Texas R&R 2021

In June we departed for R&R in Texas, our first time leaving Montenegro since we arrived a year ago. A few weeks in McAllen and Austin to reconnect with family and friends were just what we needed. We made and checked off a huge list of to-do's, which were really more like "to eats", including: Abu's ropa vieja and paella, Taco Palenque, Whataburger, Uchi, The Switch, Sap's, and Rositas al Pastor. A few trips to Central Market and HEB completed the trip. Oh and Target!

To view the entire album click here

Texas Visit June 2017

After 3 tours or roughly 6 years of living at high altitude and in eternal spring, we decided to spend 2 weeks in South Texas during the month of June to remember what heat and humidity feels like.  Every day during our visit the high temperatures were at or above 100F and on one special day McAllen, Texas hit a record all time high of 111F.  We found shelter from the heat by spending some days at the beach in South Padre Island, driving to Blue Hole in Wimberly, Texas, and visiting a friend's swimming pool.  Cigars, scotch, and dominos were still played outside but we just had to wait till the cooler late afternoon.  Annika of course loved Abu's cooking, Vince's special pancakes, and took kindly to a medium-rare tenderloin steak.

It was great to visit the family but thinking our next trip will not be during summer months -- basically April through September.

To view the entire album click here.

Video with the Cubans below or click here to view.

Drone footage of South Padre Island below or click here to view.

Video of Blue Hole in Wimberly, Texas below or click here to view

Austin Visit

Annika and I left the family in McAllen and drove up to Austin to meet up with Michelle, Vince, and Julia, who was in town to celebrate her birthday.  Along with eating a ton of great food in Austin, we enjoyed taking Annika trick-or-treating for Halloween, visiting Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, and watching Tio Vince and Annika paint.  Annika was also estatic to ride mi boat (my boat) down the Colorado River.  

To view the entire blog click here

Videos below

Fall 2015 Austin Visit

As a part of our home leave in Texas, we went to Austin for a week to visit Michelle, Vince, and Suzan.

Links to the albums below
Pool Day
Friday the 9th
Deep Eddy
Wildflower Center
Midnight Cowboy

Pool Time!

First Corn on the Cob

There i am!

Butterfly at the Wildflower Center

Roaming around the Wildflower Center

Annika and the Grand Mimi at the Wildflower Center

Annika and Aunt M at the Wildflower Center

At Deep Eddy

At Deep Eddy

Drinks at Midnight Cowboy

Drinks at Midnight Cowboy

Drinks at Easy Tiger

Annika's Stay in Austin

Following our stay in San Antonio, we traveled to Austin to visit Michelle and Vince, who kindly hosted us for 10 days. We had the pleasure of being some of the first guests in their newly-purchased, gorgeous home. Cousin Tania and her friend Jen also stayed for a couple of nights while passing through Texas, and we had a great time with lots of catching up. Annika got to explore some of the best parts of Austin and even went to visit her Aunt M at work at the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center (next time hopefully she'll be awake). We left Austin and began the drive south to McAllen on Father's Day, but not before we were treated to Vince's famous pancake breakfast, Michelle's top-notch homemade creme brulee, and an oyster and lobster-roll lunch fit for New England. To view the entire album click here.

Texas Wildflowers

Soon after leaving McAllen, TX, heading north, we could see a plethora of wildflowers along highway 281. Spring time in Texas brings out all sorts of species, the most iconic of which is the Texas Bluebonnet. This past Saturday we drove to Austin to visit Michelle, Vincent, and Suzan, and they took us to McKinney Falls for an impromptu photo shoot. Enjoy! To view the entire album click here.

The Hunt for a Christmas Tree

Michelle landed a job at the Lady Bird Wildflower Center as part of the Ecosystem Design Group at the University of Texas at Austin.  As part of her work, she does prescribed fires for research and to inform restoration and regenerative practices.  The fields for their research contain a plethora of Juniperus ashei -- a perfect specimen for a Christmas tree. With approval from her office, Vince, Michelle, Suzan, Julia, and I headed out to the Lady Bird Wildflower Center in search of a Christmas Tree.  Afterwards we treated ourselves to some Texas BBQ at Salt Lick and then Julia made her very special snickerdoodles!

Below are some pictures of our adventure.  To view the entire album click here.

Graduation Weekend in Austin!

Congratulations, Michelle, on completing your masters degree in Landscape Architecture from the University of Texas Austin School of Architecture. We had a great time celebrating your accomplishment last weekend in Austin. One thing is for sure, we are going to have to get used to the heat and humidity when we travel to Texas and DC this summer. To view the entire album click here.

San Antonio - Austin trip

Our trip to Texas was intended for furniture shopping but instead became a fantastic long weekend to catch up with friends and family. Oh yea...and let's not forget the food! Many thanks to Lisa and Andrew for meeting up with us for brunch and Sangrias at Picnikins. To Michelle and Vince for hosting us in Austin, taking us to a fantastic Thai restaurant (2 thai peppers!), and giving us some good ole fashioned Texas BBQ! To Allen, Aixa, Aleina, and Ailani for taking us to Joe's Crab Shack for some great crab legs and then spending the afternoon chillin' in your backyard patio. Flights to San Antonio are very reasonable from here so we definitely look forward to paying you another visit! :) To view the entire album click here.