My November 2008 Road Trip

[gmcbob]

You'll laugh, you'll cry - you'll kiss 18 minutes goodbye!

I've lived in the Houston area since I was in junior high (with a one year stint in Colorado a few years back) but I was born in Western New York. I still have family in the Buffalo area but I don't go up there very often. In November I drove up there to see my sister and her husband and decided to take the video camera along to capture some of the trip along the way.

Unfortunately while I was there I somehow erased a ton of footage of the trip from Houston to Buffalo, as well as footage of Hurricane Ike ripping up my yard. I'm actually really bummed that that happened.

This is footage of Niagara Falls and a separate spot along the Niagara River on Grand Island NY. The rest of the footage is the road trip back from that area towards Houston. I drove back through Kentucky (my wife was there on business so it worked out well), then on to Atlanta to see my other sister. I drove from Atlanta to Houston in one day on the last day of the trip.

I dunno, nothing too exciting - but perhaps some of you guys live in these areas and may find it interesting. I thought it would be fun to share it with the people on this board. It's the road - and our common ground is cars - the road, cars...it all fits together I think.

What also makes this quasi interesting for all of you - my 2008 Vue was two months old at this point.

Also, when I wasn't listening to my iPod (which you'll hear a lot of on this video), I was listening to all of the news on XM radio about our newly elected president and at that point, whether or not GM was going to have to go the Govt for loans to stay alive. It was the beginning of the financial mess, and winter was starting to settle in up North.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3912094477262296947

Edited April 19, 2009 by gmcbob

[Oracle of Delphi]

I enjoyed it, I miss Houston and San Antonio a lot. I miss palm trees a lot. I plan on doing a road trip from Delaware to Houston in the Grand Prix GXP at the end of September when I take some vacation. I might make it a work/vacation trip also by making a pit stop in Spartanburg, SC ...

[gmcbob]

I enjoyed it, I miss Houston and San Antonio a lot. I miss palm trees a lot. I plan on doing a road trip from Delaware to Houston in the Grand Prix GXP at the end of September when I take some vacation. I might make it a work/vacation trip also by making a pit stop in Spartanburg, SC ...

Thanks for watching the video PCS.

Houston has definitely gotten a lot better in certain areas - especially inside the loop where my wife and I live. We live near the Heights (near TC Jester / 11th St / Shepherd) and this area has become majorly gentrified over the last 10 years or so. Areas just a few short years ago that were basically very dangerous to be in after dark are now filled with expensive town homes and nicely renovated older homes. And in these neighborhoods, the old run down buildings have been turned into swanky lounges and wine bars. If you were familiar with Washington Ave. back in the 80s and 90s and how run down it was, then driving down it now you wouldn't even recognize it. The downtown and "Midtown" areas are way more alive than they were even in the late 90s. Some may say that this isn't necessarily a good thing that older sections of cities are being taken over and moved upscale - but Houston really needed a good scrub down IMO. I think the Heights still has enough of it's old character and enough of a left of center crowd to still give it a unique feel for here.

The Montrose area is still pretty much the same as it's always been. There's a few more nice restaurants in that area now, but it still has a huge eclectic, artsy crowd as well as one of the largest gay communities outside of SF in the country. And of course at the end of Montrose lie some of the greatest museums I've ever been in - MFAH rocks.

Rice Village and the West University area probably looks exactly the same as you remember it (if you ever went out down in that area). There's a bar over there that I like called the Gingerman that has a $h!load of beer on tap from all over the world . The Gingerman may or may not have been around back in the day, but I have a feeling that it's been around for a while.

The East side of the city though is still very impoverished - and I never venture into the Deer Park / Pasadena 225 corridor unless I absolutely have to. Being on that side of town actually gives me a headache during the summer months as the pollution is absolutely horrible from the vast amount of chemical refineries over there.

In a nutshell though, Houston still kind of sucks. I really enjoy hiking, wide open spaces, mountains and fresh air - and there's basically none of that here. The weather here is okay in the winter - sometimes very pleasant in the winter - but it absolutely sucks hyena balls in the summer. When it's 98 degrees with 90% humidity and my nuts are dragging three feet behind me because I'm sweating so profusely (and that's just walking from my car to the building across the parking lot) - I ask myself what in the world I'm doing here.

Oh well...at least we have a pool in a backyard - and that gives me an excuse to be outside in the summer (there would be no other reason to be outside here between June and September). Oh, and you can't float around in a pool in Houston, in summer, without a cold Shiner or Lone Star in your hand.

Edited April 21, 2009 by gmcbob

[caddycruiser]

I enjoyed it, I miss Houston and San Antonio a lot. I miss palm trees a lot. I plan on doing a road trip from Delaware to Houston in the Grand Prix GXP at the end of September when I take some vacation. I might make it a work/vacation trip also by making a pit stop in Spartanburg, SC ...

I should so do that in the G8...a roadtrip vacation somewhere. I haven't been on a vacation or, really, had any "time off" since, uh, about 5 years ago I think. I just never, ever getaway...to anywhere.

gmcbob...Cool trip. Video, ey, what a good idea :AH-HA_wink:

[gmcbob]

I should so do that in the G8...a roadtrip vacation somewhere. I haven't been on a vacation or, really, had any "time off" since, uh, about 5 years ago I think. I just never, ever getaway...to anywhere.

gmcbob...Cool trip. Video, ey, what a good idea :AH-HA_wink:

Thanks Man

Road trips are awesome if you have the time to do it. There's so many things to see along the road in America - it's an incredibly beautiful country.

I've taken a lot of trips out West actually. I've driven between Houston and Durango countless times, and I've also driven up to Seattle more than once (one time via California and another time via Wyoming and Yellowstone Natl Park)- which is actually quite insane when I think about it (most of those treks were in my 2001 Sierra and then in my 2004 Sierra).

Take the G8 out on the highway and stretch her legs a bit, she'll thank you for it.