The big bike ride

Last weekend, Josh did the big bike ride from Houston to Austin. It was a bike ride for the charity that tries to find a cure for Multiple Sclerosis. The ride was 177 miles over two days. I volunteered with the SCC and made many new friends over the weekend. It was one of the hardest MS 150 ride, according to some of the experienced riders. On the first day, the riders were faced with tough cross- and head-winds during the long 100-mile ride. The second day presented many rolling hills and strong heat. I am so proud that Josh finished the tour strong, and with some of the stronger riders in the club.

Brazos Bend State Park

Last Saturday, we went to the Brazos Bend State Park. It was a lot closer to the city than I had anticipated. The weather was warm and humid, so we expect to see many alligators out that day. There are many gravel trails in the park and you can bike on these trails. The entry fee for the park is $7 per adult. We took a hike around the 40-acre lake trail and even went up to the observation tower. We also took the connector trail to check out Elm Lake. We saw some baby alligators, tortoises and nice birds along the way.

Major league baseball

I attended my first major league baseball game last Friday. It was the season opener between the Houston Astros and the Colorado Rockies. Americans sure take their baseball seriously. The entire stadium was filled, parking and traffic were horrendous.

I learnt a lot about baseball that day. There are nine innings in a match. Points are scored when a team makes a complete run around the bases. After 3 hitters are taken out, the teams switches turns from being batters to catchers. While it was interesting for a first time, I found the whole process rather arduous and somewhat boring by the end.

The best part about the game was the fireworks at the end.

Visitor for Easter

Jonny came to visit us this weekend. He arrived on Friday night and will be here till after Easter. We have some activities planned for him while he is here. So, to kick it off, we drove to San Antonio yesterday.

We stayed at the St. Anthony Wyndham Hotel on East Travis Street. The room had two double beds and the best part about it was that it had two bathrooms. We did the valet parking at the Wyndham, and totally loved the convenience of it.

We visited the Natural Bridge Caverns and took the Hidden Passages tour. We went there previously with Ben and took the Discovery tour. In comparison, the Discovery tour is longer and more interesting, however, the Hidden Passages tour is less strenuous.

After checking in at the hotel, we walked to the Alamo and saw a stunning wedding party taking pictures in front of the shrine.

We managed to sit through a short video at the Alamo which totally explained the significance of the historic site in a vivid and memorable manner. It was very enlightening.

After the Alamo closed for the evening, we proceeded to the riverwalk. We went to Saltgrass and had some coronaritas. They were very refreshing on a warm sunny day. We had dinner there, and later had drinks at Ibiza, also along the riverwalk. We also had the opportunity to visit the Coyote Ugly Saloon which, true to its reputation, had girls dancing on the bar while being gawked by the mainly male patrons.

This morning, we had breakfast at a Mexican restaurant called Mi Tierra at the market square in downtown San Antonio. The restaurant had a plethora of shiny gaudy decoration, which looks pretty trippy and happy!

All in all, it was a great trip, and we had amazing sunny and warm weather throughout.