Texas

Me morphed into an NBA Player
NBA All Stars 2013
Houston, TX

There is an enormous difference between traveling for vacation and traveling for business.  Some people can intertwine the two but I found it arduous, conflicting, and finite.  During vacations there are no deadlines, you're free to go about, roam, and explore.    During business trips, there will always be some kind of stumbling block or some form of catch-22 where you have to shift and make things work no matter what, at the same time get everyone up to date on what's happening and etc.  It's an adventure, but I am biased since I totally miss our son.  There's not a day that goes by without thinking of him.  I hate being far away from him.

In all other things, the drive from Iowa to Texas was less than interesting.  If I could describe the scenery, it would be "BLAH" - surprisingly highways across the United States have that same dullness of endless bald tress, scrubs, swamps, and the like.  The only change was when we were an hour through Texas where there were endless fields of grazing animals belonging to wealthy ranchers.  It was beautiful.  I regret not taking photos of these animals.  They were so peaceful looking.  My seasonal allergies started to act up as well: sneezing, watery nose, tearing.  Spring comes sooner in these parts.  In consolation, to keep myself busy through the 12 hour travel (thank God I didn't drive), I hooked myself in yet another one of those teen/dystopian books, the Delirium series by Lauren Oliver:

It's quite different from the Hunger Games and the Divergent series in a way that the government bans love and affection in any form by practically lobotomizing everyone as soon as they turn 18 years old.  The procedure will cure the deliria of love which guarantees a world of peace.  What I love about these books are the characters, how they change and become bigger than what they ever imagined themselves to be.  It teaches one to question everything.  Nonetheless, this series reminds me of one of my favorite movies, Equilibrium.

Aside from the animals and books the highways in Dallas are absolutely beautiful:

Crisscrossing highways overlapping each other at different heights and levels - you have to appreciate civil engineering and their highway design... marvelous.  It was how I always pictured the United States roads and traffic to be like.

So we arrive at Houston.  I made the mistake of booking a cheap hotel in a seedy part of town where shops across the streets had bullet proof glass separating the cashier from the customers.  A part of town where you have to look out the window to check if your car is still parked in the parking lot.  A part of town where there are domestic disturbance outside your hotel door.  Perhaps it wasn't as bad, but not preferred.  I hardly went out - only when I absolutely had to - and that was cover one of the nights during the NBA All Stars weekend.

Not exactly my ideal environment: traffic, city, loud chatter, crowd, blasting music - sensory overload to the max - but it was still fun.  I didn't get to see any important basketball players, but my co-workers did.

All in all, there will be more business travel in the future.  With everything going on in life right now, I hope I can handle it all.  Bring it on!