Trip to Texas

kwakster · **on:** June 03, 2009, 01:37:02 PM

Hi boys and girls, kwakster here,

Me and my girlfriend are flying next week on the 8th of June to Houston, to do an unorganized tour in a rental car through the state of Texas for about 3 weeks.
Does anybody on this forum live in Houston or greater Texas and have any pointers for me what to do and especially what not to do when in Houston and/or the rest of Texas ?
For instance are locking knives and tools legal to carry there, as i want to bring 2 locking folders and a Charge TTi.
Which place in Houston or elsewhere sells the best (read: strongest, the kind that dissolves your metal spoon) espresso coffee ?

Let me know,

Greetz,

Robert

eodtech · **Reply #1 on:** June 03, 2009, 04:04:14 PM

We lived in El Paso, TX from 1995 to 2005, no need to go there - nothing of interest

You will have to put your knives and LM in you UNLOCKED checked baggage and run the risk of some baggage smasher taking them out for their own use

DO NOT CROSS THE BORDER AND GO INTO MEXICO !!!

Texas knife laws = http://pweb.netcom.com/~brlevine/tx.txt

#1. Texas Knife Maker's Supply is in HoustonTX. TKS invites you to stop in and see us. Our shop is conveniently located off (Beltway 8 and I-10) in West Houston.
http://www.texasknife.com/vcom/index.php

#2. NASA Space center Houston http://www.spacecenter.org/

#3. Waco TX there is the Texas Ranger Museum - I-35 and University Parks Drive, 100 Texas Ranger Trail, Waco, TX 76706
http://www.texasranger.org/

#4 Austin, TX - state capital of Texas

#5 San Antonio TX - Alamo, River Walk , Six Flags Theme park, Sea World, nice city to visit

Lulu's Jailhouse Cafe 918 Main St San Antonio, TX - GREAT food - good hamburgers, 24 ounce Chicken Fried Steak ( Texas traditional meal ) - their motto is "Never trust a skinny cook,"

#6 Hill Country of Texas ( North of San Antonio ) http://www.texashillcountry.com/

#7 Corpus Chrisie TX - Aircraft carrier - USS Lexington - http://www.usslexington.com/

I will be in Texas working at the end of the month in San Antonio but won't have any free time, sorry. Texas is a nice place to visit, except the desert of west Texas ( El Paso ) which is one big sandy beach without any water... Have a safe trip and DON'T GO TO MEXICO - especially with a rental car , your VISA may not allow you to re-enter the USA once you leave and you'll be stuck in Mexico , besides there is nothing you'll need to see there !

Zack · **Reply #2 on:** June 03, 2009, 04:56:48 PM

If you go to any of the Six Flags in Texas (Over Texas in Dallas, and Fiesta Texas in San Antonio) I will make sure you don't have to wait in any lines, just don't take ANY knife into the park as you will have to leave it in your car.

Zack · **Reply #3 on:** June 03, 2009, 04:58:25 PM

Also the Alamo cafe is a good place in San Antonio for Mexican food (really good tortillas) and Red, Hot and Blue is excellent for BBQ

stressmaster5000 · **Reply #4 on:** June 03, 2009, 06:58:28 PM

Texas State Rifle Association Gun Show-Dallas Arms Collectors Association, Inc.-Dallas Market Hall-June 13-14

http://www.dallasarms.com/dates_times.htm

Texas Rangers baseball Home Games in Arlington all week long-8th-11th vs. Toronto Blue Jays and 9th-14th vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers

http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/schedule/index.jsp?c_id=tex

Houston Astros baseball Home Games in Houston June 9th - 11th vs. Chicago Cubs

http://houston.astros.mlb.com/schedule/index.jsp?c_id=hou

Oldest Dr. Pepper bottling plant in the world 118th anniversary-Dublin Texas June 13th

http://www.dublindrpepper.com/birthday.aspx

Teofilo · **Reply #5 on:** June 05, 2009, 01:04:16 AM

Good Voyage, Robert!

