Texas in the Summertime? You must be crazy!

This is a picture of me that I just took recently- staring off into the sunset.

I had just arrived back from Taiwan two weeks earlier. I took a flight, on Southwest Airlines, on Monday.Thanks to Southwest's open seating policy, I got to sit in the third row- no waiting for people to get off in front of you. When I arrived in Texas, after a three-hour flight, it was hot...hot as a booger. It was dry and stinking hot. I was staying in the dorms (the Castillian building) at the University of Texas, Austin. It was a high-rise building with stores on the ground level next to it- like Double Dave's Pizza and Subway. The information floor is the 11th floor- in between is the parking lot. My room was on the 17th floor, near the elevators. I was supposed to get a roommate, but she never showed up! I got a room all to myself! I had to share a bathroom with my next-door neighbors, but oh well!

I stayed there for two weeks. It was so hot, you can't imagine it unless you've been there or somewhere like it. The heat chokes you and the blazing sun bakes you. I was, once again, anxious to get home to nice, mild-weather California. I don't think anyone at the conference had a good time, but that's another subject. I arrived at the airport extra early- my flight was around 9am and my shuttle was supposed to get there around 8am, but I'm a fanatic about being on time when traveling, so I volunteered to take the early shuttle- which arrived there at 7am. There wasn't much for me to do at the airport- I wasn't checking in any luggage (I had a pull-on and a duffel bag) and Southwest distributes the boarding passes one hour before the flight leaves. I sat around with some of the other conference attendees, one who was going to Missouri and another who was going to Sacramento (both had to stop in Dallas first though, hah!) After they got onto their plane, I just waited by the Southwest gate. First come, first serve- I was the third person in line at the gate, so I got the #3 boarding pass. Unfortunately, when I got to board, the seats up front were taken up by those kids who travel by themselves. I had to sit in the fifth row, which isn't too bad. I had to get up to let a guy sit next to the window, but no one sat in the middle seat for the whole trip! What luck I had!