Howdy

from College Station, Texas. More precisely from Rudder Tower on the Texas A&M campus,

where we meet with friends at “Faculty Club” on Thursday evening. (I have photos of some of our friends, but neglected to ask permission to post on the internet.)

Settled into what has become our fall routine, ABN is taking advantage of the miles of biking/walking trails and extensive amounts of sidewalks to explore the town.

One of the treasures found while walking.

Texas A&M has very limited student accommodations on campus leaving most of the 60,000 plus students living in houses and apartments. The students are very much a part of the community. We continue to be impressed with the friendliness and respect shown by the students, whether on campus or around town. Earlier this week, ABN got caught in a rain shower on one of her walks around town. A female college student pulled up in a car and offered her a ride.

With so many students commuting by bicycle, College Station is very bicycle friendly with bike lanes as well as the bike paths.

On Thursday sister-in-law, Anna, and ABN left the “boys” with their mother and took a day trip to Galveston.

Lunch at Willie G's on Pier 21

Anna on

the "Duck," a land and water sightseeing tour.

After a hardfought game against Tennessee last week, the Aggies are off this weekend. Speaking of last week’s game (and you knew we would), this is the street in front of mom’s house, which is about a mile from campus, on game day.

And what a game! 5 ½ hours we sat at Kyle Field! From the fly-over, piloted by an Aggie and a Volunteer,

through the half-time

to the final score.

What about the game? Well if you haven’t seen the recaps, then you are not a college football fan. The Volunteers gave the Aggies all they could handle. In spite of the passion, we witnessed southern hospitality and respect from fans of both teams.

“Walking back to the parking garage, we have to cut through the Quad. Lots of chatter and whooping all around until all of a sudden there was complete silence. Our [US] flag was being lowered. Everyone stopped and stood respectfully until it was done. Only then did the chatter and whooping resume.”(This was copied from sister-in-law’s Facebook page, but was witnessed by us.) Makes one proud to be an Aggie and Aggie spouse.

Today we are glued to the TV, pulling for Tennessee to upset Alabama. Go Vols!