Tag Archive: exploration


Some Observations…

So…this weekend marked my second week of work–still planning on going back again on Monday–and 1 month here in Bryan! Hooray! We celebrated by going out to dinner at Cafe Capri, the same place we went on our first night here. Delicious again…and a reminder that these 12 months will go by swiftly!

As Wylie mentioned, we had dinner with most of my cohort and their families on Thursday and we discovered that pizza rolls are better than pizza at Double Dave’s…we will have to sample some others. The other awesome thing about that night was watching 4 year-old’s make friends. It seems like they have it right—the eyeballed each other, saw they were the same height, said, “My name is ____” and they were off and running. That was it. Seems so easy that way. Why does it seem to get so much more complicated later in life? After dinner we walked around campus a little bit and ended up at the Dixie Chicken for an adult beverage. We saw many people playing dominoes and many animal heads on the wall. It seems like a nice place to hang out. Although, the college kids come back next week, so we are not sure how much we will go there then…

Yesterday I got to go to “Fish Camp” with the other interns and the director of the counseling center. Freshmen here are called “Fish,” so it was not something nautical, but rather a whole lot of freshmen doing a whole lot of cheering. We left here at about 6:30am and drove 2-ish hours. The “Fish” spend about 3 days up there learning the traditions of A & M and how to do all the cheering that will be required of them during the football games, etc. It seems like it is probably fun. It reminded me of student council conventions or something–where everyone is trying to show that they have the most spirit for their team and some very zealous folks dress up or dye their hair to match. We talked to them a little bit about the counseling center and showed a video about the services we offer. We did this for 3 groups and then came home. It was a very interesting day. I was tuckered out at the end of it, and happy for a nap and a nice dinner at Cafe Capri.

Today we tried the bagels at Blue Baker at about 11:45, and we learned that “breakfast food” is only to be eaten at Blue Baker before 10:30am–they had turned the toaster off, so we ate our bagels untoasted, which was fine. However, since Wylie and I are rarely up and moving before 10:30 on a weekend, Blue Baker is probably off our breakfast list…Then we ran some errands–got a softball glove for me, and braved the “best” grocery store that is near campus. That was kind of bad thinking on my part because it was a little crazy with folks moving in to town. They do have lots of good stuff though, so I will remember that at a later time, when it will not be so crazy.

We just finished the third Indiana Jones movie, and it was good. I liked them all! (The second one was a little cheezy, but Data was in it (from the Goonies), so the cheeze was overlooked, for the most part!)

Getting ready now for another week of working and maybe planning an adventure for next weekend…any thoughts on where we should go?

First Friday

On Friday evening Teresa and I walked over to downtown Bryan for their First Friday event. They have live music, restaurants have special things going on, and the streets are busy with many local people. We started off the evening by going to the Village Cafe for a drink and to cool off. It was a little loud in there, so we moseyed on over to Los Norteños Cafe for some dinner. We had passed by this place a couple weeks ago and liked the looks of the outside, we liked the inside even better. And with $3.99 breakfast tacos, how can one go wrong? Just a tip, two people can share one, these tacos are huge, and kind of like burritos. After getting stuffed on tacos, we waddled a short distance to the Revolution Cafe (there are a lot of  cafe’s in Bryan it seems) to listen to some bluegrass. I was wondering if the bluegrass in Texas was different than that of the bluegrass in Asheville. The answer is no. They are pretty much the same. We stayed for a little bit, but being stuffed on tacos, and at the tail end of a work week, we were tuckered out so left after only several songs. You can hear one of the songs they played below.

It was good to check out the First Friday and I am sure we will check out some of the others that go on during our year in Texas.

[wpaudio url="http://www.10gallonhat.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/The-Devils-Bluegrass-Band-Amber-Alert.mp3"]

Biking to work

Yesterday, after Teresa got home from work, we got on our bikes, and went back to her office. She wanted to see how long it would take her to do the ride, about 35 minutes, and I have been feeling the need to get on my bike.

It wasn’t a bad ride, about two thirds of the way has bike lanes, and some of the roads are not that traveled by cars. Some parts of the route are a little sketchy, but that is a problem with biking on most roadways. Usually it’s the big intersections that are the craziest.

We got to Teresa’s office, and back home, just fine. It was good to get out for an actual bike ride. I think I need to raise my seat about an inch though. I will remember that for next time.

