Monthly Archives: June 2006

There’s just nothing better than laying on a nice hammock in the evening. I actually slept on this thing the other night; it was nice waking up with the noisy birds and the sunrise. There’s just something about laying under the clouds and the trees that always makes me smile no matter what…

Well, after much personal debate, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m not much of a fisherman. Sunday the family and I motored about 1.5 hours off the coast of South Padre Island to do some deep-sea fishing. It was fun, but I seemed to just stand there with my squid in the sea making jokes while everyone around me was pulling Red Snapper out of the water. Five hours of fishing and not a single fish in the boat from Daniel. Oh well… In the future I’ll feed the family via alternative means.

My dad left for Korea this afternoon; I won’t be seeing him for a year. When I grow up I want a job that allows me to travel; but I don’t think I’d really enjoy year long business trip away from my family. The past few weeks we’ve spent together have been nice though.

I’ve redesigned the layout of the website; it needed a more “cheerful” feel to it and the black/dark red color combination just wasn’t working anymore. I’m not totally set on this design yet; let me know if you like it or don’t like it and I’ll switch it up a bit if necessary.

Moving is quite possibly one of my least favorite activities; right up there with cycling on flat, straight, boring roads. Nonetheless, that’s been the activity consuming the most of my time these past few days. We’ve finally found a house in this area – three bedrooms, two baths, with a fireplace – not a bad looking place, but definitely not as cool as the old casa in England. It’s been boxes, boxes, and more boxes in my focus since Thursday; except for my room, which I diligently worked on getting settled as soon as my furniture was off the truck. Not sure how long I’ll be staying here, but it is nice to have a bed, my own bathroom, and a desk for my computer…finally…

I have been neglecting my website for far too long, and to my readers I am sorry for that. Since finishing off my second year at UT life hasn’t exactly been the most exciting, with a few exceptions here and there of course.

Since finishing up the Spring semester, I’ve been spending most of my time way down south in the Rio Grande Valley region of Texas. This is where the family’s at; for reasons I still have yet to determine. I love Texas, and always try to maintain an open minded way of thinking towards any situation; but despite my best efforts I completely loath this particular place on planet earth. Living here – if you can even call it that – is dreadful. My lifestyle and this place will never be a match…never…

With that being said, my time here hasn’t been completely wasted. My parents are back from their three year stay in England, and along with my brother who unfortunately calls this area home – the Kietzer family is back together temporarily; which is nice. The past week and a half I’ve been tagging along on house hunting excursions with Mom and Dad, and yesterday we finally found the place my Mom will call home for a year while Dad’s in Korea.

Also this summer I’ve been lucky enough to lounge on the beach of South Padre Island on a few occasions, and also visit some previously unseen areas of our southernly neighboring country in Renosa, Mexico – not to mention eat some delicious food.

The week before last I took a trip back to Austin, Texas with a big backpack, my bike in a box, and a greyhound ticket. The six hour bus ride was interesting and entertaining; I’m a huge fan of meeting new people, and what better opportunity than a boring bus ride? Marsha was kind enough to let me, and all my stuff invade her house for a few days – thanks for that! The reason behind this trip was to ride with and see off Vanessa and other amazing Texas 4000 cyclists as they began their 4500 mile cycling journey from Austin to Alaska. They’re all doing magnificently well by the way, and if you’re interested check out the journals on their website. I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better four days.

So where am I at now? Bored out of my mind is one answer; anxious to get away from this place is another. My recent trip to Austin has sparked some interest – Greyhound will send me anywhere within the continental United States for $139.99 round trip… I’d like to see redwoods in California, mountains in Colorado, or maybe the big cities of the American northeast; and I’d like to have a destination figured out by the end of the month so after my Dad leaves for Korea, I can take off too. Any suggestions?

I know I miss Austin too, and all of my good friends not on their way to Alaska still living there; so that’ll definitely be back on the destination list shortly as well. I’ll be finding my way home soon enough…