Jim's Snaps

2002 - Living in Houston

Houston - General

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March to June We arrived in Houston in March 2002. These photos are from our first three months there, including visits from both sets of parents.	July to February These photos go up to the time we left Houston, in February 2003. The Texan winter was a welcome change from the winters we are used to back home, however on New Year's Eve it did actually get cold enough to wear a coat outside at midnight.
Enron Building Despite looking like giant sticks of deoderant, the two Enron buildings are I think the most attractive in downtown Houston. The way that the rest of downtown is distorted and reflected in the glass panels is very photogenic.	Texas Wildlife Various pictures of the local fauna (and flora) from the eleven months or so we spent living in Houston. The butterflies were in a giant greenhouse at the Cockerell Butterfly Center. The other pictures were taken in nearby state parks.

Weekends Away from Houston

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New Orleans

New Orleans over Memorial weekend was our first trip away from Houston. Adam's bedtime meant that we didn't really see the nightlife aspect of the city, but on the other hand we were up bright and early for sightseeing!

Calgary

In June I went up to Calgary for a week on a work trip. Kirstie and Adam flew up and stayed over the weekend. The weather was absolutely superb, having also been there in February I can say that summer is definitely the time to visit.

San Antonio and Austin

We visited San Antonio with Rob, Ange, Teresita and Daniel over 4th July weekend, and Austin by ourselves over Labor Day. The locals are proud of the fact that the Texas State Capitol dome is actually higher than the US Capitol in Washington DC (as long as you count the gold star that the Goddess of Liberty holds on top of the dome).

South West USA Holiday

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Las Vegas We started and ended the trip in Las Vegas. Even though we had heard quite a lot about it before we went, nothing can quite prepare you for the spectacle. Needless to say we made a generous contribution to the casinos, however the rule that babies are not allowed to "loiter" in the gaming rooms meant that it wasn't as large as it might have been!	South West Utah The first destination in Utah was Zion Canyon, followed by Bryce Canyon. Bryce Canyon isn't actually a canyon at all, it's a line of amphitheatres full of weird rocky pillars called "hoodoos". The weather wasn't exactly what we were expecting for the end of September - in Zion it rained pretty much non-stop and in Bryce we had snow, which had a dramatic effect on the scenery.
South East Utah After Bryce our base was Capitol Reef - so called because the cliffs represented as much of a barrier to the early pioneers as a reef at sea, and one of them looked like the Capitol dome. Allegedly.	Northern Arizona We crossed into Arizona at Monument Valley, and made our way back to Las Vegas via the Navajo Nation, the Grand Canyon and the Painted Desert. A perfect end to a great holiday.