Rachel Getting Married Pt. 2

It's hard to figure out a good place to start with my Houston recap so I'll begin by saying that  I have never been so grateful for the nearly 100 degree heat of California.  Seriously, Texas is WAY to hot.  104 degree weather with 85% humidity should be illegal.  At one point during the trip, I voiced this epiphany:

 "No wonder they love guns in Texas, if I had to live in this heat all the time I'd want to kill people too."

Now don't get me wrong, Texas isn't completely the way it is stereotyped.  There are lots of things that surprised me about my trip.  My dear newly married friend Rachel's family very much broke the typical "Texas" mold.  In fact, the Monks' are some of the most fantastic and interesting people I've ever met (they aren't kidding about that southern hospitality thing).  However, there were lots of things that were different than anything I'd experienced living on both coasts.  Here are some fantastic and or strange things about Texas:

~Waffle House

Simply spectacular.  These should be EVERYWHERE, especially up North.  It's not fair that the South gets such yummy (and cheap) waffle establishments.  There was just so much waffle-y goodness to be had (and amazingly hilarious servers/cooks who thought we were crazy).  Just look at the menu below.  Who knew that all of these things could be done to hashbrowns?  Southerners, that's who.

You order them that way too.  It's AWESOME.  Too bad potatoes are my kryponite.  Waah Waah.  Those who ate them seemed pleased and I am inclined to believe them, even if potatoes are stupid mean white starchy vegetables (I'm not bitter about it, I swear).

~NASA

It is TOTALLY unfair that Texas gets to have a cool place like NASA.  I mean, we have Disneyland in California, but it just isn't as cool as a place that can literally send you to space.  Now only were there fun games to be played...

...but there was also the opportunity to tour NASA and see not only where the astronauts train (incredibly rad) but also see an ACTUAL ROCKET.  Oh yeah, I know you are jealous.  And you should be.  Because it was AWESOME.

So I guess I am recaping in reverse, since Waffle House and NASA were Texas experiences from the same day, which was the same day we all left.  There is so much more to cover, but I'll leave it for another time, as this post is already Magna Carta-esque in length.  Stay cool, my friends.