The Adventures of Sunsette -- Texas Travels, Part II— Apr. 12

[TrueFan]

WHERE are you going?!?

[Alliecat]

“Holy buckets of wow, you guys! We did it!! We made it to the annular eclipse!!!
“Mum says the disruption and distraction in our crappy neighbourhood may be eroding her ability to make rational decisions… Last Saturday after a spectacularly bad day she randomly decided to see if she could make an eclipse trip happen. So she looked along the path for a housesit… applied Saturday night… got interviewed and picked on Sunday. So then four weeks of preparation had to happen in four days, and Thursday we travelled to New Braunfels, Texas!
“Can’t write much cos only Mum’s tiny phone to work with, but everything went sideways in Houston with a lost bag and much drama, which led to further misfortune. At least, yesterday the bag showed up (fortunately we weren’t in it!).  And today we went to a nice park and watched the whole eclipse. A few scary clouds at the beginning cleared away.
“We hope that wherever you are, you got to see at least a little of the partial eclipse. There is something quite magical about seeing the three-dimensional clockwork of the cosmos.”

“Love, Sunsette. ”








“Found a we-sized flower.”

[davidd]

Wow, indeed! That's fantastic! If not entirely paid for, at least the adventure was subsidized by the house-sitting!

How long do you all get to stay in Texas?

Oooh! Maybe you can go back again this spring! I was just looking at a map of the April eclipse track, and I believe it also passes between San Antonio and Austin!

I am genuinely impressed by and envious of your willingness to embark on a last-minute adventure with next to no planning!

Congratulations on a successful mission!

[dargosmydaddy]

Oh wow, good for you! What a fun adventure.

It rained buckets here all day. Glad you had nice weather

[Alliecat]

“Oh no, dargos! That sucks! How disappointing.  … davidd, did you see anything?
“We are here for a week. Mum really hopes to be able to drive to the next one, so she can finally take her telescope.
“Don’t congratulate us on any missions until we find out how mad the owner of the posh mansion is when she finds out Mum made a faint mark on her perfect spotless quartz countertop 
“Today we went to the San Antonio Botanical Garden.  It was spectabulous and Mum took a ton of pictures. Hopefully we will be able to share those when we get home.

“ Love, Sunsette   ”

[Alliecat]

“Today we visited the Natural Bridge Caverns. We are embarrassed to say we did not get out of the camera bag. There were too many people on the first tour and just not really time on the second. Mom says the caverns were really cool. Anyway, here is the entrance, and behind us in the second picture is the “bridge” for which the place is named.”

[davidd]

Y'all are having some fun this trip!

Is this a limestone cave, or a lava tube?

[Alliecat]

“It’s limestone. The formations are absolutely spectacular and the caverns are enormous.  (lava? In Texas??)
“Today’s ex!pedition: the Alamo! And a real quick look at a bit of the San Antonio River walk. We didn’t get many pictures of us today either.  But, it’s 3° at home and still summer here – so we aren’t complaining!!”
“Love, Sunsette  ”

[davidd]

The next total eclipse passes through much of Texas! Perhaps you'll be back!

Texas had a reputation for being an affordable place to live. That is changing, however, with an influx of new residents, particularly near the major cities.

Perhaps you might check out some of the gulf coast areas some time. In addition to being warm, Texas has a considerable length of ocean frontage!

[fishy]

Glad you had fun. Great photos!!

[Alliecat]

“Annularity… on the kitchen counter! And Mum didn’t do it!!! HAHAHAHA!!!!!
“She was sooooo tired and distracted by the missing suitcase that she was pretty sure she had set a hot pot down for a moment. Turns out, the mark was already there, and in a warning not to put hot pots on the counter, Housesit Lady did not point it out. Everyone had a laugh, but mum is a bit concerned about losing her mind.
“Our last day here. Looks like we are going to do some sightseeing with the homeowners later on.

“Love, Sunsette  ”

[Alliecat]

“95° in October! How wonderful!! Can we stay, Mum?”



“San Antonio Airport. Tooooo early.”



“Houston. Watching to see if our suitcase gets on the plane THIS time.”



“Talk to me, Goose.”

[davidd]

On your way back to... not 95˚F!

Good news about the "annular eclipse" in granite! Too bad you had to stress about it all week.

[Alliecat]

“We are in another airport after another too-short night. Mum went all Karen at the hotel last night and made them give us another room because they couldn’t get idiot next door to turn down his thumping music. Mum was anticipating a whole night of sleep — not 4-1/2 hours.
“Sadly, we don’t even have a peaceful restful place to return home to.
“Thanks for following our adventures. We hope to post some more photos when Mum gets them off the camera.
“Love, Sunsette  ”

[davidd]

Even cheap hotels aren't exactly cheap anymore. I find myself wondering how so many skanky weirdos manage to afford to stay in hotels when it's a stretch for me. And, y'know, they always want all kinds of I.D. and credit card numbers and stuff when you check in. Then ya look around at who else is staying there and think... seriously? Do the rest of these "guests" have all that stuff? Why are they picking on me?

Maybe you can spend the winter working on sound-proofing your basement lair.

That's... not funny, is it?

Does the basement stay warm... relative to the rest of the house... in the winter?