kwakster · **Reply #6 on:** June 07, 2009, 01:24:12 AM

Thanks for all the replies guys, everything is duly noted and will be of use when we get there !

nuphoria · **Reply #7 on:** June 07, 2009, 01:27:51 AM

Hope you have a great time down there.... yeee haaaw

J-sews · **Reply #8 on:** June 07, 2009, 01:45:46 AM

Quote from: nuphoria on June 07, 2009, 01:27:51 AM

Hope you have a great time down there.... yeee haaaw

Have fun and be safe Robert

Pacu · **Reply #9 on:** June 07, 2009, 02:18:45 AM

Oh and stay away from Mexico!

I'm in Houston and i'm too close. Get a rental with good air conditioning and lots of tint...it was 90 something degrees today.

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #10 on:** June 09, 2009, 12:26:50 AM

*really wants to go to Mexico now*

Def

kwakster · **Reply #11 on:** June 09, 2009, 10:06:07 PM

Hi boys and girls, greetz from Robert and Ellen from Texas !

We had a 10 hour flight from Amsterdam to Houston, where we picked up our rental car from Alamo, a white Nissan Pathfinder.
After a good night's sleep in a hotel we are now on our way to San Antonio.
Texas Knife Supply in Houston was sadly gone, the building was for lease.
Had my first triple Whataburger this morning, and half of Ellen's

Robert

Zack · **Reply #12 on:** June 09, 2009, 10:10:13 PM

mmm whataburger.

stressmaster5000 · **Reply #13 on:** June 09, 2009, 10:30:05 PM

Quote from: kwakster on June 09, 2009, 10:06:07 PM

Hi boys and girls, greetz from Robert and Ellen from Texas !

We had a 10 hour flight from Amsterdam to Houston, where we picked up our rental car from Alamo, a white Nissan Pathfinder.
After a good night's sleep in a hotel we are now on our way to San Antonio.
Texas Knife Supply in Houston was sadly gone, the building was for lease.
Had my first triple Whataburger this morning, and half of Ellen's

Robert

They do make my favorite fast food cheeseburger. Have fun while here in Texas. Remember the temps gonna be on the high side for most of this week and not much in the precip forecast either. Use sunblock while outside.

Pacu · **Reply #14 on:** June 09, 2009, 10:43:50 PM

It's so hot in houston i can't take the beagles out until the sun sets as the concrete burns their paws

kwakster · **Reply #15 on:** June 12, 2009, 04:01:12 AM

This afternoon we checked in at the Holiday Inn Express in Fredericksburg, a nice little town founded by Germans.
Just had dinner at a restaurant called Auslander, which means foreigner in the German language.

No idea how the rest of our holiday will turn out, but up 'till now we're having a very good time,

Robert

Poncho65 · **Reply #16 on:** June 12, 2009, 04:23:38 AM

Just saw this 1

Hope you have a great rest of the trip Kwakster

Pacu · **Reply #17 on:** June 12, 2009, 04:34:07 AM

If you can Kwakster go to Enchanted Rock ..it's right around Fredericksburg. Huge outcropping of granite dome with lots of native american lore surrounding it....supposed to be sacred and they have native american guide to show you ancient rock drawings.

J-sews · **Reply #18 on:** June 12, 2009, 05:17:57 AM

Welcome to America Mr and Mrs Kwakster!

stressmaster5000 · **Reply #19 on:** June 12, 2009, 05:26:02 AM

If you have time and are going to be in Waco, try to go see the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame. Great bit of Old West History there.

http://www.texasranger.org/

Museum Hours - Monday thru Sunday

Opens 9 am - Last Guest Admitted at 4:30 pm
Admissions & Reservations Info:254-750-8631

Physical Address: I-35 and University Parks Drive,

100 Texas Ranger Trail, Waco, TX 76706

kwakster · **Reply #20 on:** June 13, 2009, 03:17:26 AM

Sadly the Enchanted Rock area turned out too hot for us, so we drove further and are now in a hotel in Fort Stockton.
The current plan is to go to Big Bend park, where hopefully some shade will be available.

