Day 16 > 20 - Catch Up
DATE: tuesday MARCH 15TH
TIME: 1:09AM CST
LOCATION: San antonio tx
Its been a bit, a lot has happened. I have kinda been putting off this post because I want to talk a bit about Mocha, my kitty. On the drive from New Orleans to Galveston I got the news that Mocha had passed away. It was expected, I had heard the night before that he would probably pass that day. But it was still hard. When I left I know I probably wouldn’t get to see him again, he hadn’t been in good health for a while. I had to make my peace with the that fact when I left. I guess I just want to say a few words about him, then Ill get into the recap.
Mocha was probably the softest cat I have ever pet, and my favorite thing about him was that he knew it. He had a funny way of getting a little feisty with you when you stopped giving him attention. He would meow and nibble at you to get you to continue giving him pets. He LOVED the guest room as anybody who has stayed there could tell. That bed and the window in my dad’s office were his favorite spots. I remember when Deniz and Vanessa would come over and work on their art Mocha would always lay down on their work to get attention. He was also known to sit on laptop keyboards very often. Many a night I would come downstairs to get a midnight snack, and end up snuggling on the dog bed with Mocha. I remember one time he hadn’t properly cleaned himself up so I gave him a bath and he was VERY upset about going into my room. So I ended up having to carry him, both wet and angry down to the dog shower to clean him up. Im surprised that he forgave me after that one. Mocha Ill leave some photos below of him. He was one of the best cats I have ever known. He had a kind soul and a love of being squished in your arms. I will miss him dearly.
Requiescet in pace
So we had our second day in New Orleans which I liked significantly more. We did the On/Off bus tour and got to see the whole city. I figured out quickly it was really just the French Quarter that I didn’t like much. The garden district was super beautiful, and the better weather definitely helped with that. We got food at a hotdog place in the garden district and I had what was probably the best hotdog I have ever eaten. Like serious, when in New Orleans, get a hotdog at Dirty Dogs. Amazing. The evening of our second New Orleans day was spent on the Mississippi River! We took a river cruise down the coast of the city and it was lovely. It was nice to relax outside, listen to some jazz, and just generally be merry. The performers were really great. The boat ride was around 2 hours long and worth every minute.
We had a long drive from New Orleans to Galveston. It should only be 4 hours between the two but we managed to make it 9. Ill explain…
So the first chunk of the drive was pretty much normal. We made a short stop and I tried Hunt Brother’s Pizza, which was ok. It is frozen pizza after all lol. After a few more hours of driving we realized that we had 36 miles to go but 1:20 left on the clock… which was weird. We looked at our route and realized that the GPS had been bringing us to a ferry, rather than to the hotel directly. Spoiler: we dont fit onto a ferry. After a brief stop to admire the beach we ended up having to backtrack a bit over 100 miles to go all the way around the bay. On top of that we were under a Gale warning the entire way with winds gusting to around 40mph. Not a relaxing drive by any means.
BUT we ended up in Galveston making it all worth it. We were originally going to stay for an overnight but it ended up being so nice that we made the choice to spend a day there after a mere 15 min in the pool. Deniz got roasted by a group of 8 year old gamers which was hilarious. Pretty much every other word out of their mouth was “these nuts” or “your mom”. It was a good laugh after a long day.
The actual day in Galveston was essentially a rest day. I spent most of the day relaxing on the balcony looking out on the ocean. Ill leave some pics below, it was beautiful there. We tried to go to Rainforest Cafe but it was entirely booked, so we ended up eating at the Italian place inside the hotel. All in all, it was a nice relaxing day which I sorely needed at that point.
Yesterday we drove out to San Antonio TX. Since Deniz had done most of the driving into Galveston I took the drive to San Antonio. In hindsight this may have not been a great idea. After the 4 hour drive I ended up with what is probably the worst sunburn I have every had. It still radiates on my arm as I write this post. Last night we went and walked on the River Walk in San Antonio, then ate dinner at one of the restaurants. I had a drink called River Water which was some kind of rum and various fruits, It was pretty good! After dinner I went back to the room to tend to my sun burn. I ended up spending the entire day indoors today to avoid the sun and stay near my bottle of aloe and creams. Which I didn’t mind too much since I barely slept last night due to the pain.
Tomorrow we are gonna head into Austin and have a look around. Ill definitely be wearing sunblock lol
Thats all for now, stay safe out there
Signing off
-H
