The Eagle Has Landed

Howdy Y’all!

This update comes a little late, but I thought I’d recount the last of my adventures of the summer before I moved on…

Well, so after the end of camp, I returned to the village of Galena Park in Houston, Texas with Vicky. I’d even venture to say that the drive home was as much a fun little escapade as the time at camp. Between a ten disk mix collection and plenty of road to solve life’s problems, we had an enjoyable ride home. We didn’t miss the chance to stop by to see the church of writer Max Lucado (one of my favorites) or to one last visit to Buck-ee’s, the restaurant/country store/rest stop that is arguably the most famous franchise in the state.

On the way through San Antonio, we went to the Riverwalk and spent the afternoon checking everything out and having a good time. We went on the boat tour, had lunch with friends, went to the mall, and heard an excellent pan pipe cover of “My Heart Will Go On.” I’ve already been to San Antonio, so missing the Alamo this time was a small price to pay to help us get home in good time.

Over the next couple of days, we had a pretty easy agenda, but there were a few things that I wanted to see in Houston before I left. I won’t worry about order for now…

With a couple of effective leisure days thrown into the mix, we took a gentle tour of everything we could. Monday was our big tour date when we went to see the view of downtown Houston from the observation deck on the 60^th floor of the Chase building and explore some of the underground tunnel system. We also made sure not to miss Discovery Green and the grandiose Medical Center. While we were out, they took me to a Mexican market and to Mi Tienda. It was kind of really cool. Very much like stepping into another country.

After a girl’s diesiseisañero (yes, she was turning sixteen and still wanted to celebrate with all her friends and family) and a great authentic Mexican lunch, Sunday night was all music night at their church. They really wanted me to play something on my violin, but the notice was too short for me. Maybe if I was better I could have succeeded at learning either “Agnus Deis” or “Be Thou My Vision” (both of which I evaluated for learnability), but at the skill level where I am, I was unable. I agreed instead to sing “Be Thou” and still participated.

Apparently, I sang it in the key of D minor. The pianist accompanied me after the first verse.

One of the big highlights for me was the visit to the Houston Space Center. I confess to being a bit of a space geek. Well okay, so I’m a big space geek, but oh well! Vicky took me on a grand tour and I talked her into watching all the shows and seeing just about everything. I plan to be watching tomorrow night as the new explorer Curiosity finally lands on Mars, and I’m excited about the new plans for the next generation of space exploration and the possibility of the moon colony. I just hope that further investigation proves that I am 6’3” or shorter.

One of my favorite stops was the Historic Mission Control center, where they helped the first two men who got there make their way to the moon. It was kind of neat even to just see.

On Tuesday, I flew out early in the morning and packed my backpack with a few changes of clothes and my toiletries. I sent my duffle bag all the way home and landed in Charlotte, NC with just my little pack, a delicate souvenir from Fredricksburg, and my violin, and got picked up by a school friend, Elizabeth, and her mother to spend the next couple of days visiting them.

I really enjoyed hanging out with Elizabeth’s family and really loved getting to meet her momma (a handful, but a good one). I met Elizabeth in college last year and she became one of my dearest friends in the time since. Her family kept up her good nature to me with their wonderful hospitality and help. They were all unforgiveably kind to me.

In addition to a cool worship service at a church with a friend of hers, hanging out with her family with movies and barbeque, and a day at the amusement park Carowinds, Elizabeth’s family took me out to Dublin, Ohio for the three day Dublin Irish Festival (“Like Ireland, but smaller!”). Now that was a blast. Celtic music on over half a dozen stages (from folk to rock), storytelling, fiddle and pennywhistle workshops, dancing, food, shops, leatherwork, Viking and Highland games, and all sorts of other things. We stayed in a hotel and got up (late) every day to enjoy the events of the festival and stayed late the last night to listen to all of the music.

No, I don’t really think that I’m Irish (I might be, it’s kind of irrelevant), but I still got to enjoy the festival anyway. And I love dancing. Celtic music is almost naturally written for that. No, we didn’t partake in and Irish beer, but we were able to steer clear of the crowd that did.

After my stay in the beautiful state of North Carolina, they drove me down to Charlotte again to meet up with old family friends who live in South Carolina. I’ve been staying with them over the past week for the final leg of my travels.

I’ve known Brynna and Linnea for years and I love their whole family, so I was quite excited to go hang out again! This will make the third consecutive summer I’ve managed to make it to visit (the first was a surprise visit and the second was expressly for a birthday party). Mostly we just hung out, but we also took the time to go swimming, visit the park all the way in downtown Greenville, and let me finally meet Brynna’s boyfriend Andrew (prepare the world for the worst: he and I make a dangerously devious pair when we hang out XD).

To finally get me to my family, we all agreed to make a day of it and go to Stone Mountain Park together. We had a blast, my family got to see them again for the first time in quite a while. With a ropes course, a glass blowing shop, and a great view, it was a day to remember.

After farewells, I climbed in the car with the rest of my family, laid down my pack, and finally got to rest easy, knowing that I had made it all the way back home.

I’m Jonathon, and this is my life.

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