Tickets were bought last week for the movie Hercules in 3D and IMAX, so my hosts loaded grandchildren and me in the requisite Texas pickup for the 10:15 am showing on this Monday morning. The 3D effects were much better than the movie we saw last week. At that hour of the morning, we had the theater almost to ourselves and enjoyed the movie without the noise and interruptions that might have been.
I’d loaded the car before we left, so said my goodbyes and headed west about noon. Down the road past the neighborhood school to a left turn on Main Street, past the big tree where we watched a parade a couple of years ago, and onto I-10. If I remember right, I-10 eventually runs into the ocean at Santa Monica, but that’s far away. I just need to get through Houston first.
Houston seems to sprawl almost as much as Los Angeles and the traffic, even at noon, is way beyond what I’ve grown used to in the sleepy Shenandoah Valley. It was an hour at least before I was away from city and could see even a bit of open space. Eventually the lanes narrowed down to two on each side and traffic moved at 80 mph.
I managed to stop for gas before the need became acute, unlike the first time I made this trip a few years ago. A phone call to my cousin directed me to his office, a place I can find without difficulty. From there I followed him a few miles NW of San Antonio to his new home where we relaxed and cooled off then went to dinner. We returned to his most comfortable home and talked until midnight.
We have little family other than our own immediate families and neither of us sees the other cousins, so over the past few years we have grown closer. It is so nice to be able to share memories and insights that we cannot find anywhere else. At some point we decided that one night was not enough, so I will be here for another day before beginning the long, hot stretch to El Paso.
At Home...On the Road 