Houston - First Major Stop

We’ve been here in Houston for a several days now, having a very pleasant and relaxing time. Lynda has been able to spend some time with her aunt Janet and cousin Nicole and we’ve been staying with my sister Catherine and her family in the Cypress area, north west of Houston.

We arrived this past Friday after a harrowing drive through Houston on I-10 and I-610 North. If it’s not enough that Houston drivers are pretty aggressive, these major roadways are under construction with very narrow lanes and concrete barriers. It would be a stretch for me to say I was not stressed about driving the 28 foot Trek-with-scooter-on-the-back in that kind of traffic, although Lynda seemed quite comfortable. She has developed considerable confidence in my RV driving abilities – I hope to never let her down!

Anyway, we made it in one piece, dropped Sydney and Barley off at the Longwood Animal Hospital & Pet Resort and then coordinated with the manager of Safe Harbor Boat & RV Storage to arrange for a great storage spot for the Trek – a fully enclosed RV garage in a secured area only 5 minutes from Catherine’s house! And the price was right also: only $5 a day. What more could a girl ask for?

My family gathered at Catherine’s place on Saturday and then we all went over to Charles and Donna Davis’ (longtime friends from Barbados) for a wonderful West Indian curry roti dinner. Their son Brad was there also, as was Noreen and Ronald Branch… and so old friends and family got together and a good time was had by all.

On Wednesday, Catherine, Lynda, Donna, and myself spent a few hours in Old Town Spring.  If you enjoy shopping and/or browsing in a quaint setting, then you will enjoy this place.  It was nice for the four of us to just hang out together.

My oldest niece, Rachel will be celebrating her 13th birthday this coming Sunday, May 2nd. This is not only a milestone birthday for her, but is also the first birthday I will actually get to spend with her in person! It’s hard to believe Rachel is becoming so grown up… it seems just a couple years ago that she was a baby! Catherine and husband Roger, with some help from the rest of the family, have been shopping and planning and we’re all looking forward to Sunday. We will get together at our other sister’s (Pilar) house in Beach City for dinner on Saturday, spend the night, and then have Rachel’s birthday celebration the next day.

On Monday morning, we'll retrieve the Trek, and Sydney and Barley and depart the Houston area to head west towards Big Bend National Park. This is a 600 mile drive and so we’ll go about half way and spend the night at the FamCamp at Laughlin Air Force Base (Del Rio), finishing the drive to Big Bend on Tuesday.  I don't think we'll have Internet connectivity while at Big Bend... if not, we'll catch up later.

Stay tuned!