Sweet Reunions and the Worst BBQ in Texas

Well, Texas was the destination for 2 big/little reunions over New Years. Texas, I would reckon, is the American equivalent of Bavaria - big, funny accent, and they'd like to be their own little country. Haha! Actually, it was quite nice. Let me report:

We flew out to San Antonio from Columbus for a family reunion. The flight only took a combined 10 hours or so. I tried not to think about the fact that with all the stops and transfers I could have almost been in Germany. Oh well. San Antonio was sunny, warm, and looked a bit like the West to me, except there were no mountains, just those rolling free ways. Our first reunion took place when we arrived and were picked up by our good ol' friends Ethan and Julie Garofolo. Ethan lived in the French House with Henry, and I actually kind got to know Henry through Ethan (after Ethan and I became friends when I volunteered to drive with him to his home in Wisconsin to swap cars with his mom. We barely knew each other then, but that trip has more than paid off). Both Ethan and Julie were probably our favorite couple to hang out with back in Utah, and it was just great to see them again. We didn't have a lot of time, just a few hours, and for those few hours they decided to introduce us to something real Texan: Rudy's.
Rudy's is the worst BBQ in Texas (not). It looks real hillbilly/trashy, and you get meat by the pound served on paper. We loved it, and the food was supertasty. Definitely worth trying.

After our few hours with Ethan and Julie, Bob, Henry's dad, picked us up from Rudy's and drove us out Rio Frio or something, where the Pattersons had rented a few cabins for a reunion. The drive was VERY slow, and thus seemed to be taking forever. Somehow, we ended up stopping at all kinds of places, and Bob's gas pedal just must not have been working well, because...well anyway. We eventually got to the reunion place. The set up was really nice. We were all by ourselves with a little river close by, sunny weather, and most of all I enjoyed seeing a beautiful nightsky out there. As for the reunion, I don't know how sweet it was, but it was pretty fun. There was a lot of game playing, and a lot of napping for me. And, well, I think that was it in a nutshell, games and naps, and some talking and walking, a little run, petting some horses, cooking for some 30 people etc. That kind of stuff. New Years Eve was pretty sad. I think everyone was kind of tired, and there wasn't a real plan, and then there were those extra relatives no one really knew, and we couldn't set off our fire works. I don't know what happened, but it was just another sad, boring New Year's Eve in the USA for me. Haha...sorry guys. We didn't even stay up for New Years. So there is the report on the reunions. I don't have anything else to say right now. I'm tired and wanna go sleep.

But if you're ever in Texas, go to Rudy's.