My Texas Family

My nephews William (top) and Alexander (bottom)

Looking at my pictures for this blog, I realize that I need to get some pics of my brother and sister-in-law before I leave tomorrow morning! I had a nice 2-day visit here in the big state of Texas. We have mostly just hung out, which is what I wanted to do since I haven't had a chance to see these folks much in past years. Thankfully, I had been able to extend several work trips since my older nephew was born, which allowed me to get here for a few days each time. This was the first time I met my second nephew, who is now 9 months old. They are both precious, and very unique individuals. Like many younger brothers, Alexander adores William. We put William in the bath today after some messy outdoor play time. I walked into the bathroom holding Xander -- oh, the shrieks of delight as he saw his big brother play with the water!

I've been able to get some work done here, too -- the internet is a wonderful (?) thing. Also, my brother was kind enough to drive me back and forth from his auto shop -- I got my oil changed, my antifreeze is now good down to -50 degrees, and I got new windshield wipers (mine were flopping, plus I had them put on winter ones). They also found some nicks on the serpentine belt which were due to aging, and I decided to take their advice and have it replaced.

I head up to Minnesota tomorrow -- looks like about 18 hours of driving. Tomorrow I hope to drive through Texas and Oklahoma into Kansas. Yesterday, when I decided I could afford a second day here, it looked like the weather would be good. Now the forecast calls for snow in both Oklahoma and Kansas. The weather looks great again for Saturday, though, and the Iowa/Minnesota snow is supposed to have stopped by then. Hopefully that won't change to the freezing rain of a few days ago, since that would delay my trip -- with the horrible accidents of earlier this week due to the midwestern winter weather, I plan to be cautious. I have to be in Minnesota for some things on Sunday. Hmm....

Fun fact: I'll be driving almost the entire length of I-35 tomorrow and Saturday, since it starts in Duluth, Minnesota (2 1/2 hours north of my endpoint) and ends in Laredo, Texas (about 3 1/2 hours south of my starting point). I also won't have to change roads at all -- I-35 passes through the city I'm in now!