We just had dinner at a place called K-Bob's Steakhouse, the food was reasonable considering the price we paid, and we had a nice conversation with an elderly Texas couple next to us.
This is one of the things i like best while on holiday; to have genuine contact with the people who actually live here.

One thing i noticed is that people seem to be self-sufficient up to a ripe old age, where in the Netherlands most senior citizens spend their days in retirement homes watching TV.

The Texas Ranger Museum is also on our to-do list

Teofilo · **Reply #21 on:** June 13, 2009, 12:08:33 PM

Quote from: J-sews on June 12, 2009, 05:17:57 AM

Welcome to America Mr and Mrs Kwakster!

Robert, how about some pics of you and Madam Kwakster?

eodtech · **Reply #22 on:** June 13, 2009, 02:15:34 PM

Quote from: kwakster on June 13, 2009, 03:17:26 AM

The current plan is to go to Big Bend park, where hopefully some shade will be available.

Gareth · **Reply #23 on:** June 13, 2009, 03:11:00 PM

Sounds like you are having a good (if HOT) time. Thanks for the updates.

Pacu · **Reply #24 on:** June 13, 2009, 06:49:19 PM

Quote from: eodtech on June 13, 2009, 02:15:34 PM

Quote from: kwakster on June 13, 2009, 03:17:26 AM

The current plan is to go to Big Bend park, where hopefully some shade will be available.

That was my thinkin' too. Big Bend is a scorcher.

kwakster · **Reply #25 on:** June 14, 2009, 03:33:20 AM

Today we drove through Big Bend, it was indeed very hot just like everybody expected, but thanks to the excellent airconditioning in the car the journey was pleasant

We also ran into a shortlived thunderstorm with massive bursts of rain as well as lightning, but thankfully the car turned out to be waterproof.
We tried to follow the Maverick dirt road, but sadly we ran into a severe flashflood about halfway so we had to drive all the way back.
We just checked in at the Oak Tree Inn in a little place called Alpine where we plan to have a good night's sleep, tomorrow we will try to find a carwash as the car is really muddy now.
Not sure yet if we will go back to the park after that,

Robert

kwakster · **Reply #26 on:** June 15, 2009, 05:10:24 AM

This message is written while lying on my bed in a Motel 6.
Since we checked in i killed about 30 flies coming from nowhere, but this room was all we could get since every other hotel was full.
The room looks clean and doesn't smell bad.
Ah well, we'll live to see another day

Tomorrow we are going to visit the Carlsbad Caves, where the temperature seemingly drops to 56 degrees, luckily in brought my fleece jacket.

kwakster · **Reply #27 on:** June 18, 2009, 05:06:41 PM

At the moment we're in a La Quinta Inn in Amarillo, later today we're going to see the buried Cadillacs and the livestock exchange.
A couple of days ago we went to the Carlsbad Caverns and also saw the flight of the cavebats.
In about an hour we will be on our way to Wichita Falls, and after that to Fort Worth and Dallas.

Great holiday so far, and the Nissan Pathfinder turns out to be a very good car,

MultiMat · **Reply #28 on:** June 18, 2009, 05:21:35 PM

Sounds like fun Kwakster

Planning on buying any Spydies

stressmaster5000 · **Reply #29 on:** June 18, 2009, 08:01:19 PM

Quote from: kwakster on June 18, 2009, 05:06:41 PM

In about an hour we will be on our way to Wichita Falls, and after that to Fort Worth and Dallas.

Now you are coming into my neck of the woods. I grew up in Wichita Falls and now live near the Dallas, Ft Worth, Denton area.

Are you stopping or are you just driving through headed back to Houston? Any ways, there's some good grub in these parts.

Hello Lurker! Remove this ad and much more by logging in.

Trip to Texas

Donations

Community Links