Texas: Part 4

Day 9: Continued

It was about a two and a half hour drive to Waco from Houston. Once we were on the road all three of us were having cell phone issues. We had to pull into a gas station while Tyler called AT&T to have them fix our phone issues. He ended up being on the phone with them for about 45 minutes. Luckily the gas station that we were at was a Buc-ees (those famous giant gas stations) and Bryn and I easily amused ourselves. 

Is Buc-ees as amazing as everyone says? Yes! We got the Beaver nuggets, the brisket, fudge, and candied nuts. All delicious. We shopped and got a few things to bring home to the kids. Also the restrooms are the nicest gas station bathrooms I've ever seen. For the rest of the trip, all pit stops were at Buc-ees!

We also stopped in College Station to show Bryn Texas A&M. I love that school! In another life I would have liked to go there. It was move in day and all of the students and their families were unloading and moving in. We drove all over and checked out the campus. So impressive!! Then it was onto Waco.

Our family has been fans of Chip and Joanna Gaines for years. Ailey and I have been to Magnolia before with my Mom but no one else has been. Tyler and Bryn both wanted to see what Magnolia, the Silos, and Waco were all about.

It was hotter than hell...LITERALLY...hell cannot be hotter than Waco, Texas in August. Those faces are grimaces. That's real Texas heat pain. 111 degrees with 100 percent humidity.

Magnolia had grown a bit more since I was last there. The church is done and the little shops were new. We've watched Chip and Joanna on their home show and cooking show and on the Magnolia network so it was fun for us to see things in person. It was pretty melancholy for me since I was last here with my mom. We walked into the main store and it was very Victoria McClellan. Like overwhelmingly. Sometimes grief is punch in the face.

We bought a few things, got drinks, and then continued walking around the grounds.

The church that they renovated was really beautiful and *blessedly* air-conditioned.

The new little row of shops were cute but they all carried the same merchandise as the main store; just broken up into subcategories. One little shop was bath and body, one clothing, one paper products etc. That was a little disappointing. 

After we had seen all that there was to see at the Silos; we headed over to the Dr. Pepper Museum. We didn't go there the last time that I was in town. Bryn is a HUGE Dr. Pepper fan so we were happy to add it to our Waco tour. 

The tour is self-guided. The original building was super cool architecturally but it had a very creepy vibe. All three of us agreed. We laughed and said, "Maybe it's haunted." We were also the only people in there except for the woman at the front desk.

When we walked up the stairs to the third floor we ran into the janitor and nearly gave him a heart attack. He about jumped out of his skin. By then we were convinced that the place had to be haunted. The third floor was part of the tour. It wasn't off limits to the public so it shouldn't have been too surprising to see people up there.

We finished our tour and walked across the courtyard to the gift shop and café to get our free Dr. Pepper. When we walked in what did we immediately see?

Bingo! We were right!

Dealing with the ghostie-ness of the lake house has made our ghost senses sharp! There was another weird incident in the café. That place is so haunted.

We upgraded our free Dr. Peppers to Dr. Pepper floats with BLUE BELL ice cream! Is Blue Bell ice cream better than all other ice cream? Y'all... of course it is! My Texas twang was all back by this point. But back to the Blue Bell ice cream. I have been telling my family for years how good it is and they have now concurred. Even in a float the taste and texture is SUPERIOR to all other ice cream. People like to think that Tillamook is a good comparison. FALSE. Tillamook is garbage compared to Blue Bell.

There was one place on the Waco tour that I REALLY wanted to go...Fabled bookstore. This is a bookstore that I follow online. I also follow its main book buyer. It's mentioned all the time on book podcasts that I love. I literally had to see this store in person.

It did not disappoint. This place is magic! I was hoping to get a glimpse of the infamous Elizabeth Barnhill but alas I didn't see her. Still. It was amazing!! It is truly the best bookstore that I have ever been too.

But the merest glimpse of one portion of the store.

My kind of bookstores are moody, have comfy chairs all over the place, a café with tables, cool lighting, nooks and crannies, lots of shelf talkers on the bookshelves, and an incredible kids section. Fabled has all of that and more!

Check out the entrance to the children's section....

You go through the wardrobe into Narnia. MAGIC!!!

Hands down my favorite bookstore so far!

After that we drove to San Antonio which was going to be our home base for the next two days. We got there in the golden glow of evening and San Antonio was stunning! Our hotel was right across from the Alamo. This was the view from our room.

Tyler booked us at a beautiful historic hotel. The location was perfection!! Our room was so cool too. Check out the bathroom...

