I had initially planned of writing earlier but considering the number of events that I'd known were supposed to unfold, and that too at a feverish pace, lemme say a cliched excuse. I was busy. :P
First of all, after the not so adventurous canoeing, I was really looking forward to what would be one of the best trips of my life, till now, and boy, was it! Come on, with the right company, even sad places will look awesome, but here, the places were awesome too. Could I ask for more?
One of my very good friends had come down to Houston, for the memorial day weekend and his birthday on the 1st of this month. The trip was more or less planned, to San Antonio and South Padre Island. The very same place that is being pounded by Hurricane Alex as I write this. I hope there wouldn't be much damage to life.
San Antonio, TX.
We headed straight for the amusement park, the much talked about Six Flags Fiesta. Had my first roller coaster ride. Ever. I was almost certain that I'd not get alive out of it, when I recollected what I'd written the previous month. Go with the flow, man! The blistering heat notwithstanding, we took a mutual consensus to dive into the water, that was specially open during the summer. It was bliss.
From here, we headed straight to the downtown, to go see the River walk, photos of which reminded me of Italy (You know, I can't say that. I've never gone there). It was all of what another friend of mine who'd visited told, and more. It was R-O-M-A-N-T-I-C. I missed taking my girlfriend along (I actually can't say this, too). Everything was so serene about the River walk and its history, I ended up being speechless for this part of the day.
The next day wasn't very exciting. We went to see the number 1 tourist spot, The Alamo. I suddenly felt it would be nice to come back to this place, after 20 - 30 years. We rushed out of the museum, (was it one? sorry!) and drove a good 4+ hours to reach South Padre.
South Padre Island/Port Isabel, TX
Maybe not as beautiful as Miami, (again, politically incorrect, I've never been there!) but it was nice. It was a lazy 2 day outing here. Celebrated the birthday, with the birthday boy's selected cake (Its a pain to select for him, he's damned too choosy :P), went around scouting about the island (It really isn't one, though it can be assumed).
Went on a cruise the following day. Now this was awesome fun. A boring and slow ride through the waters of the Atlantic, with one hundred photographs being taken for every 5 minutes or so, it was serene, no doubt about it, but what came later was the fun part.
Trying to spot dolphins, one thing I've always hated, (How would you like if marine organisms came running behind you with menacing machines, just to check you out!) even when we tried doing the same in Palolem, Goa, wasn't that bad after all. Dolphins came pretty close to the boats, but there was no expected jumps. It was exciting to see them. The 'captain' was radioed and told that deeper into the gulf, there were dolphins spotted. He pushed the boat's speed limits and now transformed the ride into what could be called a cruise. The birds, the water, the waves crashing against the nose of the boat and water spurting inside, it was just awesome. No, maybe beyond that.
After the nearly 2 hour cruise, we decided to go to the beach. I have this thing for water, maybe most people have. Its such a nice feeling just to stay there and hear water roaring and rumbling, to get drenched in that God's eternal creation, to not think of anything, to not worry about anything, the flow that I've already talked about twice, now.
We were smart enough to not carry spare clothes or towels even. Its fun, unplanned. Result? We had to sit half naked in the car, till we reached the motel back in Port Isabel. We cleaned ourselves of the salty water and then headed to the jacuzzi in the motel, right outside.
The next day was reserved for returning, a 7 hour drive, back to Beaumont. I hated getting back, just like any other trip, but what I would hate earlier was to get back to routine. What I hated more now was Beaumont was a totally crappy place. Sorry, still is. Earlier, after a trip, at the least I got to enjoy decent facilities, in an insect free environment.
Everything about this trip was just awesome. The drive, the lonely roads, the scenic beauty, the ride - a Chrysler 300, (one helluva car, I must say), awesome company - 5 of us in all, more or less similar temperament.
There were 2 drivers, and whatever I drove was the most I'd ever driven. Felt nice. 'Wish it wouldn't end so soon', again a cliched term after every fantabulous trip. But I'm happy all of us felt the same way. With everything in life, rather, everything good in life, one should feel that it would last a little longer. That is when you know how good it was.
And about the other events, it'd be sheer injustice for those events if I did say a line about them. So, you can expect them to be blogged shortly.
