Tag: Texas

One Last MN Appreciation Post

“There’s no place like home.” It’s so true. The place that raises you will always have a special place in your heart. People ask me why don’t you just live there? You know it. Your family is there, your friends are there, what’s not to like? It is hard to explain, but after living on the East Coast for over a decade, there are parts to MN that don’t fit with who I am anymore.

That said, I do love to visit, and I had a good time when I was back in March / April of this year. After celebrating Dad’s birthday with gifts I had collected for him while I was on the road, I had a chance to drive my new car. We all know that I have so much love for Estella, but she’s not small, so navigating tight spaces and her general mobility are just not the same as having a car. I ended up buying a used Nissan Rogue with about 18,000 miles, and it has been a joy to drive, to fit in a parking space, to parallel park, and to not pay for diesel.

I ended up having to go on a work trip to San Antonio about week after I got to MN, so back to Texas I went.

Arthur was not a fan, but the good news was that I was reunited with my suitcase! After many trips just with a backpack and tote, this was so liberating. It was Minnesota in March, so of course there was a trip through the de-icing zone at MSP. I was even lucky enough to score an upgrade, which is the only time I’ll sit by the window – hence the obligatory sea of clouds pic.

My mom spent some quality time with Arthur when I was away, but he was happy to see me when I returned. I made a couple of trips to my storage unit to shed some things from the RV and to pick up a couple of small things to make our next phase a bit easier.

My friend’s eldest son had a leading part in his college’s play, and I was lucky enough to get to see him and spend some time with her. I ate donuts with another friend and her parents as well. I also had a lovely brunch with my aunts and uncles and parents, which has become such a rare treat now that I’m all grown up. It was so wonderful to spend time with them all together in one place, laughing, telling stories, and catching up.

But it wasn’t all fun and games when I was back in MN. I ended up getting really sick. It wasn’t COVID, but I slept on the floor of my parents’ half bathroom for three nights because I couldn’t chance being far from a toilet and running water. Thankfully, no one else in the house got sick, but there was plenty of time to consider all my life choices, and at one point, I thought I would never see sunlight again.

Glamour shots from my time in quarantine and my reunion with Arthur. Needless to say, this bout of the plague (or whatever it was) limited how much I could do when I was there.

Early in the morning of April 19, Arthur and I said goodbye to my family and Estella, and we hit the road for part two of finding our Unicorn City.

Even More Austin!

You can probably tell that I have my notebook from when I was in Austin – unlike Houston where I was going strictly from memory. Lots more details thanks to past Ms. Haps who remembered to write things down. Every mile is a memory, but only if I put pen to paper before I forget.

One of the shows that I watched while I was on the road was “The Great Pottery Throwdown” – think Great British Bake-Off meets clay. It was a fantastic series, but HBO didn’t renew it after five seasons. It also inspired me to try my hand at hand-throwing pottery. I’ve been to those shops where you paint something that has come out of a slip mold, but this was my first time learning about the process to throw pottery by hand. I signed up for a class at Rosa Pottery while I was in Austin. The class was informative and entertaining, and I really enjoyed just feeling the clay shape under my fingers. I was terrible at it, but I had a lot of fun, and I hope to try it again when I’m a little more settled. Thanks to Hillary for shipping my pieces to me in Minnesota since I left Austin before they were fired.

Speaking of art, I had a lovely day to visit the Blanton Art Museum. Here are some of my favorites.

The museum had these modern, flower-like sculptures that provided shade, which was needed on the sunny day I visited. The second image was one of a series by Tavares Strachan which focuses on depicting Black men from history who were violently silenced, held by their own mothers. This one depicts Alice Nokuzola Biko and the body of her son, Bantu Stephen Biko, an anti-apartheid activist in South Africa. The set of landscapes are by French artists – Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and Frederic Emile Jean-Baptist Ragot.

The Blanton is across the mall from the State Capitol of Texas, so I walked over to take the tour.

The area around the capitol was undergoing some renovation, but you can see its dome to the right of the crane in the first picture. The second picture is the interior of the dome. It was a Saturday when I visited, and the place was very busy.

