Rolled into Texas and stopped at the sign for some snaps! Next was onto our rest stop, the most enormous Setvice station I have ever seen, Buccees. It was like a department store, you could by everything and anything. I saw a man fill an actual bucket with coca cola – it took 2 hands to lift it and he was a hench badass trucker!

Arrived at our super cute hostel in Suburban Houston and mucked about by the pool. All entertained for 30 minutes by solely watching Greg try to get on a lilo. I have never seen such a malcordinated and hilarious attempt at anything, which is saying something since my life is clumsiness personified!

I decided a beer on the side was safer than associated injuries I would undoubtedly have picked up. Especially considering the day before I managed to fall over again, down the stairs the time….got the world’s biggest bruise on my ass as a delightful momento. Honestly, some days, I just don’t know why I’m single?!

Went out for dinner and all had burgers bigger than our own heads! So delicious but meat sweats doesn’t even scratch the surface! managed half and still felt like I’d earned some sort of certificate!

We set off bright and early for Austin and today was an important day as we had a birthday in the house!!! G-Law, Big G (Greg…..) turned 23 today. Prompted a convo about ages and the youngest ones shared the harrowing fact that they were born in 1997…what the actual hell is that?!?! I was full spice girls, handkerchief top & peddle pusher clad pre teen by then!!! So upsetting

Once I’d gotten over being the old lady of the tour, we enjoyed a day of old school celebrations. Decorated the van, cards and gifts in tow and went to first stop, Bowling. Nothing like a spot of competitive gaming to see the true colours of those in the group!!! Just for the record, “rules” do not maintain the fun, they just make you look like a pedantic tithead! it’s a game where you throw a ball at some plastic pins…literally no one cares about  the strategy! Intense and not even actually fun by the end, I was lobbing it and hoping for it to be over so we would all return to being civilised humans again!! Pizza arrived just in time to prevent a mutiny, praise the proverbial lord!

 

Post lunch was Lazer tag, and I was concerned!…not just at the fact military style warfare gaming was being thrown into the competitive mix, but also that it involved yet more hand eye coordination and there were a large amount of trip hazards! Actually turned out to be serious fun! A great way to run off some inevitable day 8 pent up aggression and wear us out. Came 8th out of 25 gunners so relatively impressed!

Checked into our hostel which has been the worst so far, 14 bed dorm which we shared with some random girls on another trek group. They were just a 4 and after China I felt their pain. All looked suitably miffed to be in such a small group but just pot luck with these things. In true English style they all politely said they “got on really well and we’re having fun”, shame their faces looked like there had been a death in the family! Bad times. Invited them out with us for the evening but they declined so screw them!!! ha.

Dinner at a cool place in Austin and a civilised evening sitting around with some beers on the hostel patio playing “Never have I ever”…a game you shouldn’t really ever play with people you don’t know that well or have to sit on a bus with for another 2 weeks. Too much information! Whilst one of the tamest 23rd birthdays I’ve ever attended, it was a really lovely day and what we all needed I think. Hopefully we’ll make up for it with a bigger night in Vegas…as I’m at the risk of being a Van Wilder trying to convince everyone to go drinking and dancing, thought it’d be the absolute opposite. So we shall see.

Saturday was a filler type day to allow us to get across country as so far we have been driving for 15hrs or so and we are still in Texas! It’s enormous!

We stopped en route for a really interesting tour of the Austin Capitol building. The largest Capitol in the USA, we had a really informative guide who filled us in on the history of Texas as an independent nation and Alamo warfare.We arrived in San Angelo, the epitome of a 1 horse town for an afternoon stop off and a good night’s rest. The weather was amazing so we pottered in the town, wandered the vintage shops where I desperately tried to cram my size 5 feet into a size 4 pair of vintage Jimmy Choos which were $60!!! Heartbreak eased slightly by finding a vintage Missoni skirt for 20 bucks!

I don’t know how people survive life in these tiny towns. There was barely enough to fill an hour or 2 of wandering around let alone a whole life! Dinner, watched Bridesmaids – the first tv I have watched properly in months and went to bed by 10! It’s all crazy fun and partying on this trip I tell you!!

5.45am alarm as next stop is our journey into New Mexico where we gain another hour en route to our cave adventure at Carlsbad Caverns. I’ve been warned the ground is slippery so should make for some interesting stories for the next blog at least! Xx.