Hula

Here is a video of my kumu (hula teacher) performing the chant that we learned and me mentally exhausted in the background from trying to learn the Hawaiian words. Enjoy!

Bliss

This my friends, is a happy dog.

Austin Weekend

Last weekend we took a mini roadtrip to Austin to visit our friend Dain. Traveling further west will become a trend for us. We're aiming to take a few trips out there while we're in Houston. Then it's fingers crossed we make it out to California.


We got there later in the evening but had lots of fun walking around, peeking into stores, and having a couple of beers.

Bacon? oh, yes.

Tom's squiggly night photography


On a tasty note, Dain lives behind a giant lot of food trucks! Food trucks might be the greatest invention ever (originating in Texas too!) and I was so excited to be a city that is known for loads and loads of tasty treats on wheels. We have a some in Houston but there are just so many more options here. These lots are called "trailor parks" in these parts.

Dain's lot had trucks speciailizing in Po Boys, fried foods, thai, shaved ice, donuts, diner food, and more.


and of course, cupcakes! I've seen a show on food network on this particular truck so I was dying to try it out. All day passing by I noticed lines in front of all of the trucks but this one always had the longest. By the time we got to it in the afternoon, they were sold out of every flavor except red velvet and vanilla. I opted for a steep $3.00 vanilla cupcake that was refrigerator dry with icing that made me thirsty for days. Disappointing, but worth a try.


This is not my picture, I've been in a non-photographic funk lately. This is the capital building downtown. It is perfectly placed and in center view when you are walking or driving towards downtown on Commerce. Gorgeous building!


The stores in Austin were very very similar to Asheville. Artsy stuff, very unique. Here are some funky rubber chicken purses in their coup.


Austin houses are super cute and quaint. Lots of pretty trees like in Houston but no grass. I imagine the heat must be absolutely ridiculous when there aren't nice gusts of wind from passing tropical storm bands. Even with the wind, my skin felt like it was instantly burning.

We obviously didn't think about the temperature when we went hiking. Let's just conclude that hiking in the middle of Texas in 100+ degree weather with no leaves on any trees to give you shade is never a good idea. Asheville called, it says hiking is way better over there.


While blazin' the trail Dain found some sort of animal tail that looked like it had simply popped right off. It made a very stylish tie.


Some canyons/cliffs. See the cactus up there?! A rock climber told us passing by that the rocks were so hot they were melting his shoes!


desert plants can be very pretty



This was a river before the drought


Austin had painted cows all over. This one was my favorite. There was a chia pet one too! I remember when I went to Toronto when I was younger they did this with moose.


We went to Barton Springs where I just hung around and people watched. 70 degree water in 100+ heat really feels like ice. Tom and Dain braved it though.


The biggest and coolest park ever. This is where they have Austin City Limits Festival (which we should've gone to yesterday since Arcade Fire & The Walkmen played). Really nice view of the city. So much space. I was yearning for a picnic!


On the way home, the highway was closed for miles from wildfires in Bastrop (caused by the tropical storm winds). We pulled over for detour directions and we were told the entire town was being evacuated but we could take some backroads highway to get back onto i-10 into Houston.

Here's the thing, driving in Texas scares the crap out of me. One wrong turn and you are in the middle of nowhere in one of the vastest states with miles and miles of nothing and worse, desert. The thought of getting lost in Texas could be considered a nightmare in my eyes.

So this two lane highway with no lights and no civilization in sight was putting us a little bit on edge. We really had no idea how bad the wildfires were until passed through a tiny town that was surrounded on all sides by fires. The flames reached higher than the trees! People were parked on the sides of the road watching and waiting to see if their house would be next. I didn't have any luck taking pictures.



These wildfires have been burning for a full week, burning 1,500 homes and who knows how many acres. Considered the worst wildfire in Texas history. Here's to hoping these fires burn out soon and that the towns can recover.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/12/us/12wildfire.html

Surfside vs. Galveston Beach

Ok, so I've been slacking on this blog thing lately. My excuse? I work this funky Tuesday-Saturday schedule that I'm still adjusting to and I have a ridiculously bad internet connection. It takes forever to load pictures but today is a good internet day so here I am!

Now I know I've been ranting and raving about living near a beach and how wonderful it will be BUT as great as Galveston Beach is...I find myself seriously missing the mountains. I'm starting to think I might be a mountain lovin' country girl at heart.

Anyway, this is Surfside Beach. It was the first beach we visited in Texas. Long story short, very cute and quaint colorful stilt beach houses on one side, oil refineries on the other. The trick is to just make sure you don't turn to the right and see those ugly factories. We were strongly recommended to this beach over Galveston for smaller crowds, local feel, and nice sand and water. Hmmm....

Don't you just love the scenic beauty of oil rigs?

While the water looked like one too many kids did an accidental "number 2" in it...it was perfect temperature and gave the sand a really pretty reddish color.

Refineries on the left


We don't own this amazing contraption...but some guy let us use it for the rest of the afternoon! Chairs included!


