Dave's Travel Log: February 2005

Mar 1 - Off to New Orleans...

Well, it's late Monday night, and I think I've finally caught up with all the photos. I'm heading out to New Orleans sometime in the morning. The trusty GPS system shows it to be only a 5 hour drive, so it should be relatively painless. For the first time this trip, I'm not on a particular deadline to get anywher, so I can take my time and explore anything that looks interesting along the way.

I've been offered a place to stay there, but as I don't know anybody in town, I'm considering checking out the local hostel(s), just to have the opportunity to meet other travelers and perhaps find some people to hang with for a few days. Maybe I'll do a combination of both accommodations.

In the meantime, thank you Jason and Livia for letting me crash on your floor for a few nights. It's been fun visiting, and I look forward to hosting you when you get the chance to visit SF.

Feb 27 - The Butterfly Exhibit

It was just too nice out to spend the afternoon in the museum, but I did go to the butterfly exhibit. It was truly amazing to stroll around the exhibit with hundreds of butterflies fluttering around.

Travel could be worse...

I guess I shouldn't complain about driving cross-country. It could be worse!

Feb 27 - The Fragrant Garden

It seems like it's been raining forever. It was finally sunny and warm today, so I took the opportunity to get some fresh air and explore a bit. On my way to the Houston Museum of Natural Science, I stumbled on a very cool garden exhibit of fragrant plants.

There was a mint bed...

A culinary bed...

and a few miscellaneous beds of assorted wonderful smelling plants.

Feb 26 - World's Championship Bar-B-Que Contest

Synonymous with "Texas" are "Rodeo" and "BBQ". As fate would have it, Jason lives across the street (literally) from Reliant Stadium, where the 2005 Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo was taking place. And conveniently the whole fanfare kicks off with the World's Championship Bar-B-Que Contest. Essentially, you enter into the middle of something akin to a county fair, complete with cheesy carnival rides, deep fried anything (the new one here was deep fried Oreo cookies!), funnel cakes (yumm!), and plenty of games to win little stuffed animals. In the middle of all that are 400 separate competitors, each with their own themed circus tent, set up with a full mobile kitchen, BBQ/smoker and a ton of food & drink.

Somehow, Eric managed to join one of the BBQ teams (named the Cowboy Yacht Club - note the "CYC" at the entrance to their tent)

The teams each entered some of their BBQ in the competition and spent the rest of the weekend cooking for friends & family that came to their tent by invitation only. Luckily, Eric hooked us up with invitations to his tent. Otherwise, people just kinda roam around smelling all kinds of great BBQ that they can't get their hands on because they don't have an 'inside' connection. And somehow it seems there's thousands of people who do that.

On the menu in Eric's tent: beef brisket, beef sausage, pork, chicken, beans, cole slaw and little red potatoes. As an after thought, they did have a bowl of iceberg lettuce at the very end of the buffet line. Nobody was even going near it. Definitely a vegetarian's nightmare!

Jason's quite proud of the fact that he grew up and currently lives in Houston, and has NEVER owned a cowboy hat or boots. (we made him put Eric's hat on)

Eric didn't get his hat and boots until he moved AWAY from Texas.

We were happy with the margaritas and beer until Eric pulled out some of the wine he brought. That definitely beat the beer selection of Budweiser or MGD.

Meet Jason and Livia...

For those of you who know Eric White, this is his brother, Jason and Jason's fiance, Livia. Jason and I actually met this past summer in China, where he and Livia were living for a year. When I was in China, Livia was traveling on vacation and I didn't have the opportunity to meet here. So I was glad to be able to catch up with them here in Houston.

You'd probably never put Eric and Jason in a room together and figure out that they're siblings...

...but once you get to know him, it's clear the two apples have fallen from the same tree. Yes, knife throwing is one of Jason's more recent pastimes.

Indoor knife throwing, that is.

Luckily, Livia enjoys the sport as well....

Yeah, the board kinda protects the walls..but odds are slim that Jason and Livia will be getting their rental deposit back.

I have to admit though...it's a very liberating experience to throw a knife down a hallway.

Although, it does seem a bit like a scene from Kill Bill.

Feb 25 - Mangum --> Houston

Last night was an excellent night's rest. The Bed and Breakfast was a fantastic place. A beautiful old house in the middle of a quaint little town. Stacey's mom Yvette and her husband, Ben have done a remarkable job of restoring this house and adding wonderful finishing touches on it. They've been working on it for years, and all their time and effort and dedication to it definitely shows.

After arriving last night, I spent sime time catching up with Yvette and Ben (we've met a few times in the past, including a visit that Stacey and Yvette made when I was still living in NY), and grabbed some Mexican food before everything closed up for the night (which was generally by 9pm).

This morning, I awoke to a wonderful breakfast of sausage, eggs, potatoes and toast...perfect to fuel me for the long drive to Houston.

Thanks Yvette and Ben for hosting me! It was great to see you!

After a long day of driving from Mangum (Oklahoma) to Houston, I finally arrived around 5pm.

Downtown Houston boasts a beautiful skyline, but the city actually sprawls for miles around.

Feb 24 - Albuquerque --> Mangum (it's in Oklahoma)

Why Mangum? Good question. Well, it turns out that an old friend of mine came to visit me in SF just before I left on the trip. Stacey and I go way back...probably >10 years now. (Wow, that IS a long time). She used to live outside Fort Worth, so in my past life, when I spent 70% of my time traveling on business, I was able to cruise through the Dallas/Fort Worth area and visit pretty regularly. Stacey has since moved to small town Missouri, and this was the first time I've seen her in nearly 8 years. Anyway, as I was preparing for the trip and playing around with maps and places I was planning to go, Stacey pointed out that I'd be passing not far from where her Mom lives and owns a Bed and Breakfast in Oklahoma. We mapped it out, and it was only about an hour out of the way, and a perfect resting spot between Albuquerque and Houston. Perfect. Stacey called her mom and made a 'reservation' for me at the Mangum White House Bed and Breakfast.