We got up at the ungodly hour of 5am, and were unbelieveably on the road to San An by 6am. Filling up with petrol, we then headed on I-35 South all the way to San An. Well… I fell alseep. I was still recovering from my flu… which I’ve now passed on to Sam and apparently Amber I so found out.

We got lost looking for Boerne, Amber’s town. It wouldn’t be us if we didn’t get lost! Anyway Amber drove up to the petrol station (or as they say here in Texas, the gas station) and we followed her back to her parents house. It was a gorgeous ranch style house, on a large plot of land. Amber has her own apartment attached to the main house, with her own lounge, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. Her older sister Maegan, and her daughter, live in a two-bedroom apartment about 15-20 meters behind the main house, and her younder sister Dielle lives in the pool house which has also been converted to an apartment. It’s a fantastic set up. They’re renovating the house, and it’s just beautiful. I loved it.

They have a menagerie of animals, about 4 dogs of all shapes and sizes, four cats, fish, and I’m sure there were more but I can’t remember. The three of us went to lunch at Martha’s, which was - according to Amber - an authentic Mexican restaurant. The salsa is to die for - and free with corn chips they make themselves. We got fajitas which were brilliant, and Amber ended up taking a doggie bag. Then back to her place to watch a few episodes of Buffy (we’re all big fans) before meeting Amber’s Mum, and her sister Dielle, and her neice Desi. Then came Maegan, and then Dielle’s best friend Jenna and her husband came over for dinner and then Amber’s Dad came home. We had homemade fried chicken, peas n corn and mashed potatoes for dinner. It was delicious. We sat around the dinner table and talked for hours before Sam and I had to leave at 9pm. We gave everyone hugs - and left a tube of Vegemite with Amber’s mum to use in her gravy.

During the drive home, we got pulled over by a state trooper in Austin. We didn’t see the speed limit had changed, and got clocked doing 72 mph in a 60 zone. Aparently the limit drops by 5 at night. Anyway the Trooper was really nice, and since we did everything right (turned off the car, stayed in it with our seatbelts on and Sam’s license and the car’s pink slips ready), he let us off with a warning. I think he realised that we weren’t used to the signage here. He even had a little chat to us and said he’d never seen an international drivers’ license before. We said we’d never seen an American one before, so he pulled out his license and showed us! We even had a brief discussion on flights and travel times and stuff. Anyway he said to be careful on the road and to keep our eyes on the signs to make sure we’re at the right speed. We thanked him and then Sam turned the car on and drove us off…. without the headlights on. *Palmsmack*

We got home in one piece at 2am.

~ Wendy