It was pretty hot in Houston. 80's and 90's the whole time, even early in the morning and late at night. Definitely more humid that Seattle but not really all that bad (yet). I was prepared for humidity like I saw late August in Florida, so I was pleasantly surprised... I ate a ton of good food on this vacation. Lea cooked some wonderful bay shrimp for dinner one night. For another dinner we had some authentic Texas barbecue brisket and ribs from Rudy's. There were a number of tasty breakfasts and lunches, too.
The family just invested in a Nintendo Wii so Brennan and Ada got to work me over pretty good. Yes, it's true, no matter how hard I tried I couldn't beat a 3 year old girl at boxing. I was also introduced to one of their favorite television shows called Code Lyoko. Apparently it's French Anime and every episode consists of something going wrong and the kids "returning to the past" to make it right again. It also has a very infectious theme song...Will and I ventured into downtown Houston on Saturday. We drove by Reliant Park and its neighbor, the Astrodome, which hardly looked like the Eighth Wonder of the World (more like the Tacoma Dome's older brother). We visited the Houston Museum of Natural Science to check out exhibits on both dinosaurs and energy. But the main reason we were there was to attend the Astros vs. Phillies game at Minute Maid Park. We got there early enough to wander around and see just about every angle of the ballpark. It is a very nice stadium and the game was great, too. Darin Erstad threw out Pedro Feliz at home to end the game and seal the Astros' 4-3 victory. Believe it or not, their 7th Inning Stretch includes cowgirls dancing on the dugout while they play Deep in the Heart of Texas over the loudspeakers.
On Sunday we all crammed into the 4Runner and traveled to the NASA Johnson Space Center, the place where failure is not an option. After checking out a Space Shuttle and the evolution of the space suit (among other things), we continued on to Galveston and Moody Gardens where we toured an aquarium and a rainforest enclosed in two of three large glass pyramids. We drove back along the seawall and could barely make out a few distant oil rigs out in the Gulf of Mexico.
Will let me test drive his 2008 BMW 335i which is far and away the most powerful automobile I've ever driven. So much so that I wasn't too comfortable driving so I left most of that to Will. He demonstrated the car's power and handling on the freeway by playing what he referred to as "Traffic Tetris". It rode so smooth you'd have a hard time guessing how fast you were going. The car has crazy features like a key that doesn't need to go in the ignition to start the car, radar the shows you exactly how close you are to objects when you are backing up, mirrors that fold in when you park and automatically tilt down so you can see the curb when in reverse. Of course I was the jerk that did the unthinkable and spilled gasoline down the side when I was filling it up! For some reason the pump didn't automatically shut off. Will said the clear coat should protect it but I really suck for that one...
Will and Lea, thank you again for your hospitality. I hope my visit was as positive experience for you guys as it was for me. I'm looking forward to sport fishing in the Gulf on my next visit ;)
1 comments:
Awwww Ryan, we loved having you here! The kids really miss playing the Wii with you as well. ;)
And we will definitely plan that fishing trip!
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