We literally had a view of the Alamo from the bathroom too! Fabulous!! We had another late night of walking around and getting the lay of the land before it got dark and we collapsed into bed!

Day 10

We were up early the next morning to try to beat the Texas heat. We went straight to the River Walk. I have such great memories of coming here with my family. When we lived in Houston we would always come to San Antonio for New Years. I loved the River Walk with all the Christmas lights during the holidays. That was always such a fun time!

Downtown San Antonio was looking GORGEOUS!

We were the first boat ride of the day. 

We had a great river guide. It was so fun to hear the history of San Antonio and see the beautiful architecture.

After the River Walk it was onto the Alamo. Tyler is a history buff so he was really excited to explore the Alamo and Bryn had just studied it in school so she was excited too.

The grounds are so beautiful.

We did the tour inside and went to the museum next door. We also saw some live reenactments and demonstrations.

The Alamo was a highlight for all of us. 

After the Alamo we had lunch at my favorite Torchy's Tacos. It was as good as I remembered!! Give me all the Tex-Mex!!

Tyler and Bryn loved it as I knew they would!

After lunch we headed out into the Texas Hill Country to go to Fredricksburg another favorite place! Tyler and Bryn were quite surprised at how "hilly" the Texas Hill Country is. There are some surprisingly big hills!

Our first stop was Carol Hicks Bolton's store. This is HALLOWED ground to my mother and me. A wink from heaven was that Carol was there herself. She rang us up!! My mom would've DIED to meet her...if...you know...she hadn't already died. This was like a gift from heaven. Hello Mom! I know you were there too.

Stores similar to this are more common now but in 1990 there wasn't anything like her shops. She was a vintage décor pioneer and trendsetter. My mom and I would be beside ourselves for weeks after a visit to Fredricksburg. I treated myself to a beautifully bound botanical book that had dried plants and flowers stuck in the pages throughout. Someone's lovely collection. A beautiful keepsake of a beautiful place and beautiful memories shared with beautiful people and beautiful ghosts. After Fredricksburg it was back to San Antonio. We stopped briefly in Bourne, Texas for pie at Tootie Pies. 

Back in San Antonio I showed Tyler and Bryn the wonder that is HEB grocery stores. Man I wish we had grocery stores like that here in Spokane! We also drove by the San Antonio Temple. It is in a stunning location! So beautiful! 

I really love San Antonio. I could live here if it wasn't so freaking hot.

And...what was for dinner? What else? Whataburger. A Texas favorite!

Let's end the debate now. The ranking of the best burgers are as follows:

1.) In-N-Out 

2.) Shake Shack

3.) Whataburger

Day 11

We woke up and had to packed up. It was time to head back to Houston. It was only after we checked out that Tyler and Bryn told me that they looked up our hotel after we checked in and found out that it is renowned for being haunted. Glad they kept that little fact from me. I guess our haunted Texas tour continued. Our hotel was actually built on part of the battlegrounds of the Alamo where one of the most brutal battles with Santa Anna occurred. I guess guests have claimed to hear cannon fire, screams, and have seen soldiers. Tyler and Bryn claimed that they were freaked out a few times while walking the halls at night for ice and snacks. Let me just add that they also left me there alone several times. Sheesh. Thankfully I had no ghostly sightings. LOL. 

We snacked on our way back to Houston. Donuts in a little Texas town. Another stop at Buc-ees for brisket tacos, kolaches, banana pudding, and fudge. We drove by the Houston Temple. This wasn't built when I lived here. So pretty.

We had an evening flight so we were able to grab early dinner(s) while we were in Houston. Bryn wanted one more round of In-N-Out and we wanted another round of Torchy's. So good! While we were waiting for our flight in the Houston airport...Tyler said, "Look whose here?!" I looked around and there at our gate in all of his silver fox resplendent glory was President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. That was incredibly exciting! I've never seen a general authority in the wild. Let alone an apostle!

While at our gate, he took off his tie, loosened his collar, took off his jacket, and slung it over his shoulder. He's the coolest. 

But not only was he at our gate; he was on our flight. We literally sat two rows behind him. He was so kind. While boarding he smiled at us as we said hello and greeted us too. He spoke to Bryn a bit more. I loved that! It was such a sweet experience. I got to spy on him all flight. I could see what he ordered and hear what he said. He was sitting next to someone who wasn't a member of the church and they had the nicest NORMAL conversation. At one point he put on a fleece hoodie and put the hood up over his head and went to sleep.  He drank a lot of water. He went to the bathroom. He ate a meal. He requested the cookies. LOL.  He was so kind to all of the flight crew. I kept thinking "If the people on this flight had any idea who was onboard?!" I did feel safer flying since there was an extra pilot onboard.  Ha ha! It was a cool experience all around it made the flight much more interesting. :)

This is what we flew into coming home. Spokane (and the outlying areas) were burning. Medical Lake was decimated. Ailey and Reilly had called to tell us all about it. Our ward was asking for donations and our stake center and our church building were turned into Red Cross shelters for people who had to evacuate. It was heartbreaking. 

