PHEW!

I’m home! What a great vacation I had in Texas! Chris was a most excellent host, and we packed an absolute ton of stuff into just a few short days… Here’s an overview:

Chris took Wednesday, Thursday and Friday off from work, after working the Monday and Tuesday of last week. Wednesday morning, we got up reasonably early and went out to Six Flags and had a blast. It was an incredibly hot day, with the high at about 93°F and plenty of humidity which I’m not used to. I was surprised at how well I adapted to the heat, though! The lines weren’t that long for any of the rides except for the “Superman” ride which was like a giant elevator, but with your feet dangling… lots of fun, and certainly a different ride than I’m used to. The only other ride we waited any real amount of time for was the last ride of the afternoon for us… “Batman” — and the wait wasn’t because of a lengthy line, but rather someone who ate the wrong food before the ride, and promptly lost it all at the end of the ride. Not only did he lose it on the ride, but all over one of the ride attendants as well. Yum! NOT. We ended up waiting 45 or so minutes for them to clean it up, and found out that someone else had puked as well… nice! The wait was worth it though, as it was a different ride for me as well. Imagine four people across, feet dangling down, on a rollercoaster that did full loops. Cool! What fun!

At 2pm or so, Chris and I headed back to his place to pack and head off to San Antonio! Chris was a great sport, and drove the whole trip after being in the sun all morning on rides… we got to San Antonio around 9pm, and then went on the “Great Corkscrew Hunt” — apparently Doubletree Suites doesn’t have any amenities for opening up a simple bottle of wine. Sigh. Oh well… we did eventually find an opener at a local grocery store, and went back to the room to enjoy a bottle of “Yellow Label” Wolf Blass (Thanks Jenn for that awesome birthday gift!! YUM!!) It was a relaxing end to a busy day!

Thursday was spent grabbing an early breakfast and off to visit Sea World! It was a perfect, albiet hot, day to enjoy the dolphins, sealife, and adorable penguins as well as an incredible show called “Viva!” which had a lot of unique acts rolled into one. It was an exciting morning that was topped off with feeding and patting the dolphins… Chris absolutely loved that part as well. After leaving the beauty of Sea World, we got changed and headed out to the San Antonio River Walk — an amazingly romantic place to visit! Imagine miles and miles of lush green plants, romantic stone bridges, and a ton of restaurants, clubs and hotels along a narrow river that snakes through the city. From above, you’d never even know it was there! It’s about two stories below road-level, and thankfully slightly cooler due to the plants that surrounded the area. We took a cruise along the river, (and took lots of pictures which I promise I’ll post soon!!) ate at an authentic Mexican restaurant, saw the Alamo (which was across the street from the River Walk) at sunset, and enjoyed some margaritas while taking in a swing band at the Hilton along the river. What an amazing night!! We ended the evening off with a quick drink at a local club nearby before heading back to the hotel and crashing from the heat, (and perhaps the margarita consumption).

Friday morning, we started back to the Dallas area around 11am, and had hoped to be back in that area by about 3pm, but unfortunately, we got stuck on a major highway that had been closed due to a very serious car accident. Chris, always prepared, had a small CB radio in his truck, and we were able to find out about the accident via various truckers that were closer to the scene. Of course, I had to pee, and was turning yellow by the time we started moving two hours later. Yet, another adventure, hey? hehee… The day didn’t end there, though! It was off to the Eagles concert that I’d been looking forward to all week!! They were playing at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, and it was an excellent concert. I’d never seen the Eagles live before, and certainly wasn’t dissapointed with the show they put on. We even snuck in Chris’ digital camera in my purse to take a few shots. (I can’t believe we got away with that! The security woman even asked me if that was a camera in my purse, and I said “no”… and we got it in. I was laughing! Um, it certainly looked like a camera, but she didn’t question it further. LOL!) After the concert, we grabbed a quick burger at “Whataburger” — hope I spelled that right. Good times!

The adventures don’t stop there! Saturday afternoon, after driving around, visiting “Fry’s Electronics” (yes, Channa, I did get to Fry’s… not once but a total of FOUR times — it *is* geek heaven, isn’t it??) I had wanted to purchase a digital camera, but at that point, hadn’t found the price that was reasonable for the Canon Elph that I wanted. Late Saturday afternoon, we headed off to meet up with Chris’ step-mom, Gina, for a baseball game! It was an inter-league game between the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros. Gina is a huge Astros fan, and was suitably dressed in an Astros jersey and hat. (grin!) Chris ended up surprising me with matching Rangers jerseys (VERY cool!) so that we could balance off Gina’s decidedly fanatic Astros-based rooting! She was so much fun to watch the game with, and explained much to me about the stats. We ate hotdogs (yes, I did eat a hotdog) and drank beer and watched the Rangers end up losing, but we all had an awesome time anyhow. I was surprised how much fun a major league game was to watch, and the stadium was beautiful.

We finally slowed down on Sunday, having a relaxing afternoon, and finally purchasing my camera! (Better late, than never right?) I love the camera, and ended up paying what I’d hoped to. Chris was so good about driving me around to find the best deal. I cooked Chris dinner that night, and then had to pack so that I could be ready to go at 6am the next morning.

That certainly was a difficult morning, yesterday. It was hard to leave after all the fun Chris and I had shared over the previous week and a half, but I knew we’d see each other again soon, so that made it a bit easier. We’ll have to plan another trip for him to come up here, and see much more of Vancouver the next time! What an amazing adventure…