day 1–orientation weekend

we arrived in texas safely today.  there were birds flying around inside the detroit airport where we had a few hours layover.  i tried to get some photos, but they flew away too quickly.  we were able to rent a prius (and had a little bit of trouble figuring out the whole push-button ignition thing, but eventually got it) even though the rental agent wasn’t sure if they had any left and told us something like, “Well, you know, with hybrids there aren’t a lot of options.  Really only Priuses.  Would you rather have another mid-size car?”  Um, no, we’d like to save money on gas and be nicer to the environment, if possible.  We’re not driving the Prius for the flashy styling.  Oddly enough, we saw NO other Priuses on the road between Austin and San Antonio, so…. maybe Priuses have a stigma here?  whatever.  we liked it.

we arrived at the hotel (after some frustrating Garmin-related getting lostedness) around 4:45 and the group wasn’t meeting until 6:45.  Jay and I checked in, brought our luggage into the room, and then discovered that we were both pretty hungry and didnt’ want to wait 2 hours for food…. so…. we went to Las Palapas.  yum.  🙂

We met the other 11 couples and had an evening gathering where we got to know everyone.  There were lots of laughs.  I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s full schedule, but I’m also really tired.  G’night everyone!