The Lee Family: Spring Break 2017, Day 1: On our Way to San Antonio

We planned on leaving our house around 8:30 or 9am Sunday morning for our Spring Break trip to San Antonio and Houston, however, day light savings threw us off and we didn't get out of the house until after 9:30am. In the weeks leading up to Spring Break we weren't really sure what we wanted to do. Friends of ours, Chad and Desiree and their boys were meeting family in friends for a ski trip in Pagosa Springs, Colorado and asked us to join them, but we weren't really sure we wanted to go skiing. Sofia was more than excited at the idea of skiing again, but both Olivia and I likely wouldn't be skiing, so we weren't sure what we'd be doing. We considered a few ideas but really just couldn't decide what to do. So we put it off for weeks and weeks and then we finally decided to keep it simple and visit San Antonio and Houston, two cities the girls and I have never visited. CK has been to both numerous times, but we were looking forward to exploring. Again, since we aren't great at planning, we didn't really have a plan for our visits other than visiting the Alamo, riverwalk and Sea World in San Antonio and visiting NASA in Houston. Also, we decided to do a road trip since flying and getting rental cars at both locations seemed like more of an effort than it was worth. So, it would be our very first road trip!

We loaded up our car and packed up Buddy and all of this things to take him to Casey's house. He was super excited to be going along, but his excitement left him once we arrived at Casey's. He went into Casey's house and quickly took up position on their couch, looking out the window. He was absolutely devastated when I said goodbye and I worried about him being a good boy while we were gone. We got on the freeway and headed toward Austin. Outside Austin we stopped at Slovachek's for kolaches, which are similar to a yeast donut with jam and/or cream cheese in the center, similar to a danish but not as sweet. They also make kolaches that have meat in the center. Kolaches are a tradition that Texans grow up with and love to eat. We've had them a few times and they are good, but there are other sweets that sound better to us, probably since we didn't grow up in Texas. The girls have only had them once before this trip, so I know they would prefer donuts.

Slovachek's is located in West, Texas which is a pretty small town, yet it's overrun with people getting their kolaches. We stood in line to pick ours out and Sofia chose one with apple, CK picked apricot, Olivia chose strawberry and I picked the best - cream cheese. They were delicious but neither girl really loved theirs as much as they love their usual donut. After kolaches, the girls wondered around and wanted to pick out souvenirs but we convinced them that we would have plenty of opportunity for souvenirs. We loaded back into the car and headed on our trip. We did buy one bag of gummy animals which the girls ate and played with between coloring and Sofia reading as we drove. As we grew closer to Austin we saw signs for the Inner Space Cavern and decided to stop and check it out. The girls were really excited to stop and explore the caverns.

The Inner Space Cavern was discovered by a Texas Highway Department core drilling team in the Spring of 1963. Six inch core samples were taken to determine if the ground was stable enough to support a large highway overpass. As they were drilling one of the test holes, the bit suddenly dropped 26ft. and the highway crew knew there was something down there besides rock. The cavern was opened to the public in 1966. We decided to do the tour which would last about an hour. Since it's so chilly and damp out, we were all bundled up but we're told by several people finishing the tour that it was warm and humid in the cavern, so we returned our jackets to the car. The tour started and we walked down into the cave's entrance and immediately felt it get warmer and more humid. We walked down a slight slope and the inside of the cavern was absolutely breathtaking! Our tour guide reminded us to not touch any of the formations since the oils on our fingers would "kill" the minerals that make up the stalagmites and stalactites. On the way down we stopped at "Temptation Rock" which is the only place in the cavern that we could touch. Our guide explained that visitors could touch this rock to remove all their temptation to touch anything else on their visit to the cavern. It felt like a smooth salt block and the girls loved to feel it. Every area that we entered was lit up by lights that our guide turned on and were just enough to really get a great view but didn't overpower the experience. Every area we visited was really incredible and beautiful!

We returned to the gift shop after a really interesting tour and the girls picked out a gem each before we loaded back up and drove another 40 minutes to Austin where we parked near the Capitol Building. Even though it was a Sunday afternoon, the Capitol building is open to anyone who wants to tour it and the house and senate rooms are open for visiting. We toured the building, walking down the halls on the first three floors before visiting the senate floor. The girls enjoyed being on the third floor and looking down at the ground floor and then up to the rotunda ceiling. The Capitol Building is gorgeous and feels so stately and prestigious and we tried to convey this to the girls as we walked around.

After we were finished exploring, we loaded up into the car and headed on our way to San Antonio. Shortly after we left Austin, we stopped at Buc-ee's in New Braunfels and visited the Buc-ee's beaver and the girls picked out a bag of gummy candy each. Sofia chose the gummy watermelon slices and Olivia chose the gummy worms, while I picked out the chocolate-covered pretzels. Delicious!! We also got waters and went to the bathroom. It was the first time I've been in a Buc-ee's and it is an overwhelming place that is amazingly busy given that it's in the middle of nowhere. Not only is it really busy, but Buc-ee's seems to sell just about everything including clothes, gifts, food, snacks, Buc-ee's souvenirs, and just about anything else you could want. The girls love it! I think it was just as exciting as visiting Inner Space Caverns. This past summer the girls stopped at a Buc-ee's for the first time with their Grandma and Grandpa and have loved it ever since!

We continued on our way to San Antonio and in under an hour we were at the Hilton Hill Country, which is outside of the downtown area but just a few minutes from Sea World. It was nearly 5pm and we were all tired and hungry so we checked into our room and were pleasantly surprised by the hotel. We decided to eat Mexican and stay close, so we headed to Chuy's which is a chain restaurant and not very interesting but still delicious. The girls colored and played while we waited for our food and we all enjoyed our meals. It was just what we needed after a long day on the road! After dinner, we returned to our hotel and watched a little tv until we all went to bed ready to explore San Antonio on Monday.

Kolaches at Slovachek's