Why has it been so long with no blogposts??? I have been busy busy busy driving around Texas with Camilla.

 

I can now honestly say I have seen most of Texas. South, West, East, and North. Camilla and I were true Tourists. We chose only big tourist attractions and have pictures with all kinds of backgrounds. Remember the Alamo. River Walk. Stock yards. Elm Street. Aquarium. Capitol. Museums, sights, walks, drives etc. I don’t want to bore you with details on how great and splendid it all was, because you already know I wouldn’t go anywhere, that wasn’t close to being splendid!!! ;o)

 

The places we went where filled with the people I have grown so fond of. Yes, it’s the Texans. They invited us into their hearts and received a place in mine.

 

I chose to introduce Camilla to ‘my Texas’ with a Margerita, which by the way is on my favourite drinks list now. The next couple of days were spent shopping and roaming around Houston trying to find a fitting costume for Halloween.

 

Halloween weekend was crazy. Friday was spent celebrating KJ’s birthday – Congratulations. And what do you give to the guy who has everything he needs?? Answer: Animalopoly!!! Don’t ask, he didn’t like it either….(!!) Saturday was Halloween party day; Adults dressing up in costumes, candy in Halloween colours, pumpkins on every doorstep, and alcohol consumed with such enthusiasm that nobody could be depressed!! Somehow all troubles seem unimportant when the streets are filled with fairies, trolls, Draculas, pirates, and all sorts of other creatures. This is a holiday we could import to Europe, just for the fun of it…

 

Monday Camilla and I packed the car for our Texas Tour. First stop was San Antonio the two tourists finished in the Natural Bridge Caverns with Dylan who could show us some formations that were “pretty neat”. Dylan told us that working in the Caves had made him more interested in geography!! I know, you would think that working 100 feet underground talking about stalagmites every day would increase your interest in Geology…. (??) But hey, Geography was one of my favourite subjects in elementary school so I totally understand him!! Here’s a cheer for “pretty-neat-Dylan” who is very interested in Geography.

 

After a quick stay in Austin (Thank you Nina for letting us stay with you), we proceeded to Cleburne; a small town just south of Fort Worth. Thanks to Lisa and her two boys we didn’t have to sleep outside in the tent. Cleburne is now one of those places we always will remember fondly. Even though it is a so-called dry city…

 

Fort Worth will be remembered as the town where we met Charles and Larry. C and L joined us for a steak dinner and told us everything there is to know about the ethanol-logistics business. Now that’s a business I never would have known anything about if I hadn’t come to Texas. So, here’s a cheer for US Developers; may they expand and go global!!!

 

Dallas has a great Skyline. It is almost as wonderful as Houston’s. At the Dallas World Aquarium we were feeling a bit sorry for the penguins. How did they cope with the hot summer we asked the caretaker? The Lady looked at us like we were the two most stupid people in the world and then said that they of course only had “Warm-weather-penguins”!!! HAHA – Of course!!

 

Back to Austin for the weekend. Staying at the co-op was quite fun. Dinner is served at 6 o’clock. Don’t be late. This weekend the University of Texas in Austin Football Team had a home game. (Texas Longhorns) So everyone was wearing the team colours, which is a burned orange. That colour only looks good on very few people, so the whole city practically looked like it needed a serious make-over. That didn’t seem to bother the many fans. They even dressed Santa Clause in a burned orange instead of the usual dark red colour!!!  Who said Christmas had to be red and green, when it just as well could be burned orange and purple for that matter???

 

A couple of beers later the weekend was over and we were headed back to Houston. Little Truckie made it all the way. THANK YOU. After dropping Camilla off at the airport I noticed that we had driven almost 1300 miles in the two weeks Camilla was here. Well done, Truckie. Good job.

 

All that driving on the highways let us see A LOT OF roadkills. We didn’t just see possum or squirrels, no we saw deer lying next to the road. That was crazy. So we decided to put another car on the top of my list of favourite American cars; Yes, it’s the Hummer. Because it’s a military vehicle, and if a deer decides to cross the road while I am driving, the car will survive…

 

Bonus info: We tested a lot of American candy on our little road trip, so I gained weight on the tour. It was fun, so it was worth it. The conclusion is that I still like the m & m’s and that Hershey’s Chocolate just doesn’t taste well. Camilla fell for the Snickers almond and I fell for the MilkyWay Midnight… Good taste, bad effect.

 

Finals are coming up so I will be concentrated on studying the next three-four weeks. Please keep your fingers crossed for me during exams.