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Published: October 21st 2009
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Houston and Dallas, Texas - 10th-13th October
Having left the mozi’s at the rest area on the interstate we headed on towards Houston KOA campsite where we were met by what can only be described as a gerbil on drugs. She was a very nice lady it was just everything was done with a crooked head, super fast and garbled. A quick hand dip in the pool confirmed it would be nice to swim so we went for a quick refreshing dip. Doddy got talking to a campsite resident called Thumper who invited us to put some food on his BBQ. We repelled up though the mozis weren’t half as bad this eve and then popped to the local shop for some sausages and beers for thumper. Thumper was in Houston working on the water towers and was regular chewer of tobacco the ‘Tennessee way’. We met his wife Becky and spent the next few hours by the BBQ chatting, a nice couple who gave us some good tips on things to do and places to go.
As it started to chill off a bit we headed to the TV room and watched the end of the American football
The grassy knoll where shots were heard from
Bowks stood in same place as when she had a photo taken 16 years ago! game with a few others, before retiring to bed for a much cooler and mosquito free night.
Sunday morning awoke to a little rain but during a dry spell managed to pack the tent away. We decided to take a trip to Galveston Island, about 45m miles south of Houston and although the weather wasn’t fantastic we thought it’d still be nice as it was meant to have some great seafood restaurants and good beaches. We bid farewell to Thumper and Becky and set off.
We arrived in Galveston which could be best described as a similar town to Blackpool. Quite a few boarded up properties and a little shabby looking. We took a drive a long the sea front and looked for a restaurant to get a nice seafood lunch, in which shrimp seemed to be very popular. We found a restaurant but no sooner had we sat down and looked at the menu and the cost of the meals we realized we could blow our whole daily budget in one fowl swoop! So we got up and left telling the waiter we’d got the wrong restaurant and our friends were in the one down the road!
We eventually found a small restaurant/bar in the harbour area of town and decided to go with the sea food platter which was pointed out by our waitress ‘it’s all deep fried’ as the main selling point! Still we went with and could only say that it wouldn’t be our choice next time. The waitress later, interested in our accent and what bought us to Galveston, explained that only last year Galveston had been hit by hurricane Ike and little work had been done to rebuild due to insurance problems and the economy which explained the Blackpool appearance.
She also introduced us to Barry, a well travelled local who’d grown up in and round Albuquerque, one of the places we were looking to pass on the way to Vegas. We spent 20 minutes or so with him having a chat about things to do in and around the region. It also turned out that Barry was a doctor specializing in tropical diseases and upon leaving he gave us his card and said if we ever needed a diagnosis of anything we were unsure whilst travelling to email him and he’d be happy to help wherever possible. Another great link.
We left saying our thank you’s and drove to Dallas, passing the local guy on the way out of the restaurant who had landed himself a big blue crab. His face was priceless, he was so happy, he pointed out that he’d seen the crab a couple of hours earlier so gone home and got a turkey leg to tempt it out as he knew it wouldn’t be able to resist, and not only was he adamant it was the same crab but he was sure you couldn’t even buy them in the shops that big!
And so began the very wet and rainy drive to Dallas, my life did it rain. I must have seen 3 cars come off the motorway due to aquaplaning, but after 3 hours and with Bowks have a wee snooze which she thoroughly enjoyed we arrived in Dallas at Schellas and family’s house (a friend of the Bowker family) who had kindly offered to let us stay with them. We had a nice evening chatting to them and then planned a bit more of our itinerary in the states before a good nights sleep in a comfy bed.
The next morning
we caught the DART into Downtown Dallas, on the train we chatted to rather large girl who was going to the state fair and was particularly excited about all the fried goods that would be on offer including deep fried butter. A quick stop at the tourist info office and we were off. First to a sculpture of a cattle drive where around 50 life size bronze cattle and 3 mounted cowboys could be seen ‘running’ down the hill. The JFK assassination museum was then open so we toured the 6th floor seeing the actual window he was shot from and the evidence that led them to believe it was Lee Harvey Oswald that shot him. Then it was up to the Chase Tower for a free observatory deck and Japanese garden, the views weren’t that great as it was still a bit overcast but hey you can’t beat a freebie! We then caught the DART back and stopped off for a Cold Stone Creamery ice cream, yum, yum, yum, yum! Spent the eve at Schellas’s eating pizza and catching up with blog.
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mandy
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heyoooooooooo
hey guys, sorry for not much time for entertaining text and witty stories, but wanted you to know that whilst on a long hard shift saving lives in the hospital its a delight to hear what a coup of my favorite poeple(you 2!) are up to somewhere in the world.keep it coming, and carrying on enjoying yourselves, all my love mandy,xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx