I miss Maui but I LOVE Texas!

This weekend I did a crazy amount of traveling. I drove for 17 hours in three days. It had been a long time since I took a road trip so it was quite enjoyable.

On Friday I woke up early and drove to Louisiana. I met up with one of my YWAM Maui friends, Rebekah. She lives in Thibadeux and gave me a little Rebekah reality tour of the area where she grew up. North Louisiana feels like a less-cool version of Texas. South Louisiana, on the other hand, definitely has its own feel and culture. They have lots of Bayous and good local food. I got to partake in some of Rebekah's mom's gumbo. Yummy.

We drove about an hour down the bayou to visit one of the girls from my Bangladesh team. It was strangely normal to hang out with her. It was good to see her, though she has had a very hard time being home after being in YWAM. We got to pray for her. Hopefully she can come visit me in Houston some day.

The next morning Rebekah and I drove to Houston. We picked up some sweet free Texas loot at the border. Rebekah's sister lives in Houston so I dropped her off and then drove on to Austin, where my brother and Shella were hanging out.

The drive to Austin was simply gorgeous. The rains ended and the sky was abnormally bright blue with big fluffy. I have driven from Houston to Austin countless times during my college career so I have a regular stopping point at a gas station/store called Hruskas. In recent years they have expanded to include all kinds of crafts, knicknacks and scrap booking supplies. They even have marble in the bathroom. How many of you have seen a gas station bathroom that fancy? I grabbed some snacks and continued on my way. While in the car, I was listening to some Lyle Lovett song called "I Guess You're Not From Texas," eating kolaches, drinking a Dublin Dr. Pepper and admiring the beautiful bluebonnets. For those of you not from Texas, allow me to translate. Kolaches are kind of like dinner rolls with sausage on the inseide or fruit. They are primarily a breakfast food. A Dublin Dr.Pepper is a special version that uses pure cane sugar. It is sweeter and better than regular DR. Pepper. Bluebonnets are the state flower and cover the Texas Hill Country in the Spring. They are really beautiful.

So, I still miss Maui but I am remembering how much I love my birthplace. I guess it's good to be glad to be where you're at.

Check out pics from my visit at my online photo album: http://picasaweb.google.com/cloudhair