Texas day 1

In September 2021 we spent one night in the panhandle of Texas and visited the Don Harrington Discovery Center. My definition of us "visiting" a state is that at the very least we have to have done something of interest in that state - visited a National Park site, zoo, museum, etc. Most states we've done far more than that. The two states aside from Pennsylvania that we've spent the most time are Florida and New York. Nadia and Ian have spent eight weeks in Florida. All three kids have spent at least seven weeks in New York. The states we will have spent more than seven days there by the end of August include California, Illinois, Maryland, Texas, Virginia, Massachusetts, Alaska, and Hawaii. The states where we were there for one day or less include: Wisconsin, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, Colorado, Idaho, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, New Hampshire, Nebraska, and Kansas. We plan to return to Montana, Minnestoa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nevada, Utah, Idaho, North Carolina, and Tennessee, and New York (Nadia might not be with us for all of those trips). Although there will still be sites that we haven't been to in Texas yet even after this trip (ex. Big Bend National Park), I feel like we will be hitting the majority of the top things to see and do in Texas on this trip.

After a nice breakfast, we had a short drive to Big Thicket National Preserve. We had an outstanding experience at Cypress National Preserve last year. The opposite was true yesterday. The kids got their junior ranger books and began working on them in the visitor center. Things quickly went downhill after our short drive to the Kirby Nature Trail trailhead. Suffice it to say that we didn't notice any of the carnivorous plants that the trail is known for. All we noticed were the mosquitos. Nadia in particular was eaten alive. She was bitten at least 100 times. To make matters worse we got lost more than once and turned a 2.3-mile trail into a 4.6-mile trail as we were going in circles. After receiving the badges back at the visitor center, we went to a dollar store for antihistamine (oral and topical). Lengthening that hike meant we had less time at San Jacinto Battleground, but we still had enough time for Paul to see what he wanted to see there. Next, we spent time at Space Center Houston. The highlight of our time there was a tram tour to the Mission Control Center. The Audubon Zoo doesn't participate in the AZA reciprocity, so we had to pay full price there. At Vermilionville we saved $1 each through a AAA discount. At Space Center Houston four of us got in for free through our ASTC membership, although we all had to pay for the tram tour. Today we should receive a 50% discount through AZA at the aquarium. After the Space Center we had dinner at Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen before driving three hours towards Corpus Christi. At the Space Center we crossed off some more license plates as we walked through the parking lot. We only have three states left to find - Hawaii, New Hampshire, and Wyoming.

This is taller than the Washington Monument.