Alumni Road Trip in Houston

As I woke up the morning of the Houston stop, I would have never known the complexity of the day. It was interesting, but also a little stressful.

Marc Perez of the DFWAAA wanted to show me a vineyard located in Grapevine, TX before I left. The Delaney Vineyard is local attraction with 10 acres of land for harvesting. We didn't have time to do a tour, but we did take a quick look around. Marc bought two bottle of wine for me; one to take back and drink and one that will be re-labeled to read "Alumni Road Trip" to keep as memorabilia.

At the same time, I was trying to organize a lunch with a college buddy who is living in Dallas. He apprently failed to read my messages to call me and NOT text me. A two-minute decision took more than an hour. (Ugh!) We got it figured out and met a Hooters to catch up. I had a great time, but I was there a little longer than planned. So I'm a little behind schedule, but not in trouble.

OK...I'm on the road and headed for Houston. My GPS system says there is a toll road on my way down. I don't know how much or how many tolls there are so I stop to get gas, go to the bathroom and find a place where I can buy something small to use my debit and get some extra cash. I stop and get gas, but the bathrooms are out. So I go to the next exit to find a "working" bathroom and find a Wal-Mart. GREAT...bathroom...money...done. Still, an extra stop put another pinch of my drive time. Still not in trouble, but this didn't help.

As it turns out, there wasn't a long toll road as the GPS told me so I never needed the cash (Grrr....). Houston traffic was beginning to slow down. I'm a little concerned, but not overly worried.

I get to my hotel go to my room on the second floor (two suitcases, no elevators) and the room isn't cleaned. Walk back to the lobby and the receptionist says she gave me the wrong room. My room is on the first floor (REALLY!?!). At this point, I'm starting to sweat a bit.

I get into the correct room, quickly whip out some clothes, iron them, get dressed and leave. Two problems. First, our gathering is at the University of Houston Music Building. The address I have is not accepted by my GPS so I run into the hotel lobby to get a better address. Second, their is an accident on the freeway on-ramp right by my hotel so I have to drive an extra mile or so to find another exit.

At this point, I'm late. I call in to let them know that I'm on my way. The GPS gets me to the location, except the address is for the university and there is no music building in sight. So I sit in a holding pattern and call my contact to get me directions. He gets me to a UH student who gets me in. WHEW! Made it.

As far as the event itself, the gathering went well. We had about 15 or so brothers in attendance. I was hoping for more, but I heard there were a lot of people who responded, but they just couldn't make it. Hopefully, these contacts will result in some potential growth for the Greater Houston Alumni Association.

Afterwards, a bunch of us went to a local establishment for a couple of drinks. Thank you to Randall Capshaw for picking up the tab. A big thank you to Ken Tice for organizing everything, despite Solo and Ensemble (he's a teacher) and traveling this week to check out grad schools.

Long day...

NEXT STOP: CORPUS CHRISTI