31/32 June
The coast of Texas:CChristi/Houston
Friday and the command decision has been made to REMAIN in Jn just a little longer.
WHY?
Because we can. June has always, ALWAYS been a great month followed closely by March.
I awoke early Saturday morning in a frigid hotel room with three of my favorite people in the galaxy. Separate beds for the boys and the girls in the other if you’re going beyond your business and want to know sleeping arrangements for this daycation.
After Friday’s landing and scheduled activities which we will hit momentarily, there was pizza, wings and cold beer at the hotel pool from dusk to dark. We also stopped at a local ‘artwalk’ that was loud with music and a quick pass revealed art at a level or two below ‘fine’. We didn’t stay long and made our way back to the hotel and the little chow hounds were hungry AGAIN.
After cleaning up, everyone was down and out for the count for the night with NONE of the usual fussing and theatrics experienced while at home.
The next morning, out of boredom, I turn on the hotel telly but immediately mute the sound to keep everyone else asleep as long as possible. The HUGE screen is crystal sharp clear and I find LIVE COVERAGE of the 2022 … wait for it … Tour de France!!
Yes. It's early, quiet, my traveling companions (tc) are still all dead to the world. The room has one of those little emergency coffee making contraptions so yes, one enjoys such moments when one can.
I have a small wager with self as to which tc will wake up first.
Oh no!! A crash.
False alarm. It was a replay (highlight ?) from a previous race but it was recent and horrific.
Later there IS a crash and the pileup was painful to watch. I had to look away as NOT the kind of thing one wants to see numerous replays.
There are very cool graphics and stunning shots of the coast of France and the country side from helicopters or drones which appear to be all over the place.
I learn a very interesting factoid. Riders are traveling about 70km/hr. That's ROUGHLY 3x what I am currently training at for hh100. It looks like 'elite' status for yours truly is another year out. I have gotten to 35 km/hr a few times under optimum conditions and during the hh100 last time I rode 100m I set a land speed record for Bill at 41km/hr and all I was thinking about was how the road surface was going to become an abrasive sand paper peeling off my upper, mid- and probably lowest levels of epidermis down to bone. Yes, it was scary.
Observations of particular interest and special notes, there are so many riders and so closely packed on the narrow roads. It's very colorful. Helmets, jersies, fans waving different national flags supporting their favorite rider(s). Cycle racing is very big there and local fans get into it following national and local heroes. Think European soccer fans.
Very cool and I AM THINKING let the three (3) sleeping bears sleep. Rest up for another big day. OR MAYBE recovering.
The first one up is my rack mate so I hush him up and we make plans and get ready to go up to F11 and the complimentary breakfast buffet. We were just about finished with our first pass thru when the girls showed up and it was party over OR party on. Mike ALWAYS performs better with a ‘friendly audience’. It got almost out of hand until I told him that if he didn’t settle down I was going to pull his pants down and spank him on his bare bottom. Right in the restaurant.
He looked at his Mother and her look and visual signal registered with him and he sat quietly. For a few minutes.
Yesterday after hitting town an executive decision was made to postpone the beach (original plan) as the other tc’s have a beach trip planned NEXT WEEK so overdoing the beach was a distinct possibility to be avoided.
Besides, it was overcast and sand is so messy.
June 32.
So June will officially play out at 33 days. Monday is the 4th of July so this day going forward will be known as Independence Day eve.
Right now at this moment I am planning my departure and lift-off from Houston back to McK a little later this morning.
All is well as near as I can figure and I need to pack, stage and load Silver, stop & visit S1 on the way out, drive & arrive safely and reverse order the pack & load to re-acclimate to home sweet home.
We had grand second day in Corpus. The hotel had a terrific breakfast buffet that was busy, crowded and enjoyed by all. The nextgens are making progress with behavior, etiquette and manners but gs1 requires the occasional reminder or threat of whipping.
Beating checkout time, and the pack & load drill, we took advantage of the late visit the previous day and returned to the USS Lexington. The ticket seller on Friday informed us that since we arrived so late the receipt would be honored for FREE admission to the boat the next day which was now today.
Having toured the bowels of the Lexington the first day, our goal with limited time was top side and the flight deck and hangar deck which included an impressive number of aircraft in a static display. Very cool and lots of photo ops.
There was a very interesting and entertaining volunteer giving an informative presentation on the boat, history and workings of the US Navy, WWII and politics.
It was good. We got a few tschacis and made our way to the car for the final leg home.
Our first choice of activities (on Friday) was the Texas State Aquarium, the largest in Texas. We actually waited in line only to find out that they were having ‘computer problems’ and it was going to cost our group of four (4) over $100 to walk thru. It was getting on in the afternoon and we decided to tour the USS Lexington, the HUGE WWII aircraft carrier right across the parking lot. We reasoned seeing the aquarium would be a reason to return with more time and having such a longer more leisurely tour fully budgeted.
FB is a good driver and got us home in one piece. We stopped for snacks and drinks and it was great to get back to their house, familiar turf and more comfortable surroundings.
Everyone had a blast and we decided a return visit was a ‘most def.’
