Bastrop, TX

We are parked at the Wal-Mart in Bastrop, Texas (map). We had actually intended to be at the state park just a mile or so east of here, but low trees hampered our approach, and we gave up rather than bushwhack our way in just to spend the night without satellite access (the entire park is treed).

We ended up spending Monday night still in Houston. Sometime during our mad get-out-of-town scramble, Louise realized she was off by a week in her estimation of when she needed to be in Austin for her flight to San Jose, and we thus find ourselves with a bit more time on our hands. I needed to go to Fry's, and we have several clubs in Houston (though only one that offers dinner), so we made a loop through the western half of the city, getting our shopping done at the south Houston Fry's, then overnighting in the Wal-Mart on Westheimer (map), where it was a quick $1.00 bus ride over to the Galleria mall and our club for a nice dinner.

While at Fry's, Louise bought a delicious bar of dark chocolate in the impulse rack. We ate about a third of it, then completely forgot about it on the center console. When we returned to Odyssey from our evening out, Opal had eaten the remainder, and there were little bits of the foil wrapper all over the cockpit. Chocolate is quite toxic to dogs, and, mindful of Opal's near-death experience a few months back from unknown toxins, we were very concerned.

The all-knowing Internet told us to induce vomiting by administering one tablespoon of 3% hydrogen peroxide per ten pounds of dog (sounds like a cooking recipe, doesn't it?), so we crammed two tablespoons into her with a turkey baster (see, it is a recipe). We were actually out of hydrogen peroxide, but the Wal-Mart we were parked at was the all-night variety. Within a few minutes, she spit up several ounces of undigested dark chocolate. While she spent a miserable night in her kennel from the combined effects of caffeine, sugar, and whatever it is about chocolate that is toxic, by morning she was mostly back to normal. Lesson learned -- remember to stow the chocolate.

Today we will spend some time at the Home Depot a few blocks from here, working on a leaking hot-water recirculation valve, after which we will head in to Austin. We have quite a bit of time before Louise flies out, which we will likely spend at the Elks lodge, which has good access to transit.