Here is the route we took both ways.

Want to read the Texas biking laws? They are a good read, really.

And, here is a good movie on some basic road biking techniques. I had found one a while ago that I liked a little better, but this one is good, and quick, and informative.

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The past weekend

Wooh, what a weekend! It was a busy one here in Bryan, Texas. Lots happened. So much in fact that I was unable to update until this evening.

Saturday was a busy day for the two of us. We ran several errands for some semi important things that were needed around the house. We purchased one new three-speed cruiser for Teresa. We ate some sketchy Mexican food, and we danced some serious Contra Dancing.

The errands were only semi important, and I can only remember one of them now. We purchased a new TV last week and needed a cable in order for our eyes to see the best movies that they can. I also had to return something to Best Buy, so it was a two-birds-with-one-stone kind of thing.

The bike purchasing was great. Teresa had gone to a couple bike shops, and many place online, looking for a new bike. She had a cruiser, but it was only a one-speed. She wanted gears. So, she found a bike she liked over at BCS Bikes right near texas A&M’s campus, so we went to look at it and possibly buy it. When we got there the bike she had test rode and liked had been sold! Thankfully this shop has more than one bike, and she saw another that she liked. After a test ride and some serious thinking, she decided that this new bike was the bike for her. It is a nice cruiser, copper and cream, with three gears. Exactly what she was looking for. Now she just needs a basket and some streamers for the handle bars.

After bringing home her new bike we needed to head right back out in order to make it to the Contra Dancing. Though we did leave some extra time for dinner in there. Nobody wants to contra dance on an empty stomach, or 30 minutes after eating. We decided to try a place semi near the contra dancing location, a restaurant by the name of Los Cucos. Sounds like a nice name right Well that is about the end of the niceness. Except for the Funky Face Disguise machine by the entrance, that was pretty awesome.

After our sub-par dinner we headed over to the Unitarian church for some contra dancing. It was pretty awesome. We were nervous at first, wondering what kind of people would be there, and if we would have to excuse ourselves after the first dance. Thankfully everybody there was great, and we stayed for the full three hours.

After the three hours dancing around in a hot Unitarian church, we felt the need for ice cream, so we went on over to Ben & Jerry’s for some cool treats. It was a great Saturday, which was followed by a lazy Sunday. Lounging around in the morning. A late breakfast that perhaps should be called brunch. After a while we were able to rouse ourselves and head out into the world for a couple more errands. This time, of the necessity kind. We first went to Academy Sports again so we could get Teresa a helmet so she can safely ride her bike around. I am very glad she agreed to wear one. I like her head intact. After the helmet-a-thon, we got groceries. After that we decided it would be a good idea to break in Teresa’s new bike and helmet, so we went for our first bike ride together around the neighborhood. During our ride we passed by a cop car on the side of the road with the officer outside of it. He summoned to us and asked if we had seen a man and girl from where we had come from. It seems that this man had kidnapped this girl and was dragging her down the street. Unfortunately we had not seen her. Other than that drama, the ride was great. Teresa loves her new bike, I love riding with her, and I love that she wore her helmet. It was a pretty good Sunday, which was nice since the next day was Teresa’s first day at her new job! We don’t need a stressful weekend before that kind of thing.

Now, take a gander at some photos from the weekend, and a video of Teresa contra dancing.

On safari

We have had a busy two days here in the Lone Star state. Monday evening involved going to many stores; Bed, Bath & Beyond, Pier 1, World Market, and Office Max, all looking for a basket to attach under our desk to hold computer wires. After we finally found the right basket at Office Max, we had to get something to keep it held underneath the desk, so we headed to Michael’s for some little brackets.

This afternoon involved getting a license plate holder for Teresa’s car. Texas requires two plates on your car, but her car does not have a front holder. Hence our quick trip to AutoZone. After that we needed a drill in order to pre-drill holes for the basket under the desk, so off to Lowes we went. Then we were feeling hungry and decided to have our pizza night tonight, so we searched  for local pizza. We looked around a bit, but decided on Gumby’s Pizza mainly because of the name. When we got there the sign was awesome. The inside was what I imagine a dorm room to be like, dirty and full of college students. Thankfully it wasn’t too dirty to eat, so we ordered one of the best pizzas we had had in a while, and enjoyed ourselves.

Tomorrow we will complete the desk fixin’s. I am growing tired of kicking wires.

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