My friends from Houston came to town for a visit as well while I was in Austin. We had brunch at Pheobe’s Diner and then went to throw axes at Urban Axes. Probably not a shock to most people I know, but I was much better at throwing an axe than I was at throwing pottery. We also had a great instructor who was from Minnesota, and I hit some bonus thing (no idea what it was called) and got to sign the wall.

For this first picture, our instructor had prompted us to pretend we were facing a horde of zombies (from L to R: Gonna smile those zombies to death, Ready to take ’em down, and Already in the battle). Second picture is when I hit that spot that I can’t remember what it’s called, and the third is us with our instructor. We ate dinner at P. Terry’s Burger Stand, which was fantastic. I wish I had stopped there sooner because my time in TX was just about over.

Just a couple more highlights from my time in Austin. This beautiful mural was outside of a very prolific tortilla maker in Austin that I cannot remember the name of, but the tortillas were as delicious as the mural. I also met some friends in Gruene, TX, at Gristmill River Restaurant for a really nice lunch on the patio that overlooks the river.

One last glamour shot of Arthur before we start to make our way out of Texas. I don’t think he’ll miss HEB as much as I will, but I think he really enjoyed four months of very little travel. The trek back to Minnesota might be a rough one.

Keeping Austin Weird – Part 1

It’s almost been two months since I’ve had a chance to sit down and write. Between work, getting out and about, and adjusting to living in spaces larger than a van, I’ve been busy, but it’s time to finish up our RV journey and talk about how our search for our Unicorn City is going.

I’ve always known that Texas would not be my final destination for one reason >> the seemingly never-ending, oppressively hot summers that start in March and last through October. If you ask a Texan, they’d probably disagree and tell you that it’s “really nice in March, April, September, and October”, but I am here to say that 100 in September is not “really nice” in my book.

So, January and February in Austin were perfect for me, Arthur, and Estella. On January 17, we left Houston and headed to Austin, and I planned a three-hour drive for many reasons but mostly because Arthur hadn’t been on the move for over two months. He did pretty well considering, but when we stopped in Bastrop for provisions, his will to continue had completed depleted.

Since we were only about 30 minutes from our RV park, the howling was tolerable. We stayed at Austonia outside of the city, and it was one of the very best parks we stayed at. When I made the reservation, they were undergoing a renovation but were certain they would be done by the time we arrived. The bathrooms were fantastic. The shower rooms were so spacious and clean, which was great for our two-month stay. They were also a lot more comfortable about water usage during the winter, and that was refreshing.

On our second night, we got snow! It wasn’t a lot, but it was really nice to have some snow and feel a little winter.

This was the view out of Estella’s front window.

I picked up a rental car after being in Austin for about two weeks. Time to get out and explore! I went out to get my hair done, found a Sbarro for a slice of pizza, and got ready to head to San Antonio for work. Once again, I found a wonderful Arthur sitter through Rover.com, so I knew he would be in good hands while I was away.

My drive to San Antonio was a reminder of what happens to highway infrastructure when cities grow faster than the roads. There was a lot of road construction, and the traffic was more than your average city’s rush hour. Even though Houston’s labyrinth of highways and frontage roads were daunting, it efficient.

In San Antonio, I had some credits to use, so I stayed at the Eilan Hotel & Spa. This place was massive, but my room was the perfect size with a balcony and plenty of space to spread out.

Great views from my hotel room balcony.

Since I didn’t get into San Antonio until late afternoon, I didn’t do a lot of exploring. I did try Raising Cane’s and went to see “A Complete Unknown” in Boerne. I had heard so many good things about Raising Cane’s and about their sauce. I thought it was fine. The chicken was good, but the sauce – to me – was meh.

I was treated to this beautiful sunset as I was leaving Raising Cane’s and headed to the movie.

On Sunday, I met with some friends at the historic Pearl district near downtown for lunch at Brasserie Mon Chou Chou, and we had great conversation and a lot of laughs. The food was delicious as well. We walked around after lunch and visited a gorgeous market. I also stopped at Bakery Lorraine for an almond chocolate croissant and cookies. A tres manifique day!

