Houston Livestock Show. Yeee Hawww!

Today was sunny and warm. Must be all the methane in Houston's air due to the livestock show and rodeo. Anyhoo, the bride and me hopped the lite rail to Reliant Center and enjoyed all the food, sights, and smells, and I do mean smells, of the livestock show. There was quite a crowd. By the time we left, the hordes were pouring in the gates. Metro was running the lite rail trains at two minute intervals, and the trains heading into the Reliant Center were packed!

The train cometh.


This is why Houstonians are considered to be amongst the fattest folks in the Nation! Them taters were goooooood!


Das Boot.


Haaaappy Traaaails tooo yoooooo... On a quilt at the show.


A baby 'roo!


A metal (brr) bedpan guitar!


A big honkin' super-duper Texas-sized pickum-up truck! Just what yew need to haul that fat (see the giant grill above), um, backside, around the back 40!!


I've heard in the news that there has been a mysterious disappearance of bees around the country. It appears they are all headed down here to the livestock show!


Do not eat this egg. The chick will be mad.


Future KFC.


Future Quarter Pounder With Cheese.


"Don't make me spit in your eye!"


The swimmin' pig gets dried off. Sorry, I missed the picture of the actual swimmin'.


A cutting horse ... cutting.

San Antonio In January, Brrrrrr!

I take vacation at odd times. This year, it was January. Well, we decided to stay close and go to San Antonio for a few days. It was the coldest weather of the winter. But it was restful.

Nothing like a warm cat on a cold day!

Yawn, beddy-bye time!

Icy Steps. We had sleet for two or three days. No snue, sadly.

Hot coffee is a good thing on a day like this!

It was nice and warm inside the 'Windy! Sorry, I couldn't resist it!

Some bric-a-brac in the bedroom.

A house in Castroville. Castroville was founded by Alsatians from France. It is the next big thang for booming San Antonio. Soon, this town will be a big suburban area. Right now, it is still quaint and tidy.

A French style cheese shoppe in Castroville.

This was one of only two sunny days during our vacation.

Brew and food in Fredericksburg. In the hill country.

An old hospital. Now a shoppe.

The house where Admiral Nimitz was born is now... you guessed it, a shoppe.

The Beastie having a 'meow'.

The Windy, ready to head for home.

A beauty-ful rest stop. Unlike some states, Texas not only has nice rest stops, you can even stay a while to actually rest! Overnight is OK.

Me.

Dumbest Police Department In The Nation!

The Cartoon Network ran an unconventional advertising scheme in several cities around the nation. They placed a lit-up cartoon character around to advertise one of their shows. Of the cities enjoying the madcap festivities, only in Bahston, Massahootsits did the police think that the lit-up cartoon character was a bomb. A bomb????? Are you kidding me????

I travel around a bit. I'd like to think the places I visit are not too dumb. To help out the Dumbest Police Department in the Nation™, I am running this quick seminar on cartoon bombs. Class, pay attention:

Bomb.



Bomb.


Not a Bomb.

Thanks. It's the least I can do to help the terminally dumb.

Austria, Germany, and Amsterdam, Several Years Ago

Innsbruck, Austria! These pictures were taken before the era of digital cameras by a rank amateur - me! So please excuse the slightly off-color images. If I ever get a good photo improving program, I'll see about cleaning these pictures up just a bit.

The River 'Inn'.


It's easy to walk in Europe. Pedestrian pathways are found everywhere, even between towns. That's what keeps these elderly gents from getting fat!

View from the Sporthotel Penz, in suburban Innsbruck.


Biergarten near Innsbruck. I can almost taste them hops.

Speakin' of hops. Best bier in the mountains! Of course, it don't hold a candle to Lone Star Bier, er, Beer!

Sometimes I can't figure out the street signs.

These are my kinda condos!

The condo we're at in the USA looks a lot like this!

Gotta move the car outta the way. Parade coming!

It's Sunday. And they're marching to church!

The choirboys follow the procession to church. Anyone know why they parade to church? This was in a mountain village known as Seefeld.

The market in Hall-in-Tirol, Austria. Early in the morning.

I'll bet she's thinking, "Tourists!"

That's a tall bridge! There's a village in the valley below.

A high valley in Austria. Or, was it Germany?

Dunno why. I just like this picture.

There are many old churches in Germany and Austria.

Amsterdam! 'The Venice of the North'. Unlike Venice, Italy, this city is not sinking. There are miles of row houses with narrow streets on a canal.

The first thing you gotta do, before looking at the red light district or the pot-filled bars, is to ride a boat on one of the canals.

It must be interesting living on the waterways in Amsterdam. This is a really old bridge. It's probably kept in place for the benefit of tourists!

Electric light rail is starting to make a comeback in cities such as Dallas and Houston, but Europe has had 'em for decades.

The Centraal train station. One of the busiest rail stations anywhere.

People love to congregate in the many plazas in the city. Everyone is younger than me.

Our hotel for this brief visit to Amsterdam.

I took this picture because it was the first time I'd seen small florescent light bulbs! They started in Europe (made by Philips) and are slowly catching on here. The light from these bulbs is brighter now than in those earlier days of the late 1980s. I use them.

We've made several trips to Austria, Germany, and Amsterdam. On those trips, we'd also visit Venice. Alas, the visits to Amsterdam were less than 24 hours. We're hoping to spend more time there sometime in the future. As I get the old photos of the other trips loaded into the ol' eMac, I'll upload 'em here for your eddyfication!