This was the air quality for the next several days as firefighters worked to contain the fires. 

(Whew. I'm finally done blogging about our trip. I am so behind on all of the things that I want to document. As I type it is currently DECEMBER! ONWARD!)

Cruise: Part 3

 

Day 6

We woke up in Cozumel! We had another excursion planned. We were pretty nervous about this one. It was a long one and we were being quite adventurous (at least for us) and we were wondering if we had made a large mistake. Kirk and his family were doing clear kayaking and snorkeling in Cozumel and we were wondering if maybe we should have chosen something tamer like that!

We left the ship at 7:30 am feeling excited and also slightly trepidatious. Cozumel was beautiful!

We had to find and board a speed boat ferry type thing to take us to another part of Mexico. They call it a "Fast Ferry" and I will call this the Barf Barge because that is what it was...it was horrifying. We were so glad that we decided to forgo breakfast that morning!!

We grabbed our seats and tried to look out of a window. Not possible. The windows are covered with an opaque film and we couldn't see out. The boat was super rocky as was the water. Not being able to see where we were going and just feeling all of that movement was not good!

I didn't understand what was happening when people all around us started raising their hands. It was for barf bags that were being handed out left and right. About 10 minutes into our 45 minute ferry ride over two-thirds of the passengers on the boat were puking. It was unreal. Thank goodness for our seasickness patches!! They did the trick! I would've been throwing up for sure! I get car sick. But I've never seen anything like that in my life and definitely not on that scale. There were people throwing up everywhere you looked. Thank goodness they were cranking the AC at maximum capacity so I just closed my eyes to what was happening around me. It was quite the experience!

When we docked we got into another van and drove another hour to an adventure park where we would be zip lining. This time we drove through several cities. Driving in Mexico isn't for the faint of heart nor is it to be a passenger in a 12 person van!! It was raining while we drove; and when we arrived at our destination it was also thundering and lightening. I wondered if our ziplining would be cancelled due to the thunder and lightening. Nope. We were immediately helped into our ziplining gear and told to climb up the nearest platform. Okay...

Thankfully when we got to the top of the first platform the rain stopped and the thunder and lightening moved away from us. I guess those fervent prayers worked!! LOL. For our ziplining adventure we did five different platforms. When the description says that you must be in good physical shape to do this; they aren't lying. The stairs on those platforms were NO JOKE to climb!! The views looking out over the jungle were so amazing though and the ziplining was SO FUN!!

Brynnie

Me

Tyler was always the first one to go and I was always the last so I don't have any pictures of him which is a bummer!! At a couple of the platforms you could zipline in tandem and he and Bryn went together. Needless to say we had a BLAST!!

For the last platform Bryn opted to do the hammock. She also had to remind them to actually strap her in. Gulp. Tyler and I declined the hammock option and just did a normal zipline run. She had fun and she didn't fall out so... yeah.

We loved ziplining!! It was fun and intense!! Most of the pictures that Tyler took of me are screaming and will NOT be posted here but I was screaming with joy! LOL. This was me and Tyler's second time ziplining but our first time was on a much smaller scale. This was Bryn's very first time and she loved it too. A woman in our group totally freaked out after the first platform and had to climb down and be driven back to the start. Yikes.

After ziplining we got back into our van and drove to a cenote. This was probably my favorite part of the whole day!! I love water in all of its forms and the cenote was incredible.

Bryn heading down into the cenote.

Bryn and I loved it and swam all over in the cenote exploring. In some parts the roof was very low and there wasn't a lot of space between the water and the *roof.* I guess that is what you would call it or top of the cave? There were so many stalactites and stalagmites. Also the water was very deep so you needed to be a great water treader if you didn't inflate your life vest. Bryn and I are but Tyler had a wee bit of a panic attack in the cenote. Claustrophobia really kicked in and he didn't inflate his life vest and had to tread water like a maniac. He did eventually inflate the vest and was fine just floating. I was busy keeping an eye on Bryn who was diving down and exploring all of the underwater tunnels. There were also a ton of bats on the ceiling/roof of the cenote. That was a bit unsettling. After our swim we had lunch there and then got in the van again and drove to Tulum where we snorkeled in a lagoon. Also very fun!!