The rest of my time in San Antonio flew by. I was able to work in the company office in downtown San Antonio and then had a delicious dinner with a friend, his wife, and their kids at Dough Pizzeria Napoletana.

Arthur enjoyed looking out the window at our neighbors throughout our time in Austin.

What Did I Miss – Part 2

I took a little side trip to Galveston in December. There were two historic houses that I wanted to tour, and the traffic due to road construction did not deter me! The mansion on the left is Bishop’s Palace and the one on the right is the Moody Mansion.

They were both well-preserved and decorated for the holidays. Both tour guides said that the summer breezes kept the houses “cool” in the warmer months, but I’m sure they were still stifling! I was glad, again, that I was visiting in December and not July.

Did I mention the millwork in these houses? Absolutely incredible to see that level of artistry in wood all over both mansions; samples below.

Just lovely. It’s hard to pick my other favorites from these homes, but here’s another sample from a butler’s pantry, bathroom, and a bedroom.

The pink tile on that fireplace. 🔥

I also took a drive down to the beach to see the sunset and drive past the boardwalk. I was warned that these beaches are not the same as a Florida or East Coast beach, but it was still a lovely sight to behold. After, I drove to the downtown area past some other very charming historic neighborhoods in a search of a mailbox to send some postcards. Even at the post office, there wasn’t a mailbox where I could drop them. 🍫 There was a cruise ship in the bay (harbor?) – not sure what they call it.

On the way back to my hotel, I placed a to go order at Salt Grass – a Texas (?) chain that has reasonable steak prices and good sides. Not sure if they are based in Texas, but that’s always where I’ve visited their restaurants. I also treated myself to a hotel stay to sleep in a big bed and have a hot shower without my flip flops.

Speaking of food, I had so much good food when I was in Houston. I went with my co-worker to a couple of bakeries and tried concha for the first time. Arthur thought they were pretty good, too. I had a delightful “taco” on a flour tortilla with a crusted on layer of melted cheese, then steak, and then cut-up poblanos. I also had a chance to meet up with some other co-workers in downtown Houston for brunch one crisp morning; the food was ok, but the conversation was fantastic.

I am officially an H-E-B convert. I have a lot of co-workers who live in Texas, so they always talk about how great it is, but I was able to experience it for myself, and it was a delight. I still miss the butter tortillas, the flavored almonds, the pre-washed, packaged TX russet potatoes, and just the general grocery atmosphere. I highly recommend if you are in anywhere in TX near an H-E-B. They are also great to their employees. One of my current co-workers has kept her part-time (one day a month) H-E-B gig because they are so generous.

Before I leave Houston, just a couple of things I wanted to add, so I don’t forget as a look back at this time.

Overall, we had really great weather when I was in Houston, but like a lot of places I’ve been, the tornados showed up. We also had a couple weeks when the RV park got really nervous about water usage, so we were back to using water for gallon jugs and hoping it would get warm enough for the park managers to feel comfortable with turn on the water.

On one visit downtown, we discovered this amazing rooftop garden. In the main building there were a few shops and some restaurants, but the outdoor space on the roof was really the highlight.

My now favorite road trip meal is a baked potato with butter, bacon, and cheddar cheese. If I was feeling fancy, I would add a bit of sour cream. Most of those ingredients are refrigerated, and at some point in Houston, a part in our fridge decided it was done with the road trip. 🍫🍫🍫 More on this later in Austin – our next stop in TX.

You’re probably wondering how Arthur is doing. By the time we reached Houston, we’d been on the road for a full year. He endured a couple babysitting stints with help from our friends at Rover.com while we were in Houston when I went to FL and MN. He made friends with a new toy and then decided he didn’t like it. He chased the red dot without me having to wave my arm in the air to keep him entertained. And, for time to time, he got annoyed with me and face-planted into the wall. Oh, Arthur.

Up next – two months in Austin, TX. 🤠