Road Trip to Houston:The Drive Home and Wrap Up

Day 21

We always enjoy Las Vegas and this trip was one of our best, but we were anxious to get home so we were looking forward to hitting the road for the last leg of our trip.  As usual, despite our best intentions we didn’t get a very early start, but we knew we’d be sleeping in our own bed tonight so it didn’t really matter.  We did make our usual stop at the Primm Outlet Stores, which are just on the Nevada side of the border with California and visited the Williams-SonomaOutlet store there.  After shopping we had a quick lunch in the food court and were on our way.  It was a long, but easy drive home as we missed most of the traffic and were unloading the car by 6:30.  It was a great trip in many ways, but it sure feels good to be home.

Wrapping It Up

This was a long trip; we traveled 4500 miles in 21 days and it seemed like most of it was in Texas.  We learned that Texas is big and the people are very friendly and welcoming.  We also learned that Texas is not one of the more scenic states in the US.  The west part of the state is mostly flat, dry and desolate, Eastern Texas is greener, but very flat and the Texas Hill Country in the mid-section is nice, but nothing to make a trip for.  I think though, if we came at a different time of the year and spent a little more time there we would have found scenic countryside and a different opinion.  My brother and his wife were there last spring and they really enjoyed it with everything green and abundant wildflowers.

After having said that, we did enjoy our trip.  My favorite spot was the San Antonio River Walk.  It is a great place to hang out, relax and enjoy an excellent meal at one of the many restaurants.  Big Bend National Park while not as spectacular as some of the Western National Parks, was still worth a visit and has its own unique features.  The Houston Medical Center and particularly MD Anderson has to be one of the best concentrations of medical expertise in the country.  We did enjoy visiting the Texas Hill Country particularly the small towns that were scattered through the area.  Our problem was that the middle of winter was just the wrong time to visit which we should have known.

Although not in Texas, we really enjoyed Carlsbad Caverns.  It probably would have been better if the elevators were working as we could have spent more time in the caverns, but now we can say that we made the long walk in and out.  We also had a really nice time in Las Vegas.  It was a low key, but very relaxing visit and Val came away with a tidy profit which you can’t say very often.  I think the biggest surprise of the trip was the weather.  We didn’t know what to expect so we came prepared with heavy coats, sweatshirts and rain gear, but the weather turned out to be beautiful with warm to hot temperatures.  When Las Vegas is the coolest place (temperature wise that is) place you visit, you know you’ve had good weather.

Of course the most important thing of all on this trip was the great medical report Val got in Houston.  Although we expected it, it was still wonderful to hear from one of the leading experts in the country.  All in all, a great trip and well worth the long drive.

We have nothing else planned until our 35 day Voyage of the Viking cruise starting next July.  We leave from Boston and visit Eastern Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, The Netherlands, Ireland, Northern Ireland and the Isle of Mann before returning to Boston.  This will be our longest cruise yet and we are really looking forward to it.  So unless we decide to do something between then and now, that will be the next time I’ll be posting on the blog.  See you on down the road.