When you have no furniture, breakfast is served on the kitchen floor.
One final farewell to the train and its conductor, Goldbug.
The last picture we took of our old house.
In an attempt to save a little money, we decided to drive both cars rather than have Tom’s car towed behind the moving van. This meant that both Tom and I drove the ENTIRE way to Texas, and that when the kids were awake (we kept them together while they were awake, and separated them at naptime), the parent with whom they were riding was singularly responsible for feeding, entertaining, and tending to them. Whew!
We were on the road for four days. Along the way we stayed overnight in Iowa City, IA; Lincoln, NE; and Norman, OK, and once we arrived in College Station we spent one last night in a hotel. The following morning we picked up our keys and crossed the threshold into our new (temporary rental) house. The kids took to the house – and the weather – immediately, and settled in more quickly than either Tom or I did.
About College Station… The pace of life is a little slower – I notice it in particular on the roads, but also in line at the grocery store, at restaurants, and when I drop off and pick up Will from preschool. People are generally friendly. The local barbecue and Mexican food is delicious, but many of my favorite restaurants and stores haven’t made their way here yet. There is a disc golf course on campus for Tom, but he has yet to encounter a Texan who actually knows what disc golf is. The daytime winter temperatures are mild, but the nighttime winter temperatures are still quite cold – in the 20s or 30s. I’m certainly not complaining about the weather now, but I can guarantee I will be come summer when the highs are in the 110s and the lows are in the 80s. In the "we’ll have to get used to this" category: most people drive huge pickup trucks or SUV's at least twice as big as Tom’s car, there are drive-through liquor stores that advertise drive-up windows large enough to accommodate semi-trucks, and some bars provide patrons with a to-go cup for unfinished beers. Just a few miles out of College Station is a "Cowboy Church", which church-goers attend on horseback. On the same stretch of road as the Cowboy Church we saw an entry to a ranch adorned with FOUR recently-slaughtered MOUNTAIN LIONS. So yeah, that’s what I can tell you about Texas so far.
Tom started his new position at Texas A&M University almost a month ago, and while the big picture is still quite overwhelming for him, the day-to-day is getting better. In a month or two I’ll encourage him to provide a brief update via the blog about what he’s working on.
Our door is always open should you want to visit the great state of Texas!
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