Home

Well.. after a long drive.. we made it. Funny how it always seems longer driving back from a vacation than going - doesn't it? Perhaps the shopping stops to rid ourselves of the last of the US cash put us a little behind schedule too.

We made our obligatory stop for some Ben & Jerry's ice cream. It's not nearly as good now that they sold to Unilever. The list of ingredients on the package has gone from 4 or 5 to 24 or 25 - just like any regular store-bought ice-cream - and you can really taste the difference. Those hippies knew how to make it!

I put a few final pics below - including the Canada/US boundry-line sign on the bridge at Calais/St Stephen. The pics of the girls are from the airport in Austin. Poor Peyton always has tearful goodbyes. We'll see you again soon!

On the Way Back

We're back in Portland, Maine. Seems like we just left - we stayed in the hotel room just a few doors down about 10 days ago.

Our flights (Austin to Chicago and Chicago to Portland) went fine - just a few gate changes and flight reassignments. They overbooked the Chicago to Portland flight - we could have had 4 free tickets on United and a free hotel room if we'd agreed to fly out the next morning. We decided to pass. Lauren and Rachel would have taken the next flight back to Texas (with some guy name Leelan no doubt - if you get this joke, you know you're hip).

Before our flight, we had a chance to try the famous "Round Rock Donut" - good thing I don't live next door!

The airport goodbyes were tough - we had such a good time.

I'll post a final "we're home" tomorrow.

Last Full Day in Texas

Time flies! On the drive back from "Corpus Crispi" (so named for the condition of my sun-burned back), we stopped in to San Antonio again to see the "El Mercado" - the downtown Spanish market. I'm glad we did - it was quite interesting.

The next day was spent in the "Hill Country" - between Austin and Fredricksburg (birthplace of LBJ by the way). It was certainly different geography than we had seen before. Everything else to this point was flat as a table-top - you could see miles in all directions. As soon as we got west of Austin though, we were immediately into rolling hills - made for a fun drive (I know - only a guy would say that).

Fredricksburg is especially known for it's antique shops - and Barb quickly got in the spirit - deciding she would like a collection of antique spools.

Lunch was at the "Catfish Haven" - I was the only one indulging in the namesake - along with fried okra. I must admit, I've enjoyed being called "sweetie" and "darlin" and "sugee" by the waitresses down here - but I don' think it would catch on back home.

Jim & Kerri have been the best of hosts. Their knowledge of the area has really made the trip great - along with their hospitality.

Tomorrow we head for home.

PS - the pictures don't seem to be loading - I'll add them tomorrow.

Riverwalk & Alamo

Able now to post a couple Riverwalk and Alamo pics. The Riverwalk is wonderful. We did an evening boat tour of the river - that was quite nice. We had dinner at a place with a great view - and Barb had her first "Chicken-Fried Chicken". Sounds a little redundent to me. Anyway... we just loved the downtown area.

I always pictured the Alamo as being way out in the desert some where - but it's right downtown! They actually have a city bylaw that says no other building can cast a shadow over the Alamo building - so there is quite a buffer around it too.

Anyway.. here are a few pics.

Corpus Christi

Spent the day today in Corpus Christi. I love the city. It has a great waterfront, and a short drive away is Padre Island - with some great beaches. It was a little strange to see oil drilling rigs out in the water (at quite distance however). It was over 100 degrees again - so the beach was great. The water in the gulf was 86 degrees according to the sign at the enterence to the beach. The dunes around the beach are quite reminscient of PEI. I think I got a little fried - I'm starting to "redden" up. I think I'll be looking for the aloe a little later! Sound familar?


It was a little strange to see signs for the hurricane evacuation route!


Tonight we're planning on spending the evening by the pool, and tomorrow we'll tour the city. In the afternoon we'll drive back to Austin for our final 2 days.

Seaworld & Riverwalk

Busy day today. We spent the morning/afternoon at Sea World. It was 104 degrees and a bottle of water was $3. Yes - an expensive day as well as busy!


Some fun dolphin / killer whale shows - some rides - and a very nice water park/wave pool.


Tonight we went downtown and did the Riverwalk & Alamo area. What a great downtown! The tour on the river by boat is quite nice - a lot of history - some great places to eat as well as a lot of open-air music.


I've attached some pictures from Sea World. All my Riverwalk/Alamo footage is on the video camera - and I just realized I forgot the cable to download it - so I'll post those when I get home.


Tomorrow we are going to Corpus Christi for a day at the beach. Ciao.

In San Antonio

Well... here we are in San Antonio. We had an extended shopping tour of San Marcos today (half-way between Austin & San Antonio). There are 2 large factory outlet malls there - so it was hard to pull everyone away.

Tonight we went to a San Antonio Missions AA Texas-League game. They beat the Frisco Rough-Riders 5-4. It's always fun when the home team wins!

A really neat thing happened at the game. In the top of the 3rd, Frisco had a bit of a rally going. Their clean-up man, Jim Fasano (#43) was at bat. He hit a foul ball off the end of the bat - and broke a piece off the end. As he was coming back to the dugout (our seats were in the first row on the 1st base line), I said "Hey Jim - how about the bat?". Well... he didn't say anything. But he got his new bat - and proceeded to hit a double off the right field wall - another 3 feet and he would have had a 2-run homer. The next batter flied out to center and the inning was over. As Jim was coming back to the dugout I said "you know Jim, if you'd given me the broken one, I think that ball would have gone out." Well... he kinda smirked... went in the dugout... and came out with the broken bat and gave it to me. The girls were quite thrilled. Just how I'm going to get this baseball bat on the plane? I haven't figured that part out yet!

A few other interesting things. There's an Airforce base about a quarter-mile over the centerfield fence. Some interesting aircraft were taking off and landing throughout the entre game. I also thought San Antonio's mascot, "Henry the Puffy Taco" was pretty interesting.

Here's the game summary ---> http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/index.jsp?sid=t510

And....here's a few pics of the day.

Tuesday - Caverns & Family Get-together

Today was a busy day. We went to the "Inner-space Caverns" just north of Austin in the morning. Very interesting - plus it was nice and cool 75 feet under ground.

Lauren & Rachel continue to get along famously with Samantha & Peyton (example below).

In the evening, Jim & Kerri hosted a family "Texas-sized" barbecue (the leftovers would have fed an army). Bob and Carol came over along with an assorted array of cousins and nieces/nephews.

Tomorrow we head to San Antonio - with Sea World and other assorted touristy things. More to come...

We're Here!

Not a lot of time to post much. But we're here. Here's a picture from this morning of us leaving the hotel in Portland, Maine. The girls enjoyed their first plane ride. Jim and Kerri's home is lovely - and Lauren & Rachel have already re-bonded quickly with Sam and Payton. I'll give a long report tomorrow.