This was our first time snorkeling in the ocean and seeing tropical fish!! It was absolutely stunning to see all of the beautifully colored fish swimming around us. We were all pretty awestruck! I do not enjoy fish normally but this had an other worldly quality about it.

On our hour and a half drive back to our speedboat puke ferry we had our first Mexican Sprites. Delicious! People make a big deal about Mexican Coke but their Sprite is fantastic and I don't even normally like Sprite!! Bryn also had a memorable time using a Mexican public restroom...no toilet seats. LOL. That was a first for her! We got back on the vomit express and luckily didn't have any issues. Not so the people around us but not *quite* as bad as that morning. 45 LONG minutes later and we were back in Cozumel. Kirk and Meki and their group had fun on their clear kayaking adventure. They had a memorable time too! So many stories to tell. 

It was a LONG but fun adventure filled day!! 

We got back to the ship and then had to shower and get dressed for another formal night. This time our group all had dinner together at another one of the specialty restaurants on the ship called Chops. It was a steak house. It was good but I liked Izumi better. It was fun to hear about everyone's adventures and misadventures!! After dinner it was the ship's 70s party. We slugged down some redbulls and headed to the party!

It was another fun and late night!!

Day 7

We were so tired from our adventures from the day before that we all slept in until 10 am! We hung out with Kirk and Meki that morning and then had lunch at the Windjammer Café. Tyler and I headed to the photography studio to pick out and purchase some of our cruise pictures. All the shops onboard were having clearance sales so Bryn and I bought souvenirs for everyone. I bought a cute purse and got one for Ailey too.

When we headed out to the pool the Sexiest Man Contest was going on. Imagine my shock (and horror) when I saw that KIRK was one of the contestants!! I couldn't believe my eyes! I kept saying "That's my brother!!!" "OMG that's Kirk up there!!" My nephew, Tarren, entered him into the contest as a joke. Kirk had been lounging pool side when they called his name. At first he was annoyed but then he was a good sport. When I saw him he had already made several cuts and was in the top 4. Then he made the top 3 and then the top 2!! He was dancing and being charming (as he is!). We were screaming and cheering for him and voting for him! He came in 2nd!! The guy that won did a back flip and that sealed the deal. That guy was also a good 20 years younger than Kirk! LOL. Kirk was a low key celebrity for the rest of the cruise!! Ha ha!!

Second Sexiest Man...LOL!!

After the contest was over, Kirk and I were sitting next to each other on the edge of the pool, and this guy said to Kirk gesturing to me..."She is REALLY into you dude!! She was cheering for you like crazy!" We both nearly vomited. I said horrified, "I'm his SISTER!!" Ew. Then the guy started flirting with me since I was clearly available. Thank goodness the true sexiest man on board came back to the pool with pina coladas in hand and sent my little *friend* on his way!! 

Definitely the sexiest man onboard...no contest necessary!!

We spent all of our last day poolside. I wish we would've had an extra relaxing day in between our two excursions. I love going on excursions but I also lounging by the pool!

That evening our big group all went to the ice skating show. That was really fun! Then we had our last big dinner together on the cruise. We were all pretty sad that this vacation was coming to an end.

We really enjoyed having Bryn on the cruise with us and getting to experience this with her!!

I loved being out on our balcony and seeing the sun rise and set. I loved watching the stars and the water. Nearly every time that I was out on our balcony so was Kirk and he would do his "Oh Yoohoo!"

It was really fun to experience the cruise with Kirk and his family and also our friend Julie. We were all so sad to see it ending. That night Tyler and I saw six shooting stars. We also saw a drunk idiot throw a chair off of one of the decks. Unbelievable.

Day 8

The next morning we were all up early and feeling melancholy. Tyler, Kirk, Meki, and I all stood on our balconies watching the sunrise as we approached Galveston. 

Dolphins were swimming in the bay. It was beautiful!

We finished packing and then all went to breakfast together. There were mopey faces all around. This cruise turned out to be so much fun for all of us. We made some amazing memories together. Then, sadly, it was time to disembark. We said goodbye to our Utah contingent.  The tears were flowing. They were headed back to Houston and then to the airport. I was really glad that the 3rd leg of our trip was just beginning. It helped with the post cruise depression!

The disembarking flowed pretty quickly. It was a little stressful for us since we didn't know what we were doing but it went surprisingly fast. In no time we found ourselves through the port of entry and out on the curb in the blazing Texas heat! Tyler called us a Lyft and it was there in literally one minute. Our driver drove us to the car rental at Hobby airport and in no time at all we were in our rental car and on our way to Waco! More Texas adventures to come!