Part of the insanely long jetty


Cute beach houses




Fast forward a week later and this is Galveston Beach...

Miles of sand, clearer water, low tides, no crowds on a weekend, free parking on the side of the road, and reggae music blasting from the restaurant shack on the pier. It was great!

Poof absorbing his first real beach experience (Wiggling out of his leash as a pup and running onto A1A in Hollywood and almost getting killed doesn't count). He loved it, but I'm assuming he was just so happy to get out of our super tiny apartment!


He poses for the camera...seriously.


Dead pelican, feathers and all next to our sitting area. Wonder how that happened.


Dead fish not a foot away from his mouth. He most definitely escaped being swallowed up by the bird...but didn't seem to make it much longer


Lovin' life


Tyson & Tom throwin' a little football


Thumbs up for Galveston


Sunset in the city

Groceries

What $20 will get you at Canino Produce Market...

5 lemons, 5 limes, green onions, 5 prickly pear cactus fruit, mini and regular bananas, 5 peaches, 2 sweet potatoes, broccoli, spaghetti squash, 6 mangoes, grapes, 4 kiwis, 1 zucchini, 2 cucumbers, 4 tangerines, 1 plantain, 2 bell peppers, 2 grapefruits, 1 romaine lettuce, 1 avocado, 3 plums, and cabbage.

Feeds us for 2 weeks...but the fruit seemingly disappeared in about 5 days this time! It's pretty ridiculous that this amount of food costs about $60+ in the regular grocery store here. Peppers alone are $4 each!!

Houston has brought on some seriously healthy eating! Yum!

The Beer Can House

Howdy folks. Thomas Calder reporting from Tatiana's post. The Misses is slacking on all the wild fun we are (were) having (the fun has since passed, as Tati landed a full time gig, while work and classes have turned me into a real life ghost).

Anywho, this here is the Beer Can House. John Milkovisch began the project back in the late 1960s after he retired from the Southern Pacific Railroad. Long story short, this corky Houstonian drank a lot of beer and decided he never wanted to paint his house again, so he decked it out with leftover cans and bottles. In his honor I am drinking a beer right now.


Here's the man of the hour: John Milkovisch with his lovely wife Mary. Cute as cornflakes, wouldn't you say?

It's a bit hard to tell, but what we are looking at here is the front door of the house. Now if you click on this picture and look real hard you'll strain your eyes, but once the agony from the strain subsides, you might see the slit near the upper right hand side of the door, which was how the Milkovischs saw who came a-knocking.

Now Mrs. Mary Milkovisch made a deal with Old John that he could do with the outside whatever he want, but that the inside of the house was not to be touched. Thus, we are looking at Tatiana's dream kitchen.


Next on our tour: the backyard. This whole project actually began from the ground up, when Johnny Boy decided he was done mowing the lawn. To make this dream a reality John began inlaying all sorts of stuff (marble, rocks, metal pieces) into concrete in order to cover up the grass.

A close-up on the backyard wall.

This here is part of the front yard.

A view from the porch. As you can imagine, when the wind blows it makes a nice bit of noise. I spoke with the sole tour guide working the place to ask what happens during bad storms/hurricanes. They have a wire system in place that allows them to remove the can tops in sections.

This concludes our tour. Above us now is the ladder that Mr. Milkovisch painted and placed in his front yard. If you return to the first picture you might notice that one of the steps on the ladder is black. John said he painted it black as a reminder that as you climb your way up in life, there is always the chance to fail, but that failure ain't nothing but a minor misstep. I like that.

Max Patch

I'm going back in time for this post since I just realized I forgot to post these amazing pictures from Max Patch in North Carolina.

First off, if you ever go to western North Carolina you must go here. Second, Googlemaps LIES. This is NOT an hour away from Asheville. It's more like 2 and a half. And most of the ride is on a gravel road that will absolutely mess up your car. BUT..it's soooo worth it. Your first views are these beautiful and calm rolling hills and meadows...

Once you cross the meadows...this is your view. AMAZING (though not panoramically correct in placement, oops be sure to click on the picture!)


You also have an endless supply of wild blackberries to eat all along the way.


this is a happy dog.

picking wildflowers. I forgot to take a picture of the bouquet I left with.


Seen any bear poop lately? They sure love berries!


Spreading world peace.


To Kyle and Cernuda...you boys would have crossed this marker on the Appalachian Trail had you not quit so early!!


I'm not sure if you can see the black specs in most of these pictures...


they are actually sparrows speeding through the air all around you and somehow they manage never to hit anything. Here's one in action:


Possibly my favorite place on Earth.


On the way back we stumbled upon the St. Jude's Chapel of Hope on the way home. Pretty lucky considering I bookmarked it as a place to visit when I saw it featured in WNC magazine. Very pretty non-denominational church open to the public 24/7.


and it was next to this beautiful river and barn.

You MUST go here if you are ever in the area! More Texas current events to come!