THE WEEK THAT WOULD NOT END!!!! Part 1

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Friday, March 7, 1997

Man worked last night but went in early, so comes home at 3 A.M.  Carol wakes , gets up, finishes packing and cleaning the house, takes a shower.  I sit in the recliner, nod off a little, and wake at 7 A.M.

We take the dogs to Man’s moms.  Arrive at Detroit Metro Airport and get on our plane to Houston.  Arrive Houston, get our rental car, follow D's great directions and arrive at the D & M's mansion about 4:30 P.M. Houston time.

Dinner is Texas style Bar-b-que at the Swinging Door.  YUM!!

Saturday, March 8, 1997

D cooks us a wonderful breakfast, ooooo, the bacon!!

D and M took us for a drive around Houston.  Most unusual sight of the day--the tin (steel??) houses.

This is the "Beer Can House".  Yes, there is a web site.

This house was nearby, nothing further is known.

Lunch, Mexican.  Next order of business--naps!!

Dinner, hamburgs from our  grill, but we are all still so full we only eat bout ½ each.

Evening entertainment--a rodeo.  A real one, yes!!!  Local boys, no professionals here. Our seats were right up front, dirt front.  Say what???  Dirt front??? Yea, that is when you are so close that the bulls and horses throw the dirt from the floor on your faces and clothes when they stomp by!

Both Friday and Saturday were filled with great conversation, stories and laughter.

Sunday, March 9, 1997

After another wonderful breakfast, we “Head West”.  Towards San Antonio.  Bout 40 minutes after leaving the D & M's mansion Carol non-nonchalantly questions Man, “Did you get your hat?”  Now you know what his response was!

Texas does every thing BIG.  Every fast food joint has LONG lines.  Every gas station/convenience store has LONG lines.

The citizens either go hog wild caring for their estates, or on the opposite side of the coin, seem to be competing for “I own the most junk in Texas”.  The only other competitions seem to be 1.)  How high can I stack the most junk?  OR 2.)  Can I make the most piles out of my junk??  The contrasts are stark.

San Antonio--if we knew where we were going we would have made wrong turns and U turns.  Since we didn’t, we blindly followed the road signs and drove right in!  We zeroed in on a parking structure and within minutes we were parked and in the Riverside Center Mall.  The truth of the matter is, Carole’s sugar was GONE and she was on a food rampage, find it NOW!!!!  I partook of a local deli, turkey sub on a very unusual but yummy bread.

We walked the river side and decided quickly to begin the “hotel room” hunt.  Marriott was $139.00 a night.  More than we wanted to spend!!  So we spy a La Quinta just a block away at $109.00 a night. Better.  Then the magic words, Good Sam (RV club membership, which I have just paid for 1997!!).  Hey now that room is $90.00.  COOL!! We take it!!

Back to the River walk, we just mozy along with nothing more specific in mind than finding the Man a new hat.  Mission accomplished within minutes. Straw, head band, looks great, he now has a summer dress hat!!  Stroll along a little more, wandering in and out of a few shops.  We reverse direction and head back towards the mall, wandering and shopping, spending zip.  Easy, lazy and cheap!

Back to the motel, nap time!!!  A couple of hours later we wander back towards the River walk in need of more FOOD!!!  Olive Garden we decide, now it is close to 8 P.M. and in order to maintain the Texas tradition, still a LONG line!!  35 minutes wait--OK.  We squander the half hour watching the river boats load and unload.  Dinner, a slow jaunt back to La Quintas and bed.  We have learned that this is the very first La Quintas ever built, for the 1968 World’s Fair.




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