We're here!

Just had dinner with Natalie and Viet, and are following it up with a treat at a tapioca teahouse. More later.

Maybe.

Cheers...

Back in Pearland...

It's been an interesting couple of days.

First off, we didn't quite leave when my post of Saturday indicated. We actually left about 40 minutes later, after taking care of some last-minute details (such as making sure we had an insurance card with us). The drive seemed to drag on and on, exacerbated by stops at the flea market in Santa Fe and an extended coffee break at Clines Corners.

The flea market has changed quite a bit since the last time I was there several years ago. Today, is simply nothing but dealers of various kind, all selling pretty much the same stuff (turquiose jewelry predominates). We ended up buying a couple of gifts for Natalie: a decorative/usable hanging braid of red chile peppers (my choice) and a wall hanging that looks like a hand-sewn quilt with small mirrors embedded in it (Galina's choice).

I knew the car's clock was off and for some reason assumed it reflected Central Time, so I wasn't worried about our progress, seeing as how the hour was not late. From Clines Corners, we headed for Roswell, intent on making Ft. Stockton our eventual stop for the night. There were a few sprinkles as we passed Carlsbad, NM, but the skies didn't well and truly open up until we crossed the state line into Texas.

Driving in the rain was no fun, but I suppose it was even less fun for the coyote I saw cross the road far in front of me from left to right and into the brush. We finally made Ft. Stockton and checked into my preferred motel - a Motel 6 (I am such a predictable creature of habit) - only to find that the clock I thought was set to Central Time was an hour removed from Mountain Time, in the opposite direction (it was set to Pacific time!).

Anyway, the night passed uneventfully, and we were back on the road by 7:30 am.

Note for future stops in Ft. Stockton: turning right out of the motel will eventually bring you to I-10, but will cause you to bypass all of the eateries you saw as you arrived in town. The next McDonald's I saw after getting on I-10 was somewhere shy of San Antonio (not that McD is some kind of standard... just an observation).

We had lunch at a Denny's near Boerne (if memory serves... I didn't take too many notes today), and then high-tailed it for Houston, arriving around 4 pm. By 6 or so, I had made reservations for a flight home and had picked up a rental car for my stay. A few minutes later, we were on our way to the Rice University district, to a Turkish restaurant that is renowned (apparently) for its stuffed lamb chops - they were out tonight - so the ladies had the lamb kebob while I ordered something that was billed as mashed eggplant covered with spiced lamb meat. It was good.

What made the meal memorable was Galina and my first meeting with Natalie's friend Viet. To say the young man impressed me favorably ignores two basic trusims, the first of which is not suitable for publication because of the nature of the second: it doesn't matter what I think. Afterward, we went for a post-prandial beverage at the tapioca tea room, where the refreshments are served with oversize straws, the better to allow slugs of tapioca (basically, starch with a little brown sugar) to enter one's mouth. I posted my previous message on one of the machines at the back of the establishment. What's interesting is that the tearoom offers free WiFi for its customers (so I guess it's not really "free" but it sure beats the T-Mobile deal at, say, Starbucks). I plan to return.

However, for now, it's time to get settled in and start thinking about tomorrow. I'll clean up any missing details later.

Cheers...