A Day Trip

After getting the critters tended to, we were off again, this time headed south in Texas, to Mom’s. We got there later than planned, of course (that seems always to be the case when I visit her), but we got there and enjoyed a nice dinner out on the deck. I was, though, quite tired, so it was off to bed early.

Thursday (after taking Howard on a nice long walk), we decided to head down to Houston to see my sister. Granted, the last thing I wanted was to add three hours to my already thirty-plus hour time in a car, but it would be nice to see her. (And wouldn’t you know, but that three hours turned into over five hours.)

And so, we headed to Houston and had a nice Tex-Mex lunch with my sister and her youngest daughter. (with Tex-Mex nachos done right, thank you very much. I don’t know why people in other states don’t understand something as simple as a nacho, but oh well.)

Afterwards, we headed back to their house, picked up her oldest daughter, and the five of us headed to south Houston (ergo, the extra two-plus hours) so my sister could pick up her dog at my brother’s vet clinic. That was nice, of course, because he was surprised to see Mom and me, and I hadn’t been to his clinic before. He wanted us to stay for dinner, but by this time, it was 4:00, and we were facing an hour minimum back to NW Houston then another 1.5 hours to Mom’s. Add another almost hour at the clinic, plus good-bye time at my sister’s, plus a stop by a Houston grocery store (they have a lot more selection than the small town where Mom lives). I knew, doing some fast math, that dinner was not an option if we wanted to be back at any reasonable hour—especially considering I had a dog and cat who’d be hungry, and a dog who’d need to go out.

Anyway, so we did hang out there about another hour, back across town, said goodbyes, and off to the grocery store. We were home, as I’d predicted, about 9pm. Yawn! Indeed, I was tired again. It was a nice visit, and Mom and I got to listen to two French lessons in the car. Six more to go!