EDSIGCON Texas Trip - November 3-8, 2017

These pictures are from my trip to Texas to attend the EDSIGCON conference in Austin. Pictures are from my Fujifilm Finepix HS50 and my iPad Pro.

Friday, November 3, 2017 - Amsterdam, New York, to San Antonio, Texas

After teaching and a meeting in the morning, it was a long travel day to get to Texas. My Southwest flights [2 Pictures] took me through Baltimore to San Antonio. Both flights were good, I had an empty middle each time, and I had plenty of time in Baltimore for a Chick-fil-A dinner [Picture]. I got into San Antonio around 10:30 CDT, got my car, and headed to a nearby Comfort Suites for the night.

Saturday, November 4, 2017 - San Antonio, Texas, to Brownsville, Texas

I got an early start from the hotel in San Antonio, and headed south on I-35 to Laredo. My only stop to that point was a fancy rest area in La Salle County [6 Pictures]. In Laredo, I explored just a bit, driving the short I-69W and checking out some of the streets in the downtown area. On the way out of town on US 83, I stopped for a tasty lunch at El Taco Tote [2 Pictures] on the south end of Laredo. From there, it was an afternoon on US 83 in the Rio Grande Valley. My main stop was to check out Falcon Lake State Park for about a half hour [16 Pictures]. Soon after that, I was in the Lower Rio Grande Valley metro area, where I was able to take the new I-2, a tiny piece of I-69C, and then I-69E down into Brownsville for the night. I arrived late afternoon, relaxed at the hotel a bit, and then went out for Rudy's BBQ and a Sonic shake for dinner. [102 Pictures from the Roads]

Sunday, November 5, 2017 - Brownsville, Texas, to Austin, Texas

After a pretty long night's sleep, and now on Central Standard Time, it was time for another long day of driving. First, I went a bit further south to check out some of Brownsville, but nothing in the downtown area made me want to stop and walk around, so I moved on. From there, it was up I-69E and US 77 to the Corpus Christi area. Along the way, there was a small delay for a border patrol checkpoint (where my Yankee hat earned a "How about those Astros?" comment). Lunch was at a Whataburger [Picture] in the Corpus Christi area. From there, my road was mostly US 181 back to the San Antonio area, but I did take a side trip into Aransas Pass, where I saw the remaining damage from Hurricane Harvey first hand [15 Pictures]. US 181 was good for the most part, with only a few short delays in towns. Unknowingly at the time, I passed within about 20 miles of Sutherland Springs, just hours after the terrible church massacre there. I passed the San Antonio area on I-410, then decided to take US 281 to US 290 to get to Austin. This was mostly a good idea, but the first few miles north of Loop 1604 were a nightmare of traffic, construction, and badly timed lights. Once in the Austin area, I checked into my hotel near the airport, then drove into downtown for the EDSIGCON opening reception. On the way back to the hotel, stopped at a Sonic but gave up when no one took my order, and settled for a McDonald's hot fudge sundae instead [104 Pictures from the Roads].

Monday, November 6, 2017 - EDSIGCON in Austin, Texas

This day at the conference featured plenty of interesting sessions, lunch at Eighteen Over Austin [5 Pictures] in the conference hotel, then a conference dinner at Stubbs BBQ [Picture]. [3 Pictures from the Roads]

Tuesday, November 7, 2017 - EDSIGCON in Austin, Texas

This was my morning to present, so I got to the conference early for a little breakfast. The session went great, and the rest of the day at the conference was enjoyable and interesting. Lunch was again at Eighteen Over Austin. After lunch, there was time for a short walk including a view of the owl building from the proper angle [2 Pictures]. I left the conference after the last regular sessions, hit the local Planet Fitness (very busy!) and then was able to grab some Raising Cane's dinner [Picture] before calling it a night.

Wednesday, November 8, 2017 - Austin, Texas, to Amsterdam, New York

I was in no rush in the morning with the conference finished and no need to get to the airport until lunch time. I met Razie at the LBJ Presidential Library and checked that out for a while [5 Pictures], then proceeded to the airport. Checkin and security were quick, giving me plenty of time to grab a couple more tacos before leaving Texas and a chance to update this description. The flight to Denver, the layover in Denver, and the flight to Albany were more or less on time, getting me home around 1 AM. [4 Pictures from the Roads]


terescoj+pics@teresco.org - Mon May 28 09:05:55 EDT 2018