My Summer Vacation

After road tripping across the state of Texas, I thought I would share my summer vacation with you.

First of all, my vacation started with me going home to Dexter, N.M. to take photos of my mother, her friend Diane and my Aunt Bev. I hope you all enjoyed the photos, and I am sorry if I bombarded your live feed, but they were too good not to share. If you love the photos as much as I did, hit me up for a photography session! 

Day 1 - Road Tripping

Anyway, we - meaning my father and his girlfriend's family, nine people total - hit the road Saturday afternoon from Dexter to Austin, T.X.. I love driving through the hill country, however, at night I don't enjoy dancing with death, meaning the deer standing on the side of the road around Llano. And why do you Texans pronounce it 'Lan-no?' If it was a New Mexico town it would be pronounced 'Ya-no.' To quote Michael Vick, I'm not saying, I'm just saying. Nevertheless, it is a beautiful area, but we were hauling in two ford trucks through each town, so we didn't get to enjoy it. I am very surprised we escaped without speeding tickets, I guess our valentine radars worked. Take that Po-Po. Also, there are two things you need when road tripping - root beer and country music. 


Day 2 - Houston and Moody Gardens

We checked into our hotel in Austin at 2:00 a.m., and I woke up at 8:30 a.m. to pick up my Grandpa Joe for coffee and breakfast. My father likes to stick to a strict schedule, and I knew I would have to get up before everyone else, so I could at least spend two hours with my grandfather. He suffered a stroke last year, but is right back to his quick and witty self. Grandpa Joe enjoyed coffee and storytelling before we ate at Torchy's Tacos (which he loves now), and then we hit 71 towards Houston. 

Texans, in case you didn't know, the left lane is the fast lane. I have no time to be stuck between two cars, when the drivers refuse to turn off their cruise control. I have to keep up with my dad, who averages 85 mph. To say the least, the drive in itself was interesting. It was like fast and furious with Texas Tech on the back of each truck, so I am sure we represented the college in great fashion. haha

We made it through Houston traffic, and over the bridge to Galveston Island. We were staying at the Moody Gardens resort, which was pretty cool. At first, I thought this was a place my father girlfriend's daughter, who is four, and my sister and her friend, who are 14, would enjoy. However, I was pleasantly surprised. Thanks to a donor for PBS, we got free tickets for four people for three days to enjoy everything Moody Gardens had to offer. TEAM PBS!!! They were showing a 3D short film on sharks, which prepared me for Shark Week coming up. Did I mention, how excited I am for Shark Week? Well, I am stoked!  

Day 3 - Massage, Workout and Pleasure Pier 
I have a ton of knots in my back, always have and always will, so I booked a Swedish massage instead of a deep-tissue massage. Unfortunately, the massage therapist worked on my knots when I asked her not to, but it did help my back, it just wasn't as comfortable as I wished. It loosened my back enough to get in 30 minutes worth of laps in the lap pool for my workout. It was a productive afternoon for a lazy vacation.

My sisters, Marlou and I ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. on Pleasure Pier. It was delicious, and I found out I know way more about the movie Forrest Gump, than I probably should know. After we were stuffed, we relaxed in the hotel and then went back to the pier with my dad's girlfriend's two sons to ride the rides. From afar the rides looked small, but once in the rides, they were intimidating going over the ocean on a small pier. I was a chicken, I'm not going to lie. 

Day 4 - Surfing, Black Pearl and Bishop's Palace
Me, being the chicken that I am, would not surf. I am deathly scared of the ocean, I will not go in below my knees. One word - sharks, ladies and gents. I am obsessed with them and scared to death of them, and right before we went to Galveston a seven foot great white was tracked to the gulf. I am not about that life, but my sister and Marlou were. The girls gave a valiant effort surfing during their lessons. They were pretty good, but they are always good at anything athletic. No surprise there. 

The surfing instructor suggested we eat at the Black Pearl in downtown Galveston, so we did. It was really good. I had a salad, but I ate a little of everyone's food, and it met expectations. As big of a Johnny Depp fan as you will find, I wanted to go, because of the correlation to Pirates of the Caribbean. Yes, I am a dork. True story.

Seeing I'm a history nerd, I wanted to go to Bishop's Palace and I dragged my family into the house/museum. "The house was built from 1887 to 1892 for Colonel Walter Gresham and his wife Josephine, with whom he had nine children. An attorney and entrepreneur, Gresham came to Galveston from Virginia following his service in the Civil War. He was a founder of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad, eventually working to bring about the merger of the Santa Fe with the Atchison and Topeka Railroad. He also served in the Texas Legislature." Who ever said you couldn't get educated while on vacation, obviously never traveled with me. The architecture was breathtaking.

After, I took the girls to the beach for an impromptu photo-shoot, which I am sure you have already seen the photos. If not, scroll down on this blog. It was a fun shoot, even though the seaweed reeked. 

Day 5 -  Road Tripping 
We checked out around 10:00 a.m. and Abby and I went to breakfast where we came across several mascots in the lobby. Apparently, there was a cheer convention at Moody Gardens while we were there. I did not know "ding dong ditch" was still a thing, but that happened to our hotel room several times. I'm not saying the cheerleaders did it, but I'm just saying. ha 

Any who, we headed for College Station, and while on the highway we passed a dodge with a bumper sticker saying "Texas A&M Football." So, I am assuming it was a football player. I thoroughly enjoyed blowing his dodge doors off with my ford dust. Sorry, I know it is dramatic, but I have no love for aggies. Wreck'em. We did not continue through Waco, but instead Temple. Temple was very pretty. For some reason, I was surprised? We got to Lubbock by 8:00 p.m. We left Galveston by 12:00 p.m - with three stops. Let that sink in. We do not mess around. 

Conclusion 
All in all it was a great and productive trip. I took photos, worked out, spent a ton of time with my family, meditated and got a massage to start refreshed this fall at work. Next vacay is San Diego, and we are still figuring out our Christmas trip. I love traveling and I wish I could do more of it. Two places I would love to go to is Seattle and Athens, Greece. Someday....