Mission

We were going to sleep in late but that didn't work out as I am going through this no sleep episode again.  As there was no food in the house for breakfast we went to IHOP and ate.  They were really busy as it is Columbus Day today and I guess there was no school or work or whatever.  After breakfast we went to COSTCO for groceries and then headed on over to WalMart for more groceries.  COSTCO is fine if you want bulk items but for two people it sometimes doesn't make sense.  We piddled around the house, Hardy working on something for IEE and I washed a load of clothes, cleaned a little house, got everything put away that we had brought down and then watched a little TV.  it took some time this year to get the TV up and working as we have to switch the local channels from St Louis to McAllen and visa versa when we go back north.  We had a hard time getting that taken care of but Hardy finally got it figured out and we were up and running before too long.  Hardy has a doctor's appointment in the morning so it is to bed a little early.

Houston

We got out of Houston fairly early and drove in rain, sometimes pouring, from Houston to the "valley"  We came down what will soon be I69 out of Houston and it will run all the way to Brownsville, TX, if they ever get it completed.  About 100 miles out of Mission it quit raining so driving was much easier after that.  The speed limit on that stretch of road is usually 70 to 75 mph so you can cruise right along and make some pretty good time.  We made it to our home in Mission around 6:00 p.m. and unloaded the car.  The house was in good shape and even smelled good.  The only problem we found was some rust in the freezer portion of the refrigerator.  The yard is nice and green and had been freshly mowed.  The shrubs have been cut back so it looked really nice.  Our local Mexican restaurant, Las Margaritas was not open so we opted to eat at Whataburger which is right up the road from us.  They are doing some construction on Bentsen Palm Dr so had to go a little out of the way to get back home but not too far.

Stuck at the Motel

I did not venture too far from the hotel as it rained most of the day.  I spent my time working on Ancestry and reading along with playing on the computer while Hardy was at his meeting.  We stayed at the Marriott which was a nice enough hotel and the prices were good for a Marriott.  That night we went to another restaurant with the IEEE members and it was really good.  I was a little less willing to overeat but I had a super steak and we shared a deserts between the six of us at the table.

Houston IEEE Meeting

We did some geocaching along the way to Houston and found caches in six more counties.  We are still working on completing the Texas County marathon.  Texas is a huge state with many counties so this might take awhile.  We arrived in Houston in time to go to dinner with the IEEE group and lo and behold...Mexican again.  I consumed way to many chips and salsa along with several margaritas.  We did meet Jeff Handal's new girl friend and she and I sat together at dinner and had a great time.  She is quite lovely and from Nicaragua, I believe.

Texas Here We come

After a dentist appointment in the morning, breakfast and stopping for gas, we were on the road to our winter home in Texas.  We decided to go down US 71 which will be the new I45 from Kansas City to New Orleans.  Some of the road is finished but there is much to be done before it will be a full blown interstate.  Arkansas was beautiful at this time of year with the trees starting to turn their beautiful colors.  We stayed in Arkansas the first night at a little motel that used to be a Super 8.  Unfortunately they did not serve breakfast but we certainly had a good dinner at the Mexican joint right next door.