another day or alcohol fueled evening) - with the exception of Tyler, who before going to work that day went to lunch with all of the TN people at The Salt Lick.  After a wonderful lunch Tyler went to work and part of the TN group headed for San Antonio but Dwayne and I headed to downtown Austin.  We roamed around the UT campus for a bit (I got into a fountain to be silly and it turned out to be extremely refreshing until I walked around to the other side of it and saw there was a dead bird floating in it.  I recall screaming, "I just got in dead bird water!!")  We then drove around Guadalupe St for a bit then headed to the capital building.  We parked and then went on an awesome self guided tour.  We were surprised to learn that the HOR and the Senate were both in session (apparently, TN isn't the only state that has problems passing a budget) so we sat in for a bit on both.  In the HOR there was a battle of harsh words going on about some decade long building contracts that were recently approved but in the senate they were handling lighter fare.  We were there to witness the passing of Italian-American heritage day!!  Yeah!!  After the capital we ventured to Zilker Park and tried to find the Stevie Ray Vaughn statue but were unsuccessful.  Tyler came and stayed with us that night after work.


05/30 we picked up the kids and headed to San Antonio.  We parked downtown and headed to the Alamo.  The Alamo is freaking ahmazing.  I loved it.  The grounds, the staff, and the authenticity of the place.  I was told to be prepared to be disappointed (by she who will not be named) but I wasn't disappointed in the least.  We were able to catch a speaker on the grounds who told the story of the Alamo, watched a history channel thingy, and went through all the exhibits.  We then headed to the Riverwalk. OMG.  We took a boat ride and got all the inside tips on the area, ventured through the mall, and then had some awesome food (and one huge drink) right next to the water.  We fed the ducks and pigeons (illegally, I might add) and relaxed for a bit.


05/31  SEAWORLD!  OMGZ.  I LOVED IT!  I swear there were times I broke out into tears and I have no idea why.  We spent all day at the park, walking, sweating, and seeing shows.  Then Kalli and I went to see the behind the scenes of the penguin exhibit.  We got to learn about the fish they eat, go into the exhibit, and pet one!  YEAH!  There even some penguin high-jinks as three different penguins found their way out of the exhibit and into the back areas- a penguin jail break!  That night we ordered pizza to our hotel and passed out.

06/01  We had previously invited Tyler and his gf Julia to meet us in Corpus Christi if they were both out of work and could make it.  Well, they could- yay.  We all met at the USS Lexington and took the tours there. We toured the hangar deck, the bridge, and the crew/captain rooms.  Those stairs...no they aren't even stairs..they are like ladders....are INSANE.  I huffed and puffed and squeezed my way through the ship.  The kids got on the anti-aircraft guns and we went through every inch of that ship.  There were huge gun turrets on the deck in which you could climb...... so we crammed all 6 of us in there...watched a video of what it would be like and then Tyler, being the adventurous one, pressed a button.....the loudest, most crazy grinding noise erupted from the speakers.  We all screamed and Tyler laughed after the initial shock.  He had pressed the "howler" button, FYI.  The kids got into a flight simulator and we had a quick snack at "The Mess Deck" on board the ship.  We were all exhausted after climbing all over the ship and were looking forward to a nice swim in the gulf.  We headed down the beach and found a gazebo to park our stuff.  Everyone went inside to change (as Dwayne says- like civilized people) but I decided that I was on vacation and I was going to enjoy the outdoors- so I changed outside at the gazebo.  It was glorious!!!  We all changed and headed straight for the water.  Unfortunately, there were others already there.  JELLYFISH.  Everywhere.  I'm not sure what the problem was... if it was mating season or they had been disturbed by something but it was like a massive jellyfish graveyard.  We walked down the beach to try and find a clear spot but no joy.  They were all over the beach and in the water and ugh.  So, we gave up and ended up swimming at the hotel.  We all had a very interesting dinner at Joe's Crab Shack and Tyler and Julia left for home.

06/02 The remaining four of us headed to Texarkana, TX and stated at the same hotel on Stateline Rd.  And yes, I made the same jokes and got the same response.  :)

06/03 We made it home.  Well, kind of.  Since we have Noah and Kalli both for now we are living with the in-laws and treating our old haunt as a huge closet and laundry facility.

So, for now..we are in-between homes and have been trying to do cheap,free, fun things.  We've been to the Greenway, swimming, had Thai and Greek food, gone to a gourmet chocolate shop, and I have plenty more things lined up.  The ATL group is coming up next weekend which will add another element to this tango, too.  Noah is leaving 06/18 at 8 am and Kalli is leaving mid-July.  There are many nuances of the trip and tons of stories to tell and maybe soon it will slow down enough for me to type more.

For now we are off for a late dinner and movie time.  Ta-ta for now.