Houston

 

It has been a while since I have been regularly blogging so I am making up for that some now. August has been pretty packed with work, social gatherings and I finally got my background check back from the FBI. A week later I was in Houston.

 

I took off work on Monday and Saturday afternoon my family, Asuka and I were on the road to Houston. We arrived around 12 a.m. The next morning we went to the military base (Ellington Field) for a store run. While on base I saw one of NASA’s old planes and a jet with George Bush’s name on it. Afterward we visited a monument outside of NASA, but we did not go in—we didn’t have time or the money. Instead we grabbed a nearby geocache and finally headed down to Galveston for the beach and Joe’s Crab Shack. Asuka and I swam for an hour or so before we ate dinner. After dinner and a quick stop at Academy Sports (on the beach) I got to drive around just exploring and sight-seeing. I ended up taking the ferry back to the mainland which was free.

Most places you have to pay to go on dolphin/whale watching tours. We got out of the car once we had parked and stood at the front of the ferry. A large ship was on a collision course with us and we turned so that it could pass. As we got nearer to the ship we spotted dolphins jumping  in front of it. Later they appeared for a little while in front of ours. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get any great photos.

It turns out the ferry arrived at the mainland but at a point we couldn’t get back to the interstate. We ended up having to drive for about an hour by back roads to take another interstate. And then Monday came; the day I have been waiting for several months. Asuka and I went to the consulate when it opened at 9 a.m. There were two people ahead of me in line when I arrived. Two people came in later and broke in line. After I finally got to the window all went well. The person working the window estimated 2-3 weeks for my Visa to arrive so I am crossing my fingers.

Tuesday morning was the hardest part. I dropped Asuka off at the airport at 6:30 a.m. It is always hard to go different ways, but this time was even harder. I knew it could be up to a year or more before we see each other again. I want to visit in D.C. before I leave for Spain, but don’t know how that will work with time and money. She planned to study abroad next semester but we don’t know if that will work out or not yet. We won’t know until November.

Now it is only about five or six weeks before I leave for Spain. It is closer than ever.