12 Days of Texas

I was able to take a long break from work and go home to Texas for 12 days this Christmas! I traveled 762 miles around Texas (map, kinda looks like a lasso!). Thankfully I was with my Mom in her Prius, so we had each other's company and saved gasoline (Getting 45 mpg, we used less than 17 gallons. At $1.38/gal average, the whole trip was only $23.37!). It was a blast. Here are some highlights:

DAY 1 - Christmas Eve
Location: Baltimore, MD to Houston, TX
I worked a half-day (and surprisingly got LOTS done! There's no better time to upload new code changes than the day you leave for a long trip...) My flight was an hour delayed 'waiting for aircraft to arrive from Houston', but eventually I left BWI and ended up in H-town, welcoming the warm weather.

DAY 2 - Christmas Day
Location: Houston, TX
Christmas Day was just me and the folks this year. We went to church at Trinity-Klein so I could see their new sanctuary, very nice! Dad went all out making a Turkey dinner （In TX, dinner==lunch, supper==dinner).

DAY 3 - Shopping
Location: Houston, TX
Mom and I went shopping so I could pick up some last minute Christmas gifts that I didn't want to fly with. Dad made great steak tenderloins for supper.

DAY 4 - Big Family Christmas at Grandma's Farm
Location: Walburg, TX
The whole family got together at Grandma's, except for cousin Rachel who's in Argentina. Instead of Aunt Sylvia using Gma's out-of-tune piano, cousin Philip and I played 2 Christmas carols on guitar. We'll have to practice more for next year... I'll also have to do more pickle hunting practice. I won my prelim round and made it into the Championship Pickle Round, but I wasn't successful in defending my title. Cousin Denise ended up being the Pickle Champ. Group photo:



DAY 5 - Immediate Family Christmas
Location: Stephenville, TX
We had our family Christmas at my brother's. The nieces had their first sleepover.

DAY 6 - Brother's House
Location: Stephenville, TX
Yummy BBQ at Hard Eight, where you order right from the pit. I drank LOTS of Dublin Dr. Pepper.



Day 7 - Travel Day
Location: Stephenville, TX to Hurst, TX
Beth and Riley showed us their trail in the woods behind their house. We headed off to Hurst to meet up with my sister again at her house.

Day 8 - New Year's Eve
Location: Hurst, TX
Babysat niece and nephew during the day. Rang in the New Year 2009 Eastern Standard Time with ice cream cake and cheap Wal*Mart champagne.

Day 9 - ICE!
Location: Hurst, TX
Saw the ice sculptures at the Gaylord Texan, 9 degrees inside the building. The sculptures were VERY cool! Went shopping afterwards in 70 degree weather.


Day 10 - Mom Birthday
Location: Hurst, TX
Celebrated Mom's birthday. Thankfully her bday present arrived in the mail JUST in time. Ate at Rev K's favorite Mexican place in Ft. Worth with Tiff and David!

Day 11 - O.K. Ranch
Location: Lincoln, TX
Drove out to my parent's land in the country to help Dad build 2x4 picnic tables, which we got him for Christmas. Turned out looking good! Record high tempatures in the 80s today!! Tried to eat BBQ at the best BBQ joint in all of TX, but they were already out of BBQ. Had good chicken-fried steak at "Granny's" instead.



Day 12 - Parents
Location: Houston, TX
Church at Salem, my folk's church. Also the oldest Lutheran church in Texas, although you wouldn't guess that b/c they are quite contemporary these days. I fixed a bunch of computer stuff for my Dad and helped Mom take down Christmas decorations. Also, ate LOTS of Blue Bell ice cream!

Day 13 - Okay, so it's a baker's dozen of days...
Location: Texas to Maryland
Early early flight back to Maryland. Guess it's back to normal again, at least if you consider MD 'normal'....