Grandpa and Grandma Arrive in Houston

April 17, 2013

Our drive from northwest of Dallas to the Houston area of Texas was amazing in the magnitude of the terrain change (not to mention the increase in traffic)! East and south of Dallas we get into actual forest area. All the pastures and yards are vibrant green, and big trees of many varieties line the road sides. They obviously get a LOT more rain here! The land is also more rolling, not so flat.

We see numerous roadkill armadillos—no live ones yet, but I’m hoping to see one before we leave Texas. 

Looks like he's not playing "possum".

These little mammals with their leathery armor remind us of the possums back home, which are also commonly seen as roadkill. Apparently, the species of armadillo found in Texas (the nine-banded armadillo) is particularly susceptible to being killed on the road because they have a habit of jumping 3 to 4 feet straight up when startled, which tends to cause collisions with the underside of vehicles. Another interesting thing I found out about armadillos is they are among the few known species that can contract leprosy, because their low body temp (93 deg F) is good for the leprosy bacteria. They make good hosts, in other words. Humans can apparently get the disease from handling armadillos or eating their meat. They are now being used in medical research on leprosy.

Cute little fellows.

We get a little bit lost, trying to avoid the freeways around Houston, and end up heading into Bush Intercontinental Airport. We pull into Waffle House and have supper, while reconnoitering and waiting for rush hour traffic to subside. A helpful waitress gets us back on track and we drive the rest of the way listening to our GPS.

After our long day of driving, we finally get to son Jeff’s house in Cypress, TX about 8:15 pm, and have a happy family reunion with Jeff, Mariann and 8-yr-old granddaughter Sarah.
 

Sarah with Jack's hat and sunglasses, Jeff in background.

They meet us in the front yard, despite a light rain falling. At least it’s a warm rain—temperatures have warmed up considerably during our day of driving.

Son Jeff and granddaughter Sarah.

We have much to talk about and catch up on.

Carol and Marriann.

The first thing Sarah wanted to show us was a hamster. Sarah and Jennifer had bought two hamsters last June, when we were last here, and now they have expanded into a Hamster Universe that’s pretty much taken over a section of the upstairs rec room! They’ve apparently lost count as to how many are in there… 

Jack visiting Hampsterville.

Carol with one of the many critters.

Lots of laughs and conversation, and we even squeeze in a Madmen episode after Sarah goes to bed. We plan to be here for several days—blogs may be a little more sporadic but we’ll try to continue the daily update…

State count: still 8 [Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas] 

Odometer count:

Surber, VA: 107,435

Cypress, TX: 110,000 (do you believe that?? Pretty cool…it rolled over just as we pulled into their